Marty Howe (ice hockey, born 1937)

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Marty Howe
Born (1937-01-15)January 15, 1937
Regina, Saskatchewan, CAN
Died August 15, 2020(2020-08-15) (aged 83)
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position
Defenseman
Played for Denver
Pittsburgh Hornets
San Francisco Seals
Vancouver Canucks
Denver Invaders
National team  United States
Playing career 1958–1967

Marty Howe was a Canadian-born, American ice hockey

defenseman who was a two-time All-American for Denver[1] and helped the team win consecutive national championships
in the early 1960s.

Career

Howe grew up in Regina and played for his home town junior team, the

1958
and knew he would have a chance to win one himself the following year.

That offseason, the WIHL dissolved as a result of a disagreement between schools over recruiting practices. Howe was one of many players used by teams like Denver or North Dakota who arrived from Canada as over-aged athletes (20 years old or more) and some in the conference, particularly Minnesota, took issue with that policy. As a result, Denver was an independent program for the 1959 season and produced a stellar record, going 22–5–1. Unfortunately, due to the ease of their schedule, Denver was left out of the NCAA tournament despite possessing the best record of any western team.

The result was a swift mending of fences and the WIHL reconstituted as the WCHA. Marty Howe, now a junior, was a star of the team, the conference and college ice hockey as a whole when he was named as the most outstanding defenseman for Denver in 1960,

All-Tournament First Team.[3]

As an encore, Marty Howe helped Denver produce one of the most outstanding seasons in the history of college hockey. Denver became the first team to win 30 games in a season by going 30–1–1 and was recognized by having five players named to the six spots on both the All-WCHA First Team and the All-American West Team. Howe's named appeared on both lists for the second consecutive season and he aided the Pioneers in their defense of a conference championship. Howe's team returned to the NCAA tournament as the heavy favorite and Denver did not disappoint. Denver dropped Minnesota 6–1 in the semifinal and then produced the most lopsided victory in NCAA championship history with a 12–2 drubbing of St. Lawrence.[4] Despite the huge number of goals scored, Howe did not record a point in the title game but he was named to the All-Tournament First Team nonetheless.

After graduating with a degree in accounting, Howe continued his playing career. He appeared briefly with the Pittsburgh Hornets before travelling west and spending several seasons in the Western Hockey League. Howe retired in 1964 but returned three years later as a member of the US National Team. He played at the 1967 Ice Hockey World Championships and finished tied for second in team scoring with 5 points in 7 games.[5] The team finished 5th, a slight improvement over the previous year, but not good enough to keep Howe for another tournament.

Howe was inducted into the Denver Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.[6]

Personal

Marty met his wife Diane while at Denver and the pair raised three daughters, Vanessa, Melissa and Diedre.

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1954–55 Regina Pats WCJHL
1955–56 Regina Pats WCJHL
1956–57 Regina Pats SJHL 51 5 19 24 89
1958–59
Denver NCAA
1959–60
Denver WCHA 13 21 34
1960–61
Denver WCHA
1961–62 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 26 0 3 3 25
1961–62 San Francisco Seals WHL 36 2 10 12 28 2 0 0 0 0
1962–63 Vancouver Canucks WHL 68 3 12 15 78 7 1 2 3 6
1963–64 Denver Invaders WHL 70 11 26 37 74 6 2 5 7 29
NCAA Totals 76 32 48 80

International

Year Team   GP G A Pts PIM
1967 United States 7 3 2 5 36

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-
First Team
1959–60 [7]
AHCA West All-American 1959–60 [1]
All-Tournament First Team
1961
[3]
All-
First Team
1960–61 [7]
AHCA West All-American 1960–61 [8]

References

  1. ^ a b "1959-1960 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  2. ^ "Denver Hockey Mourns the Loss of Hall-of-Famer Marty Howe". Denver Pioneers. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  4. ^ "Denver Pioneers 2007-08 Hockey Yearbook" (PDF). Denver Pioneers. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  5. ^ "Team USA - Ice Hockey World Championships 1967 - Player Stats". Quant Hockey. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2001". Denver Pioneers. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. ^ "1960-1961 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.

External links