Gordie Howe had a tough time fighting these two Rangers players.
In addition to being the best player of the Original Six Era, legendary Gordie Howe was the best fighter of his time.
As far as The Maven knows – and I go back to Howe's rookie year, 1946 – Gordie never lost a fight.
But twice, Howe fought to a draw and each time it was a Ranger who refused to lose to Mister Hockey.
The first was defenseman Fred (The Fog) Shero and the second also was a blueliner, Jack (Tex) Evans.
At best, Shero was a middleweight while Howe came in as a heavyweight. But Shero – already nicknamed "Ferocious Freddie" – came with a rep.
He'd been an amateure boxing champ in Winnipeg and knew how to handle his dukes. Shero's bout with Howe was long and ferocious.
I recall the fight being intense with none of the nonsensical sweater-pulling of today. What I still have in my 1946-47 scrapbook is the backpage of the NY Daily News which featured six panels, each depicting a segment of the bout.
The most memorable picture of all was a shot of Shero with his right arm cocked all the way back, as he hoped for a haymaker. (It was the best hockey-fighting draw I've ever seen.)
Howe's other draw took place a couple of seasons after the Shero Affair, also at old Madison Square Garden.
Unlike Ferocious Fred, Wales-born Tex Evans was built along the same generous, muscular lines as Howe. My vision of the bout was that they exchanged blows evenly until linesmen broke up the slugging.
It couldn't have been as good a card as Shero-Howe since there wasn't a single picture on the back page of the next day's Daily News!