Gordie Howe's greatest accomplishment wasn't filling a net like no other player until Wayne Gretzky came along.

It wasn't cheating Father Time to play in the NHL in five decades, from his teens into his early 50s, skating at the end as a grandfather. Or the four Stanley Cup championships he won; his 23 NHL All-Star Game appearances; his six Hart Trophy and six Art Ross Trophy wins, as the NHL's most valuable player and top point-scorer, respectively; 22 consecutive NHL seasons of scoring at least 23 goals; or the many honors bestowed upon him, bridges and arenas and building named for him, the myriad records he set, or his endless string of personal milestones.

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NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• USHL Second All-Star Team (1946)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (1949, 1950, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967)
• NHL First All-Star Team (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970)
• WHA First All-Star Team (1974, 1975)
• Gary Davidson Trophy (Most Valuable Player WHA) (1974)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1980)
• Played exhibition schedule only with Galt Red Wings (OHA-Jr.) in 1944-45 season after OHA rejected transfer request.
• Signed as a free agent by Omaha (USHL), November 1, 1945.
• Signed as a free agent by Detroit, October 8, 1946.
• Signed as a free agent by Houston (WHA), June 5, 1973.
• Signed as a free agent by New England (WHA), June, 1977.
• Rights retained by Hartford prior to Expansion Draft, June 9, 1979.
• Signed to a one-game contract by Detroit (IHL), September, 1997.