Bobby Hull, the Chicago Blackhawks’ legendary ‘Golden Jet’ and Hall of Famer, dies at 84

Bobby Hull, the electrifying Blackhawks left wing who brought the Stanley Cup to Chicago in 1961 and was a former team ambassador, died, the NHL Alumni Association announced Monday. He was 84.

Keeping up with Hull will forever be one of the most arduous tasks presented in the NHL. The revered Blackhawks wing, nicknamed “The Golden Jet,” often attracted multiple defenders shadowing his every move to compensate for his blistering shot and open ice speed.

Hull became the first NHL player to score more than 50 goals in a season in 1966. He was a bellwether at Chicago Stadium for 15 years — leading the league in scoring for six of them —- along with “Million Dollar Line” members Murray Balfour and Bill Hay.

“Some people say they don’t hear the fans when they play. But they’re full of crap,” Hull told The Tribune in 1988. “Every time I picked up that puck behind the net I could hear them and feel the electricity. The faster I went, the further up ice I skated, the louder it got and the more exciting it was.”

Hull left the Blackhawks in 1972 to join the World Hockey Association’s Winnipeg Jets as a player/coach. He attempted two short-lived NHL comebacks before retiring from hockey and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1983. Hull denounced former Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz for decades after his Hawks career, but reconciled with his son and current owner Rocky Wirtz in 2008.

“I couldn’t be any happier. I can live the rest of my life knowing the Blackhawks wanted me back and I wanted to be back,” Hull said after becoming a team ambassador. “I never thought I would wear any jersey but crimson. I thought I’d live and I’d die as a Chicago Blackhawk and that’s what I wanted to do.”

Though mostly in the news for his achievements on the ice, Hull was charged with assault and battery of his wife, Deborah, at his Willowbrook home in 1986. Twelve years later, Hull told The Moscow Times that “Hitler, for example, had some good ideas. He just went a little bit too far.” He later claimed that the interviewer misinterpreted Hull’s translation. A 2002 ESPN documentary detailed further allegations of spousal abuse, womanizing, drinking, ignoring his children and suggestions of racist views.

In February 2022, the Blackhawks announced Hull would cease serving as a team ambassador.

Hull is survived by Deborah and his children Bobby Jr., Blake, Brett, Bart and Michelle. Bobby and Brett are the only father-son tandem in NHL history to tally more than 50 goals in a season and more than 600 career scores.

“Anything I ever did was for the betterment of the game. Not money,” Hull said in 1988. “Money is crazy. You have to play hockey for more than that.

“I don’t regret anything I did. I regret that some jerks came along on my coattails and got paid for doing nothing. But when it comes to the game and the way I played it, I regret nothing. That was fun, and that’s the only reason to play.”