Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

'Hull' of Fame: Former Blues star to be inducted into Hockey Hall in Toronto

No matter which rink he played in, which city he visited, which teammates he played with or which coach he thrilled or tormented, there was never a dull moment when Brett Hull was involved.

"Brett was Brett -- when he talked the talk, he walked it too," St. Louis Blues President John Davidson said when discussing the greatest player in the history of the franchise. "He put the puck in the net and he was an unbelievable scorer. He said a lot, but if you'd go have a beer with him he'd say the same thing.

"There's not a lot of athletes in the world where you'd say 'Hey, let's go buy a ticket and watch him.' There's very few, and Brett was one of those guys, Wayne Gretzky was one of those guys. He's just a classic."

Hull, now a vice president with the Dallas Stars, is part of a star-studded class that will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame today in Toronto (6 p.m.; NHL Network).

He will be joined by former teammates Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman along with defenseman Brian Leetch.

During Hull's time with the Blues, he became hockey in St. Louis. With his sniper's scoring touch, flowing blond hair, boyish grin and abilty to speak his mind on any and all topics, Hull reached superstardom.

Just like Stan Musial with generations of Cardinals baseball, Hull reached iconic status among the hockey fans of St. Louis. The street outside Scottrade Center was renamed in Hull's honor and a statue is in the planning stages to join those of fellow Hall of Famers Bernie Federko and Al MacInnis.

Hull and his dad, former Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets star Bobby Hull, will become the only father-son player duo in the Hall of Fame.

Sutter's words pay off

An unknown quantity after coming to the Blues from Calgary in a trade, Hull met up with a tough customer who would shape his early career.

Brian Sutter.

"The best thing that ever happened to me was going through St. Louis and having Brian Sutter retire and become the head coach," Hull said during a conference call with reporters last week. "Unless you're a (Wayne) Gretzky or (Mario) Lemieux, I don't think any young kid realizes how good they can be, what kind of potential.

"I think that's a problem with a lot of coaches, too, is they don't see it."

Sutter did, but even after Hull piled up 41 goals in his first full season with the Blues, he didn't make it easy on him.

"I'm expecting to go into his office and get the pat on the back -- 'You're a good player, we're so happy to have you,''' Hull said. "I go into his office and he gets into me up and down, but in a very positive way.

"That's exactly what he says to me: 'You don't have any idea how good you are. You don't work hard enough to bring out your true potential."

Hull wasn't sure quite how to take those remarks, but he never forgot them.

"Here is a guy I have a lot of respect for," Hull said. "If he thinks that much of me and believes I can do all those things he just told me I can do, I'm going to take it and try to do them.

"From that point on, that was my goal, to try to become the best player that I possibly could. I give all the credit in the world to Brian Sutter."

Hull and Oates turn out the hits

Hull never brought a Stanley Cup to St. Louis, but he won two after leaving here following the 1997-98 season with Dallas and Detroit.

Of Hull's 741 goals -- the third highest total in NHL history -- 527 of them came as a member of the Blues.

During a magical run from 1989 to 1992 playing on a line with center Adam Oates, Hull turned goal-scoring into an art form and took on rock star proportions at the old St. Louis Arena.

The goal totals still seem almost ridiculous by today's NHL standards, a three-year stretch of 72, 86 and 70 goals. Only Gretzky's 92 goals in 1981-82 surpassed Hull's in 1990-91.

"Those guys were rock stars, they really were," Blues broadcaster Chris Kerber said. "He captured the city; the Blues were so big at that point in time with those guys. We're in this building today because of Brett, the youth hockey has grown tremendously because of Brett, along with dedication of the alumni and the parents all around town."

The Hull and Oates duo were responsible for 206 goals -- 158 by Hull --and 461 points in their two full seasons together.

"He had the ability to be able to see a play develop a couple seconds in advance," said Oates. "Brett knew where he had to be to score goals and he would be there when he needed to be.

"I played 19 years in the league and clearly playing with Brett was the highlight of my career -- and the most fun at the same time. I can't believe it was only three years out of that 19, that blows my mind."

Hull blew a lot of people's minds over the years. One of his best friends with the Blues was teammate Kelly Chase, now the team's radio color analyst.

"I sat over there on that bench -- and I sat, and I sat some more -- and I watched as Brett just made things look easy out there," Chase said. "I watched as a fan and as a teammate. But sometimes it was hard to believe what he was doing."

Success outside St. Louis

If there was a signature goal during Hull's storied career, it was likely the 1999 Stanley Cup game-winner in triple overtime that helped Dallas beat the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres and their fans knew that Hull's skate was in the crease, then against the rules, but the goal stood and Hullie had his first Stanley Cup.

The one that many people said could never be won with Hull on a team, dating back to his days with the Blues.

"It ranks No. 1 to me," Hull said. "There was a boatload of people saying when I was leaving St. Louis, 'You're never going to win with Brett Hull on your team. To go out and score the goal in overtime -- who hasn't sat as a kid on the ice with his buddies and dreamt or pretended that's the goal they've scored? -- to do it in real life was something special."

Hull won another with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. That roster included not only Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom, but up to nine potential Hall of Famers on a list that includes Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Datsyuk.

Pulling the strings from behind the bench was legendary coach Scotty Bowman, who like Hull tasted his first NHL success while with the Blues.

"I was lucky enough to kind of feel what it was like to be an old New York Yankee," Hull said. "I got to play with Babe Ruth of hockey (Wayne Gretzky while with the Blues) and become one of his good friends. I got to play for Casey Stengel (Bowman), one of the greatest coaches that ever walked the earth.

"I had more fun in the one year of playing for Scotty than I did my whole career. To play on that team with him coaching, it felt, looking back, like you were on a team with Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Yogi Berra, all those great players. It's scary."

Speaking of scary, that word perhaps best describes the relationship between Hull and former Blues coach "Iron" Mike Keenan.

Keenan became the Blues' coach and general manager in 1994, fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with the New York Rangers.

The two didn't just not get along, they could barely co-exist.

Keenan and his talk of a "culture change" in St. Louis clashed with Hull's larger-than-life personality and free spirit. The result was an on-and-off feud lasting the better part of 2 1/2 seasons.

The transformation began almost immediately, when Keenan pulled a trade shocker that sent superstar fan favorite Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for defenseman Chris Pronger. Popular goalie Curtis Joseph also was sent packing.

Hull spoke with Keenan this summer at Gretzky's charity golf tournament. While the two may still have their differences, there seems to be some calming of the waters.

"I had a great talk with him," Hull said. "I'm not much for holding grudges or whatever. We had a great talk. Life is too short to be bitter. He's actually a good man, we just didn't really hit it off as player and coach."

St. Louis hockey royalty

Hull's other relationship -- with the city of St. Louis and its hockey fans -- became an instant love affair that remains active to this day.

Scottrade Center was built largely on the back of Hull's immense popularity, a popularity that also opened additional hockey rinks throughout the area and turned many youngsters that had never stepped onto the ice in skates into hockey players.

"St. Louis is an unbelievably good city," said Hull, whose charity work included the Blues' 14 Fund and numerous other outlets. "I think you see that with the alumni that they have. When they skate as an alumni, they have to tell people that they can't skate because they have too many guys.

"I had so much fun in St. Louis, made so many friends. That's a time in my life I'll never forget."

That includes his off-ice time as well.

"At one point in St. Louis, we had two married guys on the team," Hull said. "It was just a good bunch of young kids just going out. We had fun; we had fun on the ice. We played hard; we played hard on the ice, We played hard off the ice."

Davidson will rejoin Hull today in Toronto, but remembers talking to Hull in Calgary on the day he was traded to the Blues.

"I remember telling him that day how great it's going to be in St. Louis, how much he's going to love playing here, the whole thing," Davidson said. "I'll never forget that day. He became a better player the older he got. He learned how to win."

Contact reporter Norm Sanders at nsanders@bnd.com or 239-2454.