Laid-back attitude helped Brett Hull into Hall of Fame

By MIKE HEIKA

Special to the Star-Telegram

Brett Hull was born with a lot of his father Bobby’s hockey talents, including one of the hardest shots in the game. But the younger Hull said it was the mix of gifts he received from his parents that made his NHL career possible.

"When I was younger, I couldn’t have cared less if I ever became an NHL player, and I think that’s probably one of the key reasons I eventually made it," Hull said of a personality that favored his mom’s side of the family.

"I went at my own speed and never worried about things, and that was probably just as important as anything I did on the ice."

While Hull’s 741 career regular-season goals — third most in NHL history — made him a slam dunk for first-ballot induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame today, the stories that were told this weekend revolved around the mercurial personality of the man who serves as executive vice president and alternate governor of the Stars.

And that was always the key for Hull — being able to mix a stealth-like ability to disappear on the ice with an air of cockiness off of it.

"The funny thing about him is he would just find a way to get so wide open," former Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "You would see him score late in a game and hear the other coach say, 'How do you not cover Brett Hull?’ But he had a way of making you forget about him when he was out there."

Hull rarely was forgotten off the ice, offering opinions on everything from hockey strategy and labor relations to crossword puzzles, politics and football pools.

"I honestly think we needed him," said Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, who helped the team win the 1999 Stanley Cup and was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner that season.

The Stars signed Hull as a free agent before the 1998-99 season following a four-year buildup that included the acquisition of players such as Nieuwendyk, Ed Belfour, Sergei Zubov, Darryl Sydor, Mike Keane, Pat Verbeek, Dave Reid, Guy Carbonneau and Shawn Chambers.

"He was clearly the last piece, the missing piece, in building our team, and I just think he gave us the swagger we needed," Nieuwendyk said. "You would watch him, and there was an absolute confidence in how he did things, and I think we picked up on that."

Hull said that swagger was equal parts confidence in what he could do on the ice and indifference to what anyone thought of him.

Being raised as the son of Bobby Hull, considered by some the greatest left wing in hockey history, wasn’t easy. But Brett said he watched his older brother, Bobby Jr., deal with the expectations and decided he wanted no part.

That was a tribute to his mother, Joanne. Hull’s parents separated when he was 14, and Hull spent some of his formative years with his mother in Vancouver. He said the ability to escape the shadow of his father’s name for that period was key.

"I think the genetic makeup I have — easygoing, don’t let a lot of things bother me, never really have any problem with pressure — I think that all came from my mother," Hull said.

Brett Hull left hockey for a while as a teen. He played baseball and football and just hung out. When he decided to return to the ice, he worked his way up through the lower-level junior ranks and eventually played at Minnesota-Duluth.

Along the way, he set ridiculous scoring marks, such as 105 goals in 57 games for Penticton, then 86 goals in the 1990-91 NHL season. That still stands as the third-highest season total in league history.

"It’s an amazing number," said Stars captain Brenden Morrow, who lists Hull as his boyhood idol and now a close friend. "You just can’t even imagine what it would take to do that for an entire season."

As much as Morrow was dazzled by Hull’s shot, he said he appreciated his style more.

"He just always looked like he was having fun," Morrow said. "And I always thought, 'It’s a game; it’s supposed to be fun, isn’t it?’ "

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