(Photo: Wikipedia)
The “Golden Jet” has passed away.
Point Anne native Bobby Hull died this morning at the age of 84.
A superstar with the Chicago Blackhawks, Hull was the first player to score more than 50 goals in a season when he scored 54 in the 1965-66 campaign.
Hull played for Chicago for 15 years scoring 604 goals and 549 assists.
He won two Hart Trophies as MVP and three Art Ross Trophies as the NHL scoring leader and a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 1961.
Hull’s career spanned from 1957 to 1980. However, he jumped to the rival WHA in 1972 joining the Winnipeg Jets for the then unheard of contract worth $1.75 million over 11 years plus a $1 million signing bonus. Hull’s move gave the fledgling WHA instant credibility which further enticed others to leave the NHL for greener pastures in the World Hockey Association. He would finish his career with the Hartford Whalers.
Hull scored another 303 goals and 335 assists in 411 games in the WHA.
Hull returned to the Blackhawks as a team ambassador in 2008, a position he held until 2022.
Bobby Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.