Remembering Bobby Hull, a complicated hockey legend

The hockey world went into a period of mourning on January 30, 2023 as news emerged that Bobby Hull had died, aged 84. The death was announced to the world by the Chicago Blackhawks, a team with which the hockey star played fifteen of his seventeen professional NHL seasons. 

Hull was one of the all-time leading goal-scorers of his generation and was the first NHL hockey player to score more than 50 goals in a season, an accomplishment that earned him the nickname The Golden Jet according to CBS News.  No cause of death has ever been publically revealed.

Hull was a true legend of the game and an iconic figure, and his death was huge news, especially for Blackhawks fans and the club paid tribute to the Hall of Famer in a series of posts on social media.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

“The Chicago Blackhawks are saddened by the passing of Blackhawks legend Bobby Hull, a superstar for our franchise between 1957 and 1972,” the team's representatives wrote in a statement posted on their Twitter account. 

“Hull is part of an elite group of players who made a historic impact on our hockey club,” the statement continued. 

“The Golden Jet helped the Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup and delivered countless memories to our fans, whom he adored,” the Blackhawks added. 

In a statement from the Blackhawk's principal owner and chairperson Rocky Writz, the Writz family extended their deepest condolences to the Hull family with Rocky writing about how 'The Golden Jet' changed the game and Chicago’s franchise.

"Bobby Hull will always be remembered as one of the greatest Blackhawks players of all time,” Writz wrote. “He was a beloved member of the Blackhawks family.”

Hull was admitted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 for his on-ice achievements and in 2017 he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players’ of all time by NHL.com. 

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also honored Hull with a statement following his death, calling Hull one of the league's “most iconic and distinctive players.”

“When Bobby Hull wound up to take a slapshot, fans throughout the NHL rose to their feet in anticipation, and opposing goaltenders braced themselves," Bettman wrote. 

“During his prime, there was no more prolific goal-scorer in all of hockey, Bettman added. “As gregarious a personality as he was explosive as a player, Hull was a true superstar and the face of the Chicago Blackhawks throughout the 1960s.”

All of Hull’s talents came with a drawback, though. Hull was a divisive player off the ice and his infamous Hitler interview in the English-language Russian newspaper The Moscow Times revealed the darker side of Hull’s personality, according to Barry Petchesky of Defector. 

"Hitler, for example, had some good ideas," Hull said in his interview with The Moscow Times while discussing the growing American black population and the idea of eugenics. "He just went a little bit too far."

When asked in the interview if he was racist, Hull replied: "I don't give a damn. I'm not running for any political office."

Sadly, Hull's daughter later confirmed that Hull's Moscow Times statement was probably true, saying in an ESPN profile of the famous hockey player, "That's exactly like him."

Today, most of Hull’s darker side has been forgotten, replaced by the memory of his 1063 games played, 610 goals made, and 560 assists passed. 

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!