Player Biography: Brett Hull

[ScottM]

              Imagine being a hockey player who had a father and an uncle who were star players. That would certainly give you big shoes to fill. Now imagine your father notched 610 NHL goals and you uncle 303. Those shoes just got that much bigger. Now imagine those shoes were too small for you. That would make you Brett Hull.

 

                Brett Andrew Hull was born in Belleville, Ontario on August 9, 1964. His father was NHL legend Bobby Hull, and his mother Joanne was an American professional figure skater. His mother’s nationality would play a very important role in her son’s future hockey career.

 

                Since Bobby played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Brett spent much of his early life in Chicago. His first experience playing hockey was as a four-year-old in the Chicago area. Before the 1972 season, Bobby joined the Winnipeg Jets of the upstart World Hockey Association, and the family moved back to Canada. His parents divorced in 1979, and Brett and his two youngest siblings moved to Vancouver with their mother. While Brett occasionally spoke to his father, he and Bobby were not close during the divorce.

 

                Hull was eligible for the 1982 NHL entry draft but failed to draw any interest. He described himself being viewed as a “pudgy, fun-loving, music-crazed bum” as a youngster. The 220-pound Hull was given the nickname “Pickle” and failed to find a spot on a Major Junior squad. He joined the Penticton Knights of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League for the 1982-83 season, for whom he scored 48 goals in 50 games that year. He was again passed over in the 1983 draft, but the perception of young Brett would change after the next season. In 1983-84, he scored a whopping 105 goals in only 56 games, and set a league scoring mark with 188 points. That performance was enough to get the attention of the Calgary Flames who chose him with their sixth round draft pick in 1984.

 

                The Flames weren’t the only team to take notice of Hull’s scoring prowess. The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs also saw Hull’s potential and offered Brett a scholarship. Hull accepted and played two seasons of college hockey. In the 1984-85 season, he scored 32 goals, a school record for a freshman. The next season, he scored an overall school record of 52 goals.

 

                Nineteen eighty-six was a pivotal year in Hull’s career and, as it would turn out, a pivotal year for the United States national hockey program. While Team Canada did not offer him a roster spot for the 1986 World Championships, Team USA did. Hull was a dual citizen and eligible to play for either team. While his team finished sixth in the tournament, Brett was impressive, leading the American team in scoring and playing a major role in a 5-3 upset of Team Canada. Hull later said that his selection to the American squad for that tournament was key in helping him develop the confidence he needed to build the professional career that he had.

 

                The other major event in Hull’s hockey career in 1986 was his decision to go professional. He appeared in two games of the Flames’ 1986 Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Canadiens. He failed to score in those appearances, but he hit a goalpost on his first NHL shift. The 1986-87 season was Hull’s first season as a professional. He played five games with the Flames, but spent most of the year with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Moncton Golden Flames. Hull posted a 50 goal season and was named the AHL’s rookie of the year, but he did not get along with Coach Terry Crisp.

 

                Hull was permanently promoted to the NHL for the 1987-88 season. Unfortunately for him, Terry Crisp was brought up as well. In spite of being low on the depth chart and sometimes being a healthy scratch thanks to his poor relationship with his coach, Hull still managed to post 26 goals and 50 points in 56 games. In spite of his reputation as a poor skater, Hull began to draw interest from GM’s around the league. Late in the season, Brett was traded to the St. Louis Blues. It would be in St. Louis that he would establish himself as one of the premier scorers in the history of the game.

 

                Hull lit the lamp 41 times in his first full season with the Blues, a number that while certainly impressive would pale when compared to the explosion ahead. In 1989-90, Hull scored a whopping 72 goals, breaking Jarri Kurri’s record for goals in a season by a right winger. Even that would pale when compared to his output of the 1990-91 season, though. Hull shattered his own mark with 86 goals. Only Wayne Gretzky has ever scored more goals in a single season. Adding to the impressiveness of Hull’s feat that year is the fact that his linemate, center Adam Oates missed 19 games due to injury. Considering that Hull himself credited Oates for making him the player that he was during that stretch, his numbers might have been even greater without that injury. Beginning with the 1989-90 season, Hull would post three consecutive 70 goal seasons and five consecutive 50 goal seasons. Those were the kind of stats that helped earn him the nickname that he is associated with now. His father was “the Golden Jet.” Now Brett was “the Golden Brett.”

 

                Hull made his Olympic debut in the 1998 Nagano games. The tournament was a disappointment for the American team and they were eliminated early. Following their ouster, some members of the U.S. team trashed their hotel room, and one of the players fingers were pointed at was Hull. An angry Hull claimed that a Canadian media that was angry that he was on Team USA and not Team Canada blamed him to get revenge.

 

                Hull spent 10 full seasons with the Blues before departing for Dallas. He spent three seasons with the Stars, and in his first year with the team, he added the one thing his impressive resume lacked: a Stanley Cup title. Hull himself scored the Cup-winning goal against Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek, but it was one of the most controversial goals in league history. The rules at the time stated that any goal scored by a player who had any part of his body in the crease was to be disallowed. Hull’s skate was in the crease when he scored, but the league ruled that the goal was good because Hull gained possession before entering the crease. Goal or no goal? Judge for yourself.

 

 

                The Stars returned to the Finals the next season, but fell to the New Jersey Devils in six games. Stars Coach Ken Hitchcock called Hull’s regular season performance, which included only 24 goals, disappointing. Hull responded by contributing 11 goals and 13 assists in 23 games during the playoff run. After one more season with the Stars, Hull was off to Detroit to play for the Red Wings.

 

                The 2001-02 season was another successful season for Brett. He once again starred on the U.S. Olympic team, finishing second in tournament scoring and helped lead the team to the gold medal game where they suffered a disappointing 5-2 loss to team Canada. There would be no second place finish for the Red Wings, however. After a five game Stanley Cup Finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes, Hull got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup for a second time. Hull spent three seasons with the Red Wings before the lockout that led to the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.

 

                Hull would attempt one more season after the lockout. He signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, who were then coached by Wayne Gretzky. The Coyotes had originally been the Winnipeg Jets, and had retired jersey number 9 in honor of Brett’s father Bobby. At Bobby’s request, the Coyotes brought the number out of retirement for Brett. The unretirement of the jersey would be short-lived, though. Finding that he was no longer in top form after the lockout, Hull retired after only five games.

 

                Over the course of his career, Brett Hull racked up 741 goals, a number topped by only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. He won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1989-90 and the Hart and Pearson Trophies in 1990-91, and of course the two Stanley Cups. In 2008, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

 

Further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Hull

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=10681

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2006/06/brett-hull.html

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/hullbr01.html

 

[yave1964]

@ScottM

I loved Hull, one hell of a player, always a grin, he was over the hill by the time he came to Detroit, he played on the 'two kids and an old goat' line with Boyd Devereaux and Pavel Datsyuk and seemed to have the time of his life, knowing he was playing out the string on a Hall of Fame career. He was a lot of fun to watch, he often looked effortless on the ice. Hull and Oates, A cup with the Stars, one of the most famous close out goals in cup series history, another cup with Detroit, he seemed to age just right.

[ScottM]

@ScottM

I loved Hull, one hell of a player, always a grin, he was over the hill by the time he came to Detroit, he played on the 'two kids and an old goat' line with Boyd Devereaux and Pavel Datsyuk and seemed to have the time of his life, knowing he was playing out the string on a Hall of Fame career. He was a lot of fun to watch, he often looked effortless on the ice. Hull and Oates, A cup with the Stars, one of the most famous close out goals in cup series history, another cup with Detroit, he seemed to age just right.

 

Not to mention getting his 700th career goal with the Wings. Even as he aged, he still had that scoring touch. I can't help but wonder how he might have done in one last season if the lockout hadn't gotten in his way.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

One of the coolest things I've ever seen was a Brett Hull Hat Trick. I was at the game between the Blues and the visiting Nordiques. It was a give away night. When you walked in the door, they gave away a plastic mug. Brett Hull scored his third goal with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the 2nd period. Instead of hats, thousands of those mugs came raining down on the ice! The Referee sent the players to the locker rooms, the mugs were cleaned up and the Zamboni came out. The remaining time from the 2nd period was on the clock and played. Then, the goalies swapped ends and the 3rd period began. I don't condone people throwing things on the ice but that was something to see!