Bobby Hull

[edit] Biography

Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull (born January 3, 1939) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. In his 23 years in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers. He also played for the New York Rangers in the DN-Cup in 1981. His slapshot was once clocked at 118.3 mph (190.4 km/h) and could skate 29.7 mph (47.8 km/h).

Hull was born in Pointe Anne, (now part of Belleville), Ontario, Canada. He played his minor hockey in Belleville, and then junior hockey for the Galt Black Hawks and the St. Catharines Teepees in the Ontario Hockey Association, before joining the Chicago Blackhawks in 1957 at the age of 18.

[edit] NHL career

Hull quickly blossomed into a star, finishing second in the rookie of the year balloting his first season. Hull originally wore numbers 16 and 7 as a Blackhawk but would later switch to his famous number 9, a tribute to his childhood idol Gordie Howe. By his third season, he led the league in goal- and point-scoring. Nicknamed the "Golden Jet", he went on to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 1961 — their third (and most recent) overall and first in 23 years. Hull was famous for his blinding speed and possessed the most feared slapshot of his day. He and teammate Stan Mikita were the most formidable forward duo of the Sixties, notorious for curving the blades of their sticks. Armed already with a blazing, heavy shot, his curved blade caused the puck to veer high and at all different angles. Hull's ability to harness the blade's unpredictability would make it one of hockey's most memorable signatures.

Although he was only 5'10" in stature, Bobby had a solid build and his playing weight was 185 pounds. His flowing blonde hair, good looks and electrifying style would make him one of hockey's first international superstars and arguably the NHL's marquee star of the Sixties.

On March 12, 1966, he became the first NHLer to score more than 50 goals in a season, surpassing Maurice Richard and Bernie Geoffrion's hallowed mark of 50 goals. His 51st goal against the New York Rangers earned him a seven-minute standing ovation from the Chicago Stadium faithful. He would go on to score 54 goals that season, the highest single season total of the Original Six era, and led the league in goal scoring seven times in all in the Sixties. Despite Hull breaking his own record by four goals in 1968-69, the Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season. By his final NHL season, he had scored 50 goals or more a remarkable five times, only one fewer than every other player in history who had done so combined to that date.

[edit] WHA career

Long unhappy because of his relatively poor salary in the period when he was hockey's preeminent superstar, Hull responded to overtures from the upstart World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets in 1972 by jesting that he'd jump to them for a million dollars, a sum then considered absurd. Gathering the other league owners together to contribute to the unprecedented amount on the grounds that inking such a major star would give instant credibility to the new rival league that was competing directly against the entrenched NHL, Jets' owner Ben Hatskin agreed to the sum, and signed Hull for a contract worth $1,000,000 over ten years. Although his debut with Winnipeg was held up in litigation by the NHL, Hull instantly became the WHA's greatest star, and with Swedish linemates Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson formed one of the most formidable forward lines of the 1970s (known as "The Hot Line"), leading the Jets to two AVCO Cups during his time with the club. His best year was 1975, when he scored 77 goals to set a new professional mark.

Because he joined the rival league, Hull was not allowed to represent Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. However in 1974 he got his chance to play on the international stage when he suited up for the WHA team representing Canada in a series against the USSR national team. The WHA lost the series four games to one (three ending in a tie), despite Hull's seven goals. He was a key member of the Canadian squad that won the 1976 Canada Cup, though, scoring five goals in seven games.

[edit] Retirement

Slowed by injuries and age, Hull played only a few games in the WHA's final season of 1979. However, after the 1979 merger of the two leagues (including the Jets) and reportedly in financial straits, Hull came out of retirement to play once more for the NHL Jets. He played in eighteen games before being traded to the Hartford Whalers for future considerations, and played effectively in nine games and three playoff games before retiring once more to care for his partner who had recently been injured in an automobile accident.

Hull ended his career having played in 1063 NHL games, accumulating 610 goals, 560 assists, 1170 points, 640 penalty minutes, three Art Ross Trophies, two Hart Memorial Trophies, a Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, a Stanley Cup Championship and adding 102 penalty minutes, 62 goals and 67 assists for 129 points in 119 playoff games. He played in 411 WHA games, scoring 303 goals, 335 assists and 638 points, adding 43 goals and 37 assists in 60 playoff games — 80 points.

In 1978 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1983, Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His #9 jersey has been retired both by the Blackhawks and the Jets (and is still honored by the Jets' successor team, the Phoenix Coyotes.)

In 1998, Hull got involved in a controversy with the Russian media when he allegedly made pro-Nazi comments. He later claimed the interviewer misunderstood him in the translation.

[edit] The Hull family

Bobby's younger brother Dennis (sometimes referred to as "the Silver Jet"), starred alongside him with the Chicago Blackhawks for eight seasons, scoring over 300 goals in his own right. When Bobby was excluded from the 1972 Summit Series because he played in the WHA, Dennis initially planned to boycott the event as well as a show of support for his brother, but Bobby persuaded him to stay on Team Canada.

Bobby's son, Brett Hull (the "Golden Brett"), was a more glittering star yet, finishing his own illustrious career with the third-highest goal total in NHL history. Bobby and Brett are the only father-and-son tandem to achieve the marks of more than 50 goals in a season and more than 600 NHL goals. They are also the only father-and-son tandem to win the Hart Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy. While playing for the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets) in 2005, Brett donned his father's retired #9 for the last five games of his career.

Bobby's other son, Bart Hull, was a standout running back for the Boise State University Bronco's football team in the early 1990s, and briefly played with British Columbia Lions

[edit] Awards and achievements

• Retired as the second leading goal scorer and ninth leading point scorer in NHL history (currently 12th and 43rd respectively).
• Second in WHA history in goals, sixth in assists and third in points.
• Won the Stanley Cup in 1960-61 with Chicago.
• Won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring champion in 1960, 1962 and 1966.
• Won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1965 and 1966.
• Won the Gary Davidson Trophy as the WHA's most valuable player in 1973 and 1975.
• Named to the NHL's First All-Star Team in 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1972.
• Named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team in 1963 and 1971.
• Named to the WHA's First All-Star Team in 1973, 1974 and 1975.
• Named to the WHA's Second All-Star Team in 1976 and 1978.
• Won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1965.
• Became third hockey player to appear on the cover of Time magazine[1]
• Won the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1969.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 8 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking left winger.
• Upon playing his last playoff game in 1980, he and teammate Gordie Howe became the last active players that had played in the 1950s.

[edit] See also

• Retired NHL players
• List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL seasons
• Brett Hull
• Dennis Hull
• Notable families in the NHL
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

[edit] References

• Career Overview and Biography - by ESPN
• Bobby Hull at hockeyDB

[edit] Statistics

                                  Regular Season
Season  Team                   Lge    GP   G   A    Pts  PIM

1954-55 Galt Black Hawks       OHA-Jr 6    0   0    0    0
1955-56 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr 48   11  7    18   79
1956-57 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr 52   33  28   61   95
1957-58 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    70   13  34   47   62
1958-59 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    70   18  32   50   50
1959-60 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    70   39  42   81   68
1960-61 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    67   31  25   56   43
1961-62 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    70   50  34   84   35
1962-63 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    65   31  31   62   27
1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    70   43  44   87   50
1964-65 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    61   39  32   71   32
1965-66 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    65   54  43   97   70
1966-67 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    66   52  28   80   52
1967-68 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    71   44  31   75   39
1968-69 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    74   58  49  107   48
1969-70 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    61   38  29   67    8
1970-71 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    78   44  52   96   32
1971-72 Chicago Blackhawks     NHL    78   50  43   93   24
1972-73 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    63   51  52  103   37
1973-74 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    75   53  42   95   38
1974-75 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    78   77  65  142   41
1975-76 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    80   53  70  123   30
1976-77 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    34   21  32   53   14
1977-78 Winnipeg Jets          WHA    77   46  71  117   23
1978-79 Winnipeg Jets          WHA     4    2   3    5    0
1979-80 Winnipeg/Hartford      NHL    27    6  11   17    0
1981-82 New York Rangers       DN-Cup  4    1   1    2    0

                   NHL Totals        1063 610 560 1170  640
                   WHA Totals         411 303 335  638  183

[edit] References

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