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Gordie Howe: Can ‘Mr. Hockey’ Help Government Officials Build A Bridge?

By Sandra Johnson
Published on: 14:20 PST, May 14, 2015

Hockey player Gordie Howe has four Stanley Cup rings. He’s a six-time Hart Trophy winner, which is given to the National Hockey League’s most valuable player. For years, he’s been one of the faces of the Detroit Red Wings hockey organization, and he’s arguably the best player to ever play for the club.

To say that Howe means a lot to metro Detroiters is a bit of an understatement. Now, officials on both sides of the Detroit River are hoping that sentimentality will help to get a bridge built.

Thursday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the new bridge between Detroit and Windsor would be called The Gordie Howe International Bridge.

Except, the bridge hasn’t been built yet. In fact, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has yet to begin accepting bids to design, build, and operate the bridge.

While some have noted the oddity of naming a bridge that has yet to even be designed, others acknowledge naming the bridge after Gordie Howe to be a good move. In fact, Patrick Anderson of Anderson Economic Group LLC went so far as to say that naming the bridge after Gordie Howe might help to get it completed. Here’s what he told Crain’s Detroit Business in an email.

“From a political perspective, they found someone more popular than any current elected official on either side of the border. And from an economic perspective, they reminded all of us of the longstanding economic partnership between Ontario and Michigan — a critical benefit to a bridge that relies on expected growth in trade for future toll revenue.”

When it comes to trade between the United States and Canada, Anderson has a point. In 2014, more than $870 billion in trade was done between the two countries, according to the Detroit Free Press, and the Detroit-Windsor border crossing is the busiest in the country.

Currently, The Ambassador bridge, built in the 1920s, acts as a link between the two cities, but according to proponents of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the Ambassador Bridge is not quite big enough. The Gordie Howe bridge is expected to help improve traffic flow between Windsor and Detroit, which would help improve trade between the cities.

The plan has plenty of opponents, as well. For example, Matty Moroun, who owns the Ambassador Bridge, has filed lawsuits in both the United States and Canada in an attempt to prevent the Gordie Howe bridge from being built.

That’s why, according to Anderson, naming the bridge after a unifying personality — such as Gordie Howe — will help in the long run.

“Naming an unbuilt bridge might seem unusual, but naming it after a legend is going to help get it built.”

For some, naming the bridge after Gordie Howe seems to make perfect sense. Howe, born in Saskatchewan, is a native of Canada, but as mentioned, he has significant ties to Detroit. In fact, Howe played 25 of his 26 seasons in the NHL with the Red Wings. In addition to the four Stanley Cups and six Hart Trophies, Gordie Howe was a member of 23 NHL All Star teams and has his number retired among the Red Wings organization. Howe has long been a fan favorite in Detroit.

While some supported the move to name the bridge after Gordie Howe, others took to Twitter in opposition to the name.

The news to name the bridge after Howe comes shortly after the legend celebrated his 87th birthday. During the fall, Gordie Howe sustained multiple strokes and was in poor health. In recent months, his health has improved as the result of stem cell treatments, according to media reports.

What do you think about officials naming an unbuilt bridge after Howe? Do you think naming the bridge after Gordie Howe will help it be built?

[Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images]

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