This life-size bronze statue of Brett Hull, depicts him in full hockey gear (skates, uniform, pads, gloves, and helmet), skating as if just having scored a goal. Both hands are raised over his head, with his stick in his left hand, and an exuberant look on his face. This was probably a common stance for Brett, having scored 741 goals, with 650 assists during his NHL career.
Introduction
"Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian-born American former National Hockey League (NHL) player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president and alternate governor of the Dallas Stars. He played for the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes between 1986 and 2005. His career total of 741 goals is the third highest in NHL history, and he is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams. His championship winning goal for Dallas in overtime of game six of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals is one of the most controversial in league history and remains the focus of debate over whether it was scored within the rules of the time.
Known as one of the game's greatest snipers, Hull was an elite scorer at all levels of the game. He played college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, where he scored 52 goals in 1985–86. He scored 50 the following year with the Moncton Golden Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had five consecutive NHL seasons of at least 50 goals. His 86 goals in 1990–91 is the third highest single-season total in NHL history. Hull won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award that year as the league's most valuable player. He was named a first team all-star on three occasions and played in eight NHL All-Star Games.
A dual citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States internationally and chose to join the American National Team. He was a member of team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was a two-time Olympian, winning a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby to become the first father-and-son pair of players in the Hall. They are the only pair to each score 1,000 career points in the NHL. Hull's nickname, "the Golden Brett" is a reference to his father's nickname of "the Golden Jet". His jersey number 16 was retired by the St. Louis Blues.
International Play
As a dual Canadian and American citizen, Hull was eligible to play for either country internationally. While playing at UMD, he was passed over by officials with Team Canada when they selected their roster for the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships. However, the American national team invited him to join their squad. Hull accepted and led the team in scoring with 7 goals and 11 points for the sixth place Americans. Hull later said the faith shown in him by American officials gave him the confidence to excel in his career. He played with Team USA for the rest of his career, and at the 1986 Calgary Cup tournament, played a pivotal role in a 5–3 upset of Canada by the Americans. Following the game, he said "I don't feel more like an American than a Canadian. I just want to play."
Hull tied Mike Modano for the American scoring lead at the 1991 Canada Cup with nine points. He led the Americans into the tournament final against Canada, but was held pointless in the decisive game as Canada won the tournament with a 4–2 game. Canadian fans turned on Hull at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In the semifinal against Russia, fans in Ottawa loudly booed Hull and chanted "traitor" towards him as he scored two goals to lead the United States to the final against Canada. In the deciding game of the best-of-three final, Hull scored a key goal as the Americans turned a 2–1 deficit with five minutes to play into a 5–2 victory and captured the championship. Hull led all players with 11 points and was a tournament all-star at forward.
Making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games, Hull scored two goals in four games. The Americans were quickly eliminated from the tournament and were criticized for their lack of desire and leadership. Hull, Modano and John LeClair formed the American's top line for the 2002 Olympics. The trio were dominant throughout most of the tournament, leading Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. Hull and LeClair finished second and third in overall scoring, respectively; however they were held pointless against Team Canada in the final. Hull and the Americans settled for the silver medal following a 5–2 defeat.
NHL Career
Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being uninterested in backchecking and playing defense. He was nicknamed "The Incredible Hull" in college for his scoring exploits and was referred to in the NHL as the "The Golden Brett", a play on his father's nickname of "The Golden Jet". Brett was often compared to Bobby in his early years, though the two shared few similarities on the ice. Both were known for their shooting ability, particularly the power of their slapshot, which Terry Crisp – who played against Bobby and coached Brett – described as "explosive". But while Bobby was a left wing known for both his conditioning and skating ability, Brett played right wing, was a poorer skater and lacked his father's physique.
His reputation for defensive indifference persisted through much of his career. In his 72-goal season of 1988–89, Hull's plus-minus (net difference of even strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while he was on the ice) was -1. He was a -27 four years later despite scoring 54 goals. Hull also carried a reputation as a player who could not win as his Blues' teams rarely achieved success in the playoffs. He shed that reputation after leading his teams to championships at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. To win that 1999 championship, Hull also had to fit in with the Dallas Stars' defense-oriented system. He finished that season with a career best plus-minus of +19.
Known as an outspoken player, Hull earned a reputation on and off the ice for speaking bluntly and without regard for who it might offend. He chastised his own fans in 1992 – later backtracking – when they booed Adam Oates following Oates' trade request, calling them "losers" and stating he wanted to rip one particular fan's head off. Hull was a consistent critic of the NHL's defensive, "clutch and grab" era of the late 1990s, raising the ire of commissioner Gary Bettman in 1998 when he said "I wouldn't pay to watch. It's boring. The whole style of the game is terrible. There's no flow. When a guy like [Mario] Lemieux leaves the game and tells you why he's leaving, and you don't address it, that's stupid. But the players don't say crap. That's why I always look like the big mouth."
Hull played in eight NHL All-Star Games, and was named the most valuable player of the 1992 game in Philadelphia. As of 2012, his 741 career goals is the third highest total in NHL history, and Hull was the second-fastest (behind Wayne Gretzky) to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,157 games. He is also second all-time in power play goals with 265 and third in game-winning goals with 110. With 24 career game-winning playoff goals, he is tied with Gretzky for the most all-time. He scored 33 hat tricks in his career, the fourth highest in NHL history. Hull holds numerous St. Louis Blues franchise records, including goals (527), power play goals (195), game-winning goals (70) and hat tricks (27). He also holds the organization's single-season records of goals (86) and points (131). In honor of his achievements with the team, the Blues retired his jersey number 16 in 2006. The team also arranged to have a portion of the street that runs alongside the Scottrade Center renamed "Brett Hull Way". In 2010, the team unveiled a statue of him in front of the arena. Hull was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009." Wikipedia
For an article on the unveiling of the statue, featuring a video of the complete ceremony, visit the St. Louis Blues.