WAYNE GRETZKY / 1,852 POINTS : Sons Knew Howe Was No Broken Aero : Hockey Family: NHL great came out of retirement to play six seasons with Marty and Mark Howe in the WHA.

Gordie Howe played professional hockey for so many years that in the last few seasons of his career, most of his teammates were old enough to be his sons.

As a matter of fact, two teammates were his sons.

Mark and Marty Howe played with their father for seven seasons, including six in the old World Hockey Assn., before he retired--at 52--as the most prolific scorer in hockey history.

“It was the highlight of my career,” Howe said of his time on the ice with the two oldest of his four children--four seasons with the Houston Aeros, two with the New England Whalers and, after the Whalers were absorbed into the National Hockey League, one season with the Hartford Whalers.

“The time in Houston--I never enjoyed four years in my life as much as those.

“I thought it was going to be more of a challenge to stay up with them, but it was so dang much fun.

“As a matter of fact, when everybody else was dragging, I used to skate around the ice, and if somebody had his head down, I’d hit him in the buttocks with my stick and say, ‘Repeat after me: The money is good and the hours are short.’ They thought I was sick.”

Howe’s wife, Colleen, suggested that he resume his career in 1973 to play with his sons. Two years earlier, an injured wrist still aching, Howe retired after 24 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

“Everybody laughed except me,” Howe said of his wife’s suggestion. “I thought it was a hell of an idea.”

With Mark playing most of the time as the left wing on a line centered by Gordie, and Marty backing them as a defenseman, Howe accumulated 508 points in the WHA, including 100 in his first season, when the Aeros won the first of two straight WHA championships, and 102 in his third.

He had more than 100 points in a season only once in the NHL.

After compiling 41 points in his last NHL season, Howe retired for good in 1980 with 2,358 professional points, including 975 goals.

His NHL total of 1,850 points stood as a record until Sunday night, when Wayne Gretzky of the Kings surpassed it.

His record of 801 NHL goals, however, still stands.

The most memorable of his 174 WHA goals, he said, probably was scored on April 21, 1978, the night his first grandson was born.

Only a few minutes before a game at Edmonton, a teammate skated over to the startled Howe and said, “Hi, Gramps.”

Mark’s wife, Ginger, had given birth to Travis Gordon.

During the game’s first shift, Howe put the puck into the net.

“What a kick,” Howe said.

It was quite a kick, too, for Marty and Mark to play with Gordie.

“He did the hard part,” Mark said of his father.

Mark, who still plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, is a year younger than Marty, who was 19 when the Aeros drafted them.

Marty, now a carpenter in Hartford, Conn., said that the time on the ice with his father gave him a greater appreciation of his father’s tremendous talents and an insight into his competitiveness.

“He always took the attitude, ‘Do unto others before they do unto you,’ ” Marty said. “He kind of lived by that rule.

“He wasn’t at all like he is off the ice. When he was on the ice, he was all business. He was a big guy (6 feet, 205 pounds) and he wasn’t (shy) about wielding his stick. Everybody called him Mr. Elbows, but they probably should have called him Zorro.

“He always had about two more feet (to work with) than everybody else because nobody wanted to get too close. He was pretty awesome out there. Every time we played a team we hadn’t faced, he’d let somebody have it. Then, when we played that team again, they seemed to give him more room.

“You sit in the stands and you don’t see half that stuff. When you play with him, you get a much better understanding of what he was really like. I don’t know if he had a mean streak or what.”

What really boiled Howe’s blood were opponents picking on his sons. He wouldn’t hesitate to join in their fights.

“They said I was overprotective because if somebody hit them, I’d be in there, nailing that guy, a second later,” Howe said. “They told me, ‘I can absorb the first hit, but when you add your 200-plus pounds, it hurts.’ They didn’t want me to get in there too quickly.”

Though they weren’t so sure at first, Mark and Marty were glad to be playing with their father, rather than against him.

In the beginning, though, they said they felt tremendous pressure.

“We didn’t want anyone to think we’d made it because we were riding on his name,” Mark said. “I don’t think we realized the thrill of playing with him until we got ourselves established.

“We’d watched him play for years, but you never know how great a player is until you see him every day in practice and in games. His first year in the WHA, he was unbelievable.”

Two years before Gordie retired for the second time, Mark experienced the added thrill of playing on a line with his father and Gretzky in a series of exhibition games matching the WHA All-Stars against a Soviet all-star team.

“Everybody talks about those two playing together,” Mark said. “The trivia question is: ‘Who played left wing?’ ”

Answer: A son of the most dangerous gun in hockey history.