Gordie Howe played twenty-six seasons in the NHL and six seasons in the WHA; his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings. Nicknamed "Mr. Hockey", Howe is considered the most complete player to ever play the game and one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time. A 23-time NHL All-Star, he held many of the sport's career scoring records until they were broken in the 1980s by Wayne Gretzky, who himself has been a major champion of Howe's legacy. He continues to hold NHL records for most games and seasons played.

He won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring each year from 1950–51 to 1953–54, then again in 1956-57 and 1962–63, a total of six times, the second most in NHL history. He led the NHL in goal scoring four times. He ranked among the top ten in NHL scoring for 21 consecutive years and set an NHL record for points in a season (95) in 1953, a record which was broken six years later. He won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings four times and won six Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player. He also led the NHL in playoff points six times.