from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,

Mike Babcock and the Maple Leafs, particularly those with Saskatchewan blood, could not miss the Gordie Howe statue as the team bus pulled up to the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday.

Depicting Howe in full bore, with left elbow high and a somewhat menacing grin, the statue was site of a touching ceremony on Sept. 25. No. 9’s ashes were brought back to his home town at his request and laid under the pedestal with those of his wife Colleen. Howe was born about 40 minutes outside of town in Floral, but raised in Saskatoon with his large family. He died on June 10 at age 88.

“Bruce Clark, who drives the Zamboni here, was a good friend of mine growing up,” Babcock said. “His mom was Gordie’s sister and I’ve followed Gordie forever. He really was great to me and my family growing up (when Babcock coached Detroit). Mark Howe (one of Gordie’s sons) was very important to our organization there, too, so I have a lot of ties to the family.

“He was a much better man than he was a player and he was the greatest player, so when you add it all together, he was a special guy for hockey and for Saskatoon.”

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