LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Ravaged by a stroke that left him unable to walk and barely able to speak, Gordie Howe decided it was time to quit.

His sons didn't want to hear it. Not from Mr. Hockey, whose 25-year career in the NHL was defined by his indomitable style and blend of grit and finesse.

"He was saying, 'Take me out back and shoot me,'" recalled Murray Howe, a diagnostic radiologist. "He was serious. It wasn't like a joke. I said, 'Dad, let's just see if we can help you first.'"

They found it in Mexico, where experimental stem cell treatments produced what his family called a "life-changing" turnaround that has put the 87-year-old Howe back on his feet. A second round of treatments is planned in June.

These days there's little doubt his spirits are high. At a recent session of occupational and physical therapy in Lubbock, Howe's eyes twinkled and he smiled now and then as he flirted with the two young women putting him through his paces. He even planted an innocent, light kiss on the cheek on his occupational therapist and twirled her once as if dancing.

"He is doing extremely well, very well for his age," said Nathalie Geddie, Howe's physical therapist, adding that he still has weakness on his right side. "To think about how far he's come since he's had his stroke, he's made significant functional gains."

Recent years have indeed been challenging for Howe, who set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points mostly with the Detroit Red Wings that held up until Wayne Gretzky surpassed him. He retired from hockey for good, but not until he was 52.

The body he counted on as an athlete has stayed relatively strong, but memory loss from the early stages of dementia became a problem even before his wife's death in 2009 after battling Pick's disease, a rare form of dementia similar to Alzheimer's. Colleen Howe's death seemed to hasten Howe's decline, Murray Howe said.

Howe's four children began taking turns having him live at their homes for weeks or months at a time.

Howe had a significant stroke Oct. 26, losing use of his right arm and leg, and his speech was slurred. He was still able to recognize people in family photos and those from his playing days, and he improved in the weeks that followed. But because he couldn't swallow following the stroke, he shed 35 pounds. And then came another blow the next month.

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Hockey great Gordie Howe makes gritty fight back from stroke