Gordie Howe's son on father's failing health: 'Feel like this is his last lap around the rink'

Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe is resting after suffering a stroke on the weekend, but the prognosis isn't good.

"I feel like this is his final lap around the rink," Murray Howe, one of Gordie's sons, told Helene St. James and George Sipple from the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday. "I'm guessing that he's not going to recover ... but then again, he's about as strong as they get. If anybody can do it he can."

Howe, known as Mr. Hockey by many fans, has lost some function on the right side of his body and is having trouble speaking, according to Murray, who heads the department of radiology at Toledo Hospital.

"Basically, sometime in the early morning on Sunday he suffered a pretty bad stroke," Murray told Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News.

The right side of his body is very, very weak. He's unable to stand without help. He's able to speak, but very, very difficult to speak. He knows who he is. He knows the people around him. But it is very difficult for him to get up and walk around. So he is pretty much confined to his bed right now. So we're just trying to keep him comfortable, and that's our goal.

Gordie required spinal surgery during the summer, but Murray said his father had fully recovered from that procedure prior to the stroke.

A four-time Stanley Cup winner, Gordie captured six Hart Trophies and six Art Ross Trophies during his 25-year career and is third on the NHL's career points list with 1,850.