NHL Notebook: Gordie Howe’s health continutes improving after stem cell treatment

The remarkable resurgence of Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe continues, as he has gone from wheelchair bound to pushing a shopping cart.

Son Mark Howe, who was at Saturday’s game between the Wings and Washington Capitals in his role as a Wings pro scout, told the Detroit Free Press that Gordie Howe “is doing very well, overall.”

Gordie Howe, who turns 87 in March, has severe dementia and has suffered a series of strokes since last summer, including a serious one in October. He was rushed to hospital in early December with what was feared to be another stroke, but turned out to be dehydration.

The family – sons Mark, Marty, Murray and daughter Cathy, the latter of whom Gordie Howe resides with in Lubbock, Texas – opted to have Gordie Howe undergo stem cell treatment in mid-December. Since then, their father’s quality of life has improved to the point he goes out in public accompanied by family members.

Before the treatment, Mark Howe said, his father’s mobility was limited to shuffling his feet forward while sitting in a wheelchair. Now he’s able to kick a small ball around outside. And within the past few days, “dad was pushing a cart at a grocery store, and he’s gone to the mall,” Mark Howe said.

Selanne’s jersey retired by Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks retired Teemu Selanne’s No. 8 jersey in the Honda Center rafters Sunday, honoring the beloved forward who became their franchise scoring leader during his 21-season NHL career.

Eight months after Selanne retired following a career spent mostly with Anaheim, the Ducks raised his No. 8 in an emotional pregame ceremony for the franchise’s most popular player and the 11th-leading goal-scorer in league history.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ducks owner Henry Samueli and Selanne’s family joined two decades of former Ducks players in honoring the Finnish Flash.

Selanne won the Stanley Cup in 2007 and delighted hockey fans for a quarter-century with his electrifying offensive abilities and magnetic personality. Selanne’s jersey number is the first retired by the Ducks.

Around the league

Detroit has put goalie Jimmy Howard on injured reserve after he was carted off the ice Saturday night at Washington. … Kings rookie forward Tanner Pearson is out indefinitely with a broken left leg. … Flyers goalie Steve Mason is expected to miss two weeks because of a lower-body injury. … Sabres forward Cody McCormick has been hospitalized because of a blood clot in his leg.