Brett Hull
[edit] BiographyBrett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964 in Belleville, Ontario) is a former NHL player, and the son of legendary player Bobby Hull. Though in the earliest years of his career few saw him as a potential star, the colorful and often outspoken Hull announced his retirement on October 15, 2005 with 741 career goals, placing him third on the all-time list. He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes. [edit] Hockey career[edit] PlayingHull was drafted out of the Junior A British Columbia Junior Hockey League's Penticton Knights as the 117th overall pick (sixth round) in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames. Hull then played two years of U.S. college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth before turning pro during the 1986 NHL playoffs. He spent most of the 1986-87 season with the minor league Moncton Golden Flames, being named to the AHL's First All-Star Team and receiving the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the league's top rookie, before being recalled to the NHL for good in the 1987-88 NHL season. On March 7, 1988, after repeatedly publicly criticizing the City of Calgary and the organization, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues, for whom he played most of his career. While in St. Louis, Hull developed into a prolific goal scorer with linemate Adam Oates and the duo were dubbed "Hull and Oates" (a pun on the well-known musical duo of Hall & Oates). In Hull’s best season, 1990-91, he scored 86 goals, the third highest mark ever recorded in one season, also setting a new record for right wingers in goals. That year he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player. Following the 1991-92 NHL season, the St. Louis Blues traded Adam Oates to the Boston Bruins for Craig Janney. Although talented, Janney was not to the calibre of Oates, a highly skilled passer and playmaker. Hull's production dropped off and he said he was never the same player without Oates. Hull played eleven seasons for the Blues before signing with the Dallas Stars as a free agent before the 1998-99 NHL season. During his initial season, his traditional jersey number, 16, was being worn by Stars forward Pat Verbeek, so Hull wore number 22 for that season, switching back to 16 in the 1999 offseason after Verbeek left the team. He helped the Stars capture the Stanley Cup that season, scoring what many consider to be a controversial Cup-winning goal off his own rebound in the third overtime period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals against Buffalo Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek. Video replay showed that Hull's skate was in the crease, which the Sabres argued was a violation of a rule then in effect that disallowed goals if an offensive player was in the goal crease. The goal was reviewed as the Stars celebrated on the ice, but was allowed to stand by the video review officials, who ruled that Hull's three consecutive shots on Hasek, the third of which went in, constituted possession of the puck through to the end of the play (the rule allowed for a player to bring the puck into the crease and score). The legality of the goal is still debated, and it is arguably the most disputed Cup-winning goal in NHL history. The crease interference rule, which was introduced in 1997 amid widespread criticism, was eliminated the following season. Hull and Hasek later won the Stanley Cup as teammates in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2001, Hull joined the Red Wings as a free-agent. Like Verbeek two years prior, Hull did not ask for jersey number 16, which the Wings had removed from circulation out of respect for Vladimir Konstantinov, whose hockey career had ended in a limousine accident six days after the Wings' 1997 Stanley Cup victory. For his three seasons in Detroit, Hull wore number 17, and he continued to play strongly. After participating in the 2002 Winter Olympics, earning a silver medal with Team USA, Hull played a key role in the Wings' 2002 Cup victory, scoring 10 goals en route to his second Cup. Hull would eventually pair up with young Red Wings stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on a line Hull would dub "Two Kids and a Goat". On August 6, 2004, Hull signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, who unretired his father's uniform number 9 for him. Bobby Hull's #9 jersey had been originally retired by the franchise on February 19, 1989, when they were the Winnipeg Jets. The first year of the contract was nullified by the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and some argue the time off damaged Hull's game irreparably; when hockey restarted in 2005-06, Hull played only 5 games with the Coyotes before, dissatisfied with his performance, he announced his retirement on October 15, 2005. The University of Minnesota-Duluth retired his #29 jersey on February 3, 2006, and later that same year, on December 5, 2006, the St. Louis Blues retired his #16. The Blues also changed the name of the stretch of Clark Avenue, the street that Scottrade Center between 14th and 15th Streets in St. Louis, to "Brett Hull Way" and have also announced plans to number the road such that the arena will be number 16. In a recent interview during Hockey Night in Canada, Hull was quoted as saying that he would never coach hockey. He also said the best big-game goalie he ever played with was Ed Belfour, during his time in Dallas, and that the best offensive defensemen he had played with were Sergei Zubov and Nicklas Lidstrom. The player he said he hated to play against was Chris Chelios. The coaches he said he liked the most was Ken Hitchcock and Scotty Bowman. The person that he said he disliked the most was Mike Keenan. [edit] In RetirementAs of the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Hull has returned to the Dallas Stars in a front-office role as special assistant to team president Jim Lites, identifying himself in Dallas Stars television commercials as the team's "Ambassador of Fun", as well as "Campaign Manager" for Stars players hoping to be voted to the 2007 All Star Game, to be held in Dallas. Hull also answers fan-submitted questions in a weekly editoral entitled "Brett's Bites" on DallasStars.com, and is a part-time radio analyst for the Stars, and a studio analyst for the NHL on NBC. [edit] Personal lifeHe married fellow University of Minnesota-Duluth student Alison Curran in Las Vegas on May 27, 1997. They had three children - Jude, Jayde, and Crosby - before they divorced. Hull married longtime girlfriend Darcie Schollmeyer on July 21, 2006 in Cabo San Lucas. [edit] CriticismHull often served as a magnet for criticism in his hockey career, often revolving around his perceived defensive deficiencies. He was outspoken throughout his career, willing to talk openly about his team, city, fans, coaching, or the NHL as a whole. Hull carried on a well-reported feud with coach/GM “Iron Mike” Keenan for several years while Keenan headed the Blues, was one of the first players to criticize the defense-first style of hockey that rose in the mid-1990s, and publicly criticized U.S. coaches (Bob Johnson and Ron Wilson) during international competitions for not giving him the ice time he felt he was due. In 1986, Hull made a decision that would earn him the lasting hatred of Canadian hockey fans when, snubbed by Team Canada coach Dave King for a World Championship team made up of mostly NHL players, Hull chose to play for the mostly-collegiate United States National Team instead. Hull held American citizenship through his mother in addition to his Canadian citizenship by birthplace and father. As a mostly Canadian-trained player, the son of a Canadian hockey legend, born in Canada, fans north of the border viewed The Golden Brett as nothing less than a traitor, particularly as his stardom grew. [edit] Career achievements and facts
[edit] Statistics
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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1983-84 Penticton Knights BCJHL 57 105 83 188 22
1984-85 U. of Minnesota-Duluth NCAA 48 32 28 60 24
1985-86 U. of Minnesota-Duluth NCAA 42 52 32 84 46
1985-86 Calgary Flames NHL -- -- -- -- -- 2 0 0 0 0
1986-87 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 67 50 42 92 16 3 2 2 4 2
1986-87 Calgary Flames NHL 5 1 0 1 0 4 2 1 3 0
1987-88 Calgary Flames NHL 52 26 24 50 12 -- -- -- -- --
1987-88 St. Louis Blues NHL 13 6 8 14 4 10 7 2 9 4
1988-89 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 41 43 84 33 10 5 5 10 6
1989-90 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 72 41 113 24 12 13 8 21 17
1990-91 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 86 45 131 22 13 11 8 19 4
1991-92 St. Louis Blues NHL 73 70 39 109 48 6 4 4 8 4
1992-93 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 54 47 101 41 11 8 5 13 2
1993-94 St. Louis Blues NHL 81 57 40 97 38 4 2 1 3 0
1994-95 St. Louis Blues NHL 48 29 21 50 10 7 6 2 8 0
1995-96 St. Louis Blues NHL 70 43 40 83 30 13 6 5 11 10
1996-97 St. Louis Blues NHL 77 42 40 82 10 6 2 7 9 2
1997-98 St. Louis Blues NHL 66 27 45 72 26 10 3 3 6 2
1998-99 Dallas Stars NHL 60 32 26 58 30 22 8 7 15 4
1999-00 Dallas Stars NHL 79 24 35 59 43 23 11 13 24 4
2000-01 Dallas Stars NHL 79 39 40 79 18 10 2 5 7 6
2001-02 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 30 33 63 35 23 10 8 18 4
2002-03 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 37 39 76 22 4 0 1 1 0
2003-04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 81 25 43 68 12 12 3 2 5 4
2005-06 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 5 0 1 1 0 -- -- -- -- --
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NHL Totals 1269 741 650 1391 458 202 103 87 190 73
[edit] International playTemplate:MedalTop Template:MedalSport Template:MedalSilver Template:MedalBottom Played for United States in:
[edit] References[edit] Related Articles[edit] Recent Brett Hull ArmchairGM Stories
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