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50 free Gordie Howe trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Gordie Howe trivia quiz covers Mr. Hockey from a farmhouse in Floral, Saskatchewan, to a final NHL season at 52 and one last professional shift at 69. The easy questions are ones any hockey fan can answer: the team he spent 25 seasons with, the number he wore, the nickname, what a Gordie Howe hat trick is and which player finally broke his scoring records. The harder end is for Red Wings historians and hockey obsessives: his linemates on the Production Line, the fractured skull of 1950, the four straight scoring titles, why he switched from number 17 to number 9, how many Hart Trophies he won, the WHA team he joined with his sons Mark and Marty, the night he scored his 1,000th professional goal, the salary dispute that helped spark the players' association, the game show he appeared on in 1967, and the bridge across the Detroit River that carries his name. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries for Howe, his teams and his family before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, try our Hockey, Detroit Red Wings and Wayne Gretzky quizzes next.
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Q 01What was Gordie Howe's famous nickname?
Mr. Hockey
Both Mr. Hockey and his wife's nickname, Mrs. Hockey, are registered trademarks.
Q 02With which NHL team did Howe spend his first 25 seasons?
Detroit Red Wings
His 26th and final NHL season came with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.
Q 03In which Canadian province was Gordie Howe born?
Saskatchewan
The family moved to Saskatoon when he was nine days old.
Q 04Which jersey number did Howe wear for almost his entire career?
9
He wore 17 as a rookie; he accepted the switch because number 9 came with a lower Pullman berth on train trips.
Q 05Which perk persuaded Howe to accept the number 9 sweater in 1947?
A lower Pullman berth on road trips
The number had belonged to Roy Conacher, who left for Chicago.
Q 06How many goals did Howe score in his NHL career?
801
Adding six WHA seasons, he scored 975 regular-season goals as a professional.
Q 07Which player eventually broke Howe's NHL records for goals, assists and points?
Wayne Gretzky
Gretzky wore 99 as a direct tribute to Howe because 9 was taken early in his career.
Q 08What three things make up a 'Gordie Howe hat trick'?
A goal, an assist and a fight
Rick Tocchet leads with 18; Howe managed his two in 1953 and 1954.
Q 09How many times did Howe record his namesake hat trick in his own career?
Two
Few players dared fight him after he beat Rangers enforcer Lou Fontinato at Madison Square Garden in 1959.
Q 10Which two linemates joined Howe on Detroit's 'Production Line'?
Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay
In 1949-50 the trio finished one-two-three in NHL scoring.
Q 11Which Maple Leafs captain was Howe trying to check when he fractured his skull in 1950?
Ted Kennedy
He needed emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, yet Detroit still won the Cup.
Q 12How many consecutive scoring titles did Howe win starting in 1950-51?
Four
Only Esposito, Jágr and Gretzky have matched four in a row since.
Q 13How many Art Ross Trophies did Howe win in total?
Six
He ranked in the NHL's top ten in scoring for 21 consecutive years.
Q 14How many Hart Trophies as league MVP did Howe win in the NHL?
Q 21Which discovery after his 103-point season caused a rift with the Red Wings?
He was only the team's third-highest-paid player
Owner Bruce Norris raised him to $100,000 but blamed Howe's wife Colleen for the demand.
Q 22Which chronic problem forced Howe's first retirement after the 1970-71 season?
A wrist injury
He later had wrist surgery specifically so he could return to play in the WHA.
Q 23Which new franchise offered Howe its first head-coaching job in 1972, which he declined?
New York Islanders
Six
Only Gretzky, with nine, has more.
Q 15How many Stanley Cups did Howe win with Detroit?
Four
Detroit also finished first in the regular season seven straight years from 1948-49 to 1954-55, still unmatched.
Q 16How many goals did Howe score in his record 95-point season of 1952-53?
49
He fell one short of Maurice Richard's record of 50, though Richard's came in a 50-game season.
Q 17Against which team did Howe record his 1,000th NHL point in November 1960?
Toronto Maple Leafs
It came in his 938th game; the next season he became the first to play 1,000 games.
Q 18Which Montreal right winger, also wearing 9, was Howe's great rival in the 1950s?
Maurice Richard
Béliveau wrote that muscling Howe off the puck was like wrestling a telephone pole.
Q 19Who described playing against Howe as 'strong as a bull and tougher than a night in jail'?
Bobby Hull
The two finished their careers as Hartford Whalers teammates in 1980.
Q 20At what age did Howe record his only 100-point NHL season, with 103 points in 1968-69?
40
He is still the only player in his forties to score 40 goals and 100 points in an NHL season.
His number 9 was retired by Detroit on 12 March 1972.
Q 24Which WHA team did Howe join in 1973 to play alongside his sons?
Houston Aeros
His wife Colleen negotiated the deal that brought him out of retirement.
Q 25What are the names of the two Howe sons who played with their father in the WHA?
Mark and Marty
Mark became a Hall of Fame defenceman; a third son, Murray, is a radiologist.
Q 26Which award did Howe win as WHA MVP in 1974, at age 46?
Gary L. Davidson Trophy
He remains the oldest MVP in NHL or WHA history.
Q 27How many consecutive WHA championships did Howe win with his sons in the WHA?
Two
He said winning with his sons probably meant more than his Stanley Cups.
Q 28Against which WHA team did Howe score his 1,000th professional goal in December 1977?
Birmingham Bulls
The city of Birmingham presented him with a trophy for the milestone.
Q 29Which Whalers milestone did Howe reach during the 1978 WHA playoffs at age 50?
First grandfather to play pro hockey
He also became the first to play a professional game at 50 that season.
Q 30Which opponent did Howe cross-check in the face after he broke son Marty's cheekbone?
Robbie Ftorek
Mark protested that Ftorek was a friend and mentor; Gordie believed in prairie justice.