Proudest moment for 'Mr. Hockey'? It happened in Mount Prospect
The NHL player so revered he earned the title "Mr. Hockey" once called the time he played at a short-lived ice arena in Mount Prospect the proudest moment of his career.
Gordie Howe, who died Friday at 88, played two games of the World Hockey Association finals in May 1974 at the Twin Ice Arena outside the old Randhurst Shopping Center.
Retired from the NHL in 1971 after 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Howe came out of retirement in 1973 to play with his two sons on the WHA Houston Aeros.
"He referred to this as the proudest moment of his career because he played on a team with his sons, Mark and Marty," said Greg Peerbolte, former director of the Mount Prospect Historical Society. "It's one of those cool, history-right-under-your-nose kind of things."
Marty Howe would later strengthen the family's ties to suburban Chicago as assistant coach of the Chicago Wolves for seven years before leaving in 2006.
But the story of how the legendary elder Howe came to grace the ice of a relatively new arena - built to cater to recreational skaters in Mount Prospect - is an interesting one all by itself, Peerbolte said.
Some refer to it as the Peter Pan incident.
The local team, the Chicago Cougars, were the Cinderellas of the WHA in 1974. After a relatively lackluster regular season, the Cougars limped into the playoffs and then just started winning and winning, upsetting the formidable New England Whalers on their way to the Avco Cup finals against the Aeros.
Two games of the finals would be played in Chicago, and two in Houston.
The Cougars played home games at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago. But because the team's presence in the finals hadn't been anticipated, those dates were already booked for a production of "Peter Pan" starring gymnast Cathy Rigby. Naturally, they melted the ice.
Cougars President Walter Kaiser looked all over for an alternate rink, including well outside the Chicago area, but fans insisted the games be played in the Cougars' home market. That led to the Twin Ice Arena in Mount Prospect, which held about 2,000 people, Peerbolte said.
The Cougars' magic run ended at the hands of Gordie Howe and his sons, who beat the Chicago team in four straight games.
The Twin Ice Arena didn't survive long beyond the historic moment, Peerbolte said.
The building's next use was a concert venue where acts such as Ted Nugent performed. Some of these concerts got out-of-hand and led to the building being repurposed as the tamer Child World toy store.
The arena was eventually torn down; it's currently the site of the Home Depot store.
Peerbolte is now executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum, but the book he wrote about the history of Randhurst is still sold through the Mount Prospect Historical Society. The Chicago Cougars occupy a whole chapter.