Blackhawks sniper Bobby Hull died Monday morning according to Chicago news outlet, the Daily Herald.
Hull, the Blackhawks’ all-time leading scorer, had just celebrated his 84e birthday on January 3. He wore the colors of the Illinois club for 15 seasons. He also played for the Winnipeg Jets and the Hartford Whalers.
Despite seven WHA campaigns with the Jets, Hull finished his career with 610 NHL goals. He sits on the 18e rank of scorers in the history of the Bettman circuit. Son Brett takes 5e level in this category.
Hull, the dazzling thrower, entered the league in the 1957-58 season. He scored 30 or more goals for 13 consecutive seasons, then left for the World Hockey Association in 1972 when the league agreed to pay him $1 million.
Hull, Stan Mikita and others led the Hawks to the Stanley Cup in 1961.
Hull also became the first player to score more than 50 goals in a season on March 12, 1966, and finished with 54 goals that season.
Hull’s life, however, was not free of controversy.
He was accused of domestic violence and was also quoted by a Russian newspaper in 1998, where he said that Adolf Hitler “had good ideas” and that the black community in the United States was growing too quickly. He strongly denied these statements in the LA Timessaying at the time “deeply offended” by these “false statements”.
Hull and Mikita were named Blackhawks ambassadors in 2010 by then-president John McDonough.