Bobby Hull

Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC (born January 3, 1939) is a former 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. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning him the nickname "the Golden Jet". He possessed the most feared slapshot of his day. In his 23 years in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association, he played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers.

Hull was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Early life
Hull was born in Pointe Anne (now part of Belleville), Ontario. He played his minor hockey in Belleville, and then Jr. 'B' hockey for the Woodstock Athletics in the fall of 1954. Although the Sarnia Legionnaires and the Waterloo Siskins were the Jr. 'B' powerhouses of the 1950s, Hull threw a wrench into their domination, leading the Athletics to the 1955 Sutherland Cup as all-Ontario champions. Later, he played for the Galt Black Hawks and the St. Catharines Teepees in the Ontario Hockey Association, before joining the Chicago Black Hawks in 1957 at the age of 18.

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 later switched 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. He went on to lead the Chicago Black Hawks to the Stanley Cup in 1961—their third overall and first in 23 years. 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 made it one of hockey's most memorable signatures.

Although he stood only 5'10", Bobby had a solid build and his playing weight was 185 pounds. His electrifying style made 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. Hull eventually scored 54 goals that season, the highest single season total of the Original Six era. He led the league in goal scoring seven times during 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. This was only one time less time than all other players combined.

His slapshot was once clocked at 118.3 mph (190.4 km/h) and he could skate 29.7 mph (47.8 km/h). During his drive to be the first to eclipse the 50 goal mark, Bobby's wrist shot was claimed to be harder than his slapshot.

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 gave 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.

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 been injured in an automobile accident.

In September 1981, Hull attempted one final comeback with the New York Rangers at age 42. However, it was a very brief attempt that only lasted five exhibition games before Hull and the Rangers both decided it was best to end the comeback. Hull had one goal, and one assist in those five games.

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.

In 1978, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Beside his Hall of Fame induction, Hull's #9 jersey has been retired both by the Blackhawks and the Jets (and is still honored by the Jets' successor team, the Phoenix Coyotes. When Bobby's son Brett Hull joined the Coyotes, they unretired the number for Brett to wear during his brief stint there to honor his father.)

In 1998, Hull got involved in a controversy with the Russian media when he allegedly made pro-Nazi comments. According to the Associated Press he was quoted as saying, “Hitler, for example, had some good ideas. He just went a little bit too far." He later claimed the interviewer misunderstood him in the translation. The incident was satirized by the Canadian mock news show This Hour Has 22 Minutes.  Host Rick Mercer read a spot saying Hull has been misquoted, that he had actually said, "Sittler had some good ideas."  The reference was to former National Hockey League star Darryl Sittler.

In 2003, he was named the figurehead commissioner of a new World Hockey Association, intended to operate during the NHL lockout in 2004-05; it never entered play, and the organization subsequently ran several ephemeral low-minor league and unsanctioned Tier II junior leagues. He currently serves as an ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization.

The Hull family
Bobby's younger brother Dennis (nicknamed "the Silver Jet"), starred alongside him with the Chicago Black Hawks for eight seasons, scoring over 300 goals in his own right. Some commentators often wondered whether Bobby or Dennis had the harder shot. 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 third youngest 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 and Brett are the only father and son combination in any professional sport to both have their numbers retired. Bobby's #9 was retired by the Chicago Black Hawks and Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes) and Brett's #16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues.

Bobby's other sons were Bobby, Blake, and Bart. Bart was a standout running back for the Boise State University Bronco's football team in the late eighties and 1990, and played with Ottawa Rough Riders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL as well as one season of professional indoor football prior to  recurring injuries. Post football, he played professional hockey with the Idaho Steelheads.

Bobby Jr. and Blake both played junior and senior hockey. Bobby won the Memorial Cup with the 1980 Cornwall Royals. Later, they played together for the Allan Cup-winning Brantford Mott's Clamatos of the OHA Senior A Hockey League (AAA Men's Amateur) in 1987. Bobby Jr. also possessed a powerful shot, but lacked the scoring touch of his father and brother Brett.

Hull's daughter, and youngest child, Michelle, was an accomplished figure skater becoming British Columbia Pre-Novice Champion at the age of 11. After many knee injuries, she concentrated on her schooling and is now an attorney licensed in two states.

Hull's marriage to Joanne McKay ended in divorce in 1980 after several abusive incidents. In 1986, he was accused by Deborah, his third wife, of assault and battery. She eventually dropped the charges.

Awards and achievements

 * Art Ross Trophy winner (1960, 1962, and 1966)
 * NHL First All-Star Team Left Wing (1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972)
 * Stanley Cup championship (1961)
 * NHL Second All-Star Team Left Wing (1963 and 1971)
 * Hart Memorial Trophy winner (1965 and 1966)
 * Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner (1965)
 * Lester Patrick Trophy winner (1969)
 * Became third hockey player to appear on the cover of Time magazine
 * WHA First All-Star Team (1973, 1974, and 1975)
 * WHA Second All-Star Team (1976 and 1978)
 * WHA Most Valuable Player (1973 and 1975)
 * Avco Cup (WHA) Championships (1976, 1978, and 1979)
 * Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame