Hockey’s supreme individuals are distinguished by a defining characteristic. No one was more intense than Maurice Richard, no defenceman could handle the puck like Bobby Orr, no one could anticipate the play like Wayne Gretzky.
Before Mr. Hull’s arrival in 1957, there was no place for fear in the game. Once his mighty physique generated its maximum speed and strength, however, his slapshot was so powerful that spectators feared for the goaltenders who were obliged to face it – not to mention anyone else who might be near the line of fire. Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante introduced his mask to the NHL on Nov. 1, 1959, two years after Mr. Hull’s big-time debut. Coincidence? Of course not.
Eddie Shack of the Toronto Maple Leafs drapes himself around Mr. Hull in a battle for the puck at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1965.In an era when minor-league seasoning was taken for granted, long before expansion and the entry draft created a proliferation of 20-year-old stars, Mr. Hull made a direct leap from the junior St. Catharines Teepees to the Black Hawks as an 18-year-old in 1957 and would never play a game in pro hockey’s minor leagues.
Perhaps the number most appropriate to Mr. Hull, however, is the 9 he wore on his jersey for most of his career. He wore 16 in his early seasons and 7 when the Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup, but soon after that switched to 9 in emulation of Gordie Howe and Mr. Richard. It was that image that prompted Winnipeg franchise owner Ben Hatskin to lure Mr. Hull to the newly created World Hockey Association in 1972. Wary of the credibility-strapped WHA, Mr. Hull cavalierly said it would take a million dollars upfront for him to switch leagues. When Hatskin responded with a five-year deal at $350,000 a season in addition to the $1-million bonus, it still didn’t make an impression.
June 27, 1972: Mr. Hull, with a rush-hour crowd of nearly 3,000 Winnipeggers watching, signs a five-year, $3-million contract to play for the Winnipeg Jets, then part of the World Hockey Association.With the Golden Jet under contract, Winnipeg became the Jets and the WHA became viable. The league contracted with each season as franchises in weak markets went bankrupt until folding in 1979 with the Jets and three other teams entering the NHL.
Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)
I met Bobby Hull at age 9 back in 1974 and he gave me a photo ... and signed it .. he probably went through 200 kids that day personalizing every photo ... A class act
😢
Also a proudracist and wifeabuser
Ooh boy: '...Bobby Hull was a man who personified hockey...'🙂
domestic abuser
“There was also a tarnish to the lustrous image of the Golden Jet... his marriage was punctuated with abuse... Mr. Hull suspended her over a balcony on one occasion and threatened her with a loaded shotgun on another” What is “Normalizing misogyny in the mainstream press?”
He was also racist and spoke highly of Hitler. But let's not mention that (maybe it is mentioned but there's a paywall).
suzannesexton_
I’m sure he’ll be looking up at us on All Star weekend
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