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

Keeping up with Bobby Hull was one of the most arduous tasks ever presented in the NHL.

The electrifying left wing for the Chicago Blackhawks — nicknamed “The Golden Jet” — often attracted multiple defenders shadowing his every move to try to counter his blistering shot and open-ice speed.

Hull, who helped bring the Stanley Cup to Chicago in 1961 and won two league MVP awards in a Hall of Fame career, has died, the team announced Monday. He was 84.

“Bobby Hull will always be remembered as one of the greatest Blackhawks players of all time,” Chairman Rocky Wirtz said in a statement. “When I assumed leadership of the organization upon my father’s passing in 2007, one of my first priorities was to meet with Bobby to convince him to come back as an ambassador of the team. His connection to our fans was special and irreplaceable.”

Hull’s life off the ice — including accusations of domestic abuse — and statements attributed to him after his playing career also cloud his legacy.

Hull became the first NHL player to score more than 50 goals in a season with 54 in 1965-66, and he reached 50 goals or more four other times.

He was a bellwether at Chicago Stadium for 15 seasons — leading the league in goals for seven of them and in scoring three times — along with fellow “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 made a short-lived return to the NHL with the expansion Jets and Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 before retiring with 610 career goals plus 303 in the WHA.

His 604 goals with the Blackhawks remains a team record, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Hull denounced former Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz for decades after his playing career but reconciled with 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.”

Hull was born on Jan. 3, 1939, in Point Anne, Ontario, and joined the Blackhawks at age 18. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 1957, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a 1-0 win at Chicago Stadium. He scored his first goal 14 days later against the Boston Bruins to start an eight-game point streak.

Hull went on to win the Art Ross Trophy three times (1960, ‘62 and ‘66) as the league’s top scorer and the Hart Memorial Trophy twice (1965 and ‘66) as the regular-season most valuable player. He also won the 1965 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.

He ranks third in franchise history behind longtime teammate Stan Mikita and Patrick Kane with 1,153 points. No one in Blackhawks history has come close to his 28 hat tricks. Mikita is second with 16.

“Hull is part of an elite group of players who made a historic impact on our hockey club,” the Blackhawks said in a statement. “The Golden Jet helped the Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup and delivered countless memories to our fans, whom he adored. Generations of Chicagoans were dazzled by Bobby’s shooting prowess, skating skill and overall team leadership that led to 604 career goals, a franchise record that remains to this day.”

Though mostly in the news for his achievements on the ice, Hull was charged with battery of his wife, Deborah, at their Willowbrook home in 1986. The charge was dropped when she told authorities she didn’t want to testify against her husband, but Hull pleaded guilty to assault for swinging at a police officer who intervened.

Twelve years later, Hull was quoted by The Moscow Times as saying that “Hitler, for example, had some good ideas. He just went a little bit too far.” He later claimed 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 five children with second wife Joanne: Bobby Jr., Blake, Brett, Bart and Michelle. Bobby and Brett are the only father-son tandem in NHL history to be named league MVP and each tally more than 50 goals in a season and more than 600 in their careers.

“Throughout his 84 years, he gave my family — and everyone he met — a tremendous amount of great memories,” Brett Hull said in a statement released by the St. Louis Blues. “Those of us who were lucky enough to spend time with him will cherish those forever. ... He will be greatly missed.”

Brother Dennis Hull played for the Blackhawks from 1964-77, overlapping with Bobby up to 1971-72, his final season in Chicago.

The Blackhawks retired Bobby Hull’s No. 9 on Dec. 18, 1983, at Chicago Stadium. Statues of Hull and Mikita were unveiled outside the United Center on Oct. 22, 2011.

“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.”

Chris Kuc and Steven Goldstein are former Chicago Tribune reporters.