From his short but impressive playing career, curtailed by injury, Roger Howse emerged as one of the early builders of hockey in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially minor hockey.

When the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association became responsible for minor hockey in 1966, he was elected its first vice-president for minor hockey. Coupled with the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association becoming a member of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association almost immediately, the overall situation was handled extremely efficiently by Howse, and the results of his early planning and work benefited all minor hockey within the province today.

Roger Howse provided the leadership that established a solid foundation for minor hockey in Newfoundland and Labrador. As provincial minor hockey vice-president, Howse organized a province-wide committee, put in place coaching and officiating upgrading situations, and initiated a series of provincial minor hockey tournaments that ultimately allowed the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association minor program to arrive at a level equal to other Canadian organizations. He was especially adept in overcoming many and varied problems associated with the introduction of any programs and, in his own effective style, easily brought local minor hockey associations into the provincial structure.

It was in 1966 that Howse was also elected president of the Grand Falls Minor Hockey Association and, in three short years under his leadership, it grew from a membership of 250 to a membership of 550, with 100 adult volunteers operating very effectively. It was the Grand Falls Minor Hockey Association that began a model for other similar organizations within Newfoundland and Labrador and, in fact, it was often used by those setting up minor hockey groups in the rest of Canada. Not only did this organization provide top-level activity for a great number of young people, but it was the foundation from which some of the finest players ever produced within the province made their way into the National Hockey League and other prestigious leagues.

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association awarded its plaque for outstanding service to minor hockey to Roger Howse in 1970. In 1971, he was awarded an honorary life membership and an outstanding service plaque by the Grand Falls Minor Hockey Association in recognition of his great contributions.

Roger Howse was a perennial all-star baseballer and was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.