Story highlights
Gordie Howe was a six-time Most Valuable Player in the NHL
He had a stroke that has affected him on his right side
Howe scored 975 goals in his professional hockey career
He is known as "Mr. Hockey"
Hockey great Gordie Howe suffered a stroke this week, his son said Tuesday night.
“It has affected his entire right side,” Marty Howe said. “We are all on our way to Texas to see Gordie. He is not looking good but don’t give up on him yet.”
Howe, 86, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. He was a member of four Stanley Cup champion teams with the Detroit Red Wings and was the NHL’s Most Valuable Player six times.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Gordie and the Howe family. Get well soon, Mr. Hockey,” the Red Wings tweeted.
Howe scored 801 goals in his 26 years in two stints in the league. In between, he also played six seasons in the World Hockey Association and added 174 more goals.
The Detroit News reported that Howe had spinal surgery during the summer, according to another son, Dr. Murray Howe. But the son said Howe had been doing well in the months since the surgery and told the newspaper the hockey legend had been walking a mile a day pain free.
“So we helped him with one problem,” Murray Howe, a radiologist in Ohio, told the News. “But this one is a little bit tougher to fight.”
The paper reported Gordie Howe was resting at his daughter’s home in Lubbock, Texas.
CNN’s Kevin Dotson contributed to this report.