from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

He walked on his own from the shadows and into the spotlight to his place at the table of honor.

Though the steps might have been slow, maybe little more than a shuffle, they were nonetheless the steps of a giant.

And in the end, as the crowd in his hometown rose as one to celebrate one of the greatest athletes of all time, we should have expected nothing less from Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe.

"He knew what was going on. I could see it in his eyes," Hall of Famer Bobby Hull told a trio of reporters shortly after Howe was honored by the Saskatoon Kinsmen at their annual sports celebrity dinner.

As the event came to a close, Wayne Gretzky stood with Howe on the stage in the middle of a jam-packed ballroom and delivered a check for $25,000 for Alzheimer's research. The two hockey legends stood shoulder to shoulder with the crowd of 1,500 again on its feet, and Gretzky talked of his affection for the entire Howe family.

And then, as if to punctuate the evening, Gretzky said of Howe: "He was, is and will always be the greatest hockey player of all time."

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