Mark put up terrific offensive numbers at both left wing and defense, but sees their only value in their contribution to team success. What's often overlooked is his incredible plus-85 in 1985-86.

"Brad McCrimmon and I had some incredible numbers there for three years. It's one of my major accomplishments but you can't do it without playing with good teammates. We were bound and determined to be the best players on the ice in practice and at games," Mark said. "We were plus-50 something in two other years. I think I was plus-210 over four seasons and plus-500 for my NHL career. One year, we were both plus-60 and the only plus defensemen on the team. [Former Flyers VP and GM] Keith Allen, whom I really respect, told me once they got me for my offensive ability and he didn't realize how good I was defensively. That meant a lot to me."

"Plus-minus is a stat you have to look at in context, who's your partner, the goalie, when goals are scored, etc.," Mark said. "But in general, I'd rather have a guy that's consistently a plus. Scotty Bowman commented to me about a team that sent down a guy who was plus-10 and brought up a guy that was minus-10 and he said, "They're starting down, 1-0."

Mark Howe burst into the public eye as a member of the silver-medal-winning United States Olympic team in 1972 at age 16. The next year, he joined brother Marty and future NHL players Mike Palmateer, Bob Dailey and Wayne Dillon on the Toronto Marlboros Memorial Cup championship team. That team was managed by Frank Bonello, with oversight from then-Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Jim Gregory. Bonello is now the director of the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, which operates under the auspices of NHL Senior Vice-President Jim Gregory. Howe, as a scout with the Detroit Red Wings, pays close attention to their reports on draft-eligible amateur players.

"I played on pro teams that weren't as well-organized as the Marlboros," Mark said. "There was no draft of American junior players in those days so my mom studied the various organizations, picked three to visit and selected the Marlboros.

Marty was a year ahead of me and the Marlboros played for the Memorial Cup that year and lost to Peterborough."

Howe spent the final three years of his pro career with the Detroit Red Wings, where he is still employed as a scout.

Gordie, Marty and Mark joined the Houston Aeros in 1973-74 and led them to the Avco Cup championships that year, repeating the feat in 1976. Thus in five years, he won two pro titles, a national amateur title and an international silver medal. He would play on the Hartford team that lost the Avco Cup in 1978 and on two Flyers teams that lost Stanley Cup Finals to the great Edmonton teams of 1985 and 1987. He was no stranger to big games, he excelled in them. His .91 regular-season, career points-per-game average dipped only slightly to .82 in the playoffs.

"Scotty Bowman always said he wanted players who win," Mark said, "and he didn't like bringing kids into a losing environment. I asked to be traded in Hartford because I was used to winning and the right environment wasn't there then. We weren't a strong club after the leagues merged and we had a lot of 'moral victories,' but losses just the same. I came to Philadelphia and we lost the first game, 2-1, and you could have heard a pin drop on the carpet. The next year, opening practice at training camp, two guys who scored got crushed after the goals by teammates in the first few minutes. I'm thinking, 'So, this is Flyers' hockey.'"

"But you saw the way the fans here loved that brand of hockey," Mark said. "Guys like Bobby Clarke, Billy Barber and Ron Hextall hated to lose. Hextall was so competitive, he never wanted a goal scored, in practice or in a game."

Mark's accomplishments are even more impressive in light of the fact he hurt his back in his third professional season. He eventually had back surgery but hurt another disc shortly after completing rehab. He struggled through his last seasons. After signing with the Red Wings, Mark got a chance to play with one of the greatest defensemen of all time in Slava Fetisov.

"We both scored in the last game we played together," Mark recalled. "What a great person and great hockey player. I first played against him in the Spectrum in 1983. He was skating backwards with the puck and Bobby Clarke was forechecking and all of a sudden I realized the gap between them was getting wider and Fetisov was skating backwards! One of a kind, the kind you look forward to playing with."