What made Brett Hull a great hockey player?

[JMCx4]

Hull seemed like a lot of fun. I worked in NY media in my previous life. Whenever Hull was in town, he was engaging with the press, laughing, gregarious, engaging, always with a beer in hand. ...

And always close to empty.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Yes senior has an excellent argument to have been has good, too close to call, better ?

Bossy 79-81 was really solid, all-time great Dionne kept up with him but 188 goals was a lot of them. I am not saying Hull has clearly or the best, just saying I am
sure we cannot exclude him of that conversation (i.e. no one a clear and strong argument for a better stretch)

Ya Brett always said his Dad was the better player, and why he his ranked higher on all time lists.

 

[Neutrinos]

He has 3 seasons with 70 or more goals. Only Wayne Gretzky has more with 4. He also has the third highest (highest non Gretzky) single season goals total in NHL history with 86. Whether he is labeled a one trick pony or not there is no denying that this is special stuff. That’s enough right there to be a great hockey player.

Just for additional context though...

Gretzky's +/- during those 4 seasons was +81, +60, +76, +98

In Hull's 70+ goal seasons, his +/- was -1, +23, -2

Hull +20

Gretzky +315

 

[WalterLundy]

Just for additional context though...

Gretzky's +/- during those 4 seasons was +81, +60, +76, +98

In Hull's 70+ goal seasons, his +/- was -1, +23, -2

Hull +20

Gretzky +315

For sure. Gretzky is the goat by the biggest margin of the big 4 sports in North America. 1963 assists, 2857 points and 894 goals to go with it. More assists than anyone else has points. Gretzky was also the better goal scorer than Hull (and anyone else). Highest plus minus of all time amongst forwards. It was a treat to see his whole career.

 

[BraveCanadian]

He had an all time one timer, great other shots in the toolbox as well.. an amazing ability to disappear into the gaps in play and emerge at just the right time for a chance.. even when he was the best goal scorer on the planet he could do it.

He’s underrated as well by the people who think he needed an Oates or Janney dishing him up juicy plays too. He was able to generate offence without them. Pretty terrible defensively until later though.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

I'm not being entirely facetious when I say this, but he could make himself invisible.
Seriously, I'd be watching him in the offensive zone, lurking just outside of the play, when all of a sudden whoever was supposed to be checking him would forget all about him and start chasing the puck carrier or move to the front of the net. I'd be yelling at the TV because my team was leaving one of the best goal scorers ever all alone in the danger zone... then Hull would drift into the slot and Oates, or someone like him, would thread a perfect pass to a miraculously wide open Hull, who would totally bury it. And all the defensive players would suddenly look around like they'd never seen him before.

 

[The Panther]

Yeah, he did have an amazing ability to "disappear" in the offensive zone, and then suddenly reappear just as the pass arrived. Combine that with a lethal shot and you've got his career stats.

In a slightly different way, Hull's contemporary Luc Robitaille was a bit similar. Here's a guy who was an average (at best) passer and a well below-average skater... yet he was a top NHL sniper in 1986-87 just as he was in 2000-01, and he shovelled in 726 NHL goals (RS and playoffs)!

I saw some podcast interview with Bernie Nicholls a couple of years ago. Nicholls had been hired by Darryl Sutter (?) to help L.A.'s power-play circa 2015 or something. Anyway, Nicholls was complaining that the then-current players lacked a time/space awareness of where to go and how to jump into holes. I mean, most of it I interpreted as "old man yelling at clouds" kind of thing, but maybe he was onto something....

 

[sr edler]

If you take the most lethal tool out of the equation, that shot, I guess he was a little bit of a hockey version of Pippo Inzaghi, i.e. a lazy floater obsessed with scoring. I knew many football fans hated Inzaghi's guts because he was so boring to watch. Not saying Hull was equally boring to watch, or even equally one-dimensional, but yeah, he didn't have any Modano or Fedorov or Bure type of flair to his game.

 

[MadArcand]

More like fat Ronaldo than Inzaghi.

 

[Crosby2010]

Hull's shot and offensive instincts are what did it for him. He was able to find just enough open space to tee off that shot. His slap shot was lethal, his wrister was lethal, his snap shot was lethal and he wasn't a fast skater or even a guy with the ability to dance around you 1-on-1. He just knew how to shoot and get in the open slot. He had a nose for the net. He is a classic case of a guy who did basically just one thing great but he did it so great that he becomes an all-time great because of it. Mike Bossy for example once had 83 assists in a season, good for 4th overall. Hull never had a 50 assist season in his career. And I think he was fine with it.

Another thing about him was that he scored no matter what game it was. 741 goals in his career sure, but throw in the 103 playoff goals. When did Hull have a noticeably bad postseason? He really didn't if you take away his last couple of years and his first couple of years. Even when his teams didn't win he scored a lot. So he was a clutch goal scorer as well as a frequent goal scorer. If you don't believe me here is a great stat:

Game winning playoff goals:
Gretzky - 24
Hull - 24
Claude Lemieux - 19
Sakic - 19
Richard - 18

 

[VanIslander]

Hull had a great shot, physical strength and a determination to most often pull the trigger.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

It's a testament to his playing savvy and hockey IQ in general that he managed to put up really strong years from age 36-40. Including a season where he scored the GWG for a Cup (as much as it kills me).

If this forum existed thirty years ago I would have bet anything that he would have been retired by 35. The guy hung on though and was better than a lot of his contemporaries who stayed that long during that span.

Agreed. Everyone has been commenting on Hull's fantastic shot, his ability to find open ice, and his focus on scoring. All that is true. But he really surprised me by buying into the Stars' stifling defensive system in the late 1990's. He was surprisingly solid defensively. By the time he played in Detroit, he was still productive despite getting reduced ice time at ES, and he even started playing on the penalty kill.

I'm not saying that Hull was a particularly gifted two-way player, but I think his hockey sense is underrated. Those final six years in Dallas and Detroit show that he was smarter and more versatile than he was often given credit for. (Of course he wasn't scoring 70 goals at that point, but considering his age - 34 to 39 - he did well, ranking 17th overall in RS scoring, and 5th overall in playoff scoring).

 

[Jumptheshark]

What would be you analysis of Brett Hull and why do you think he became a great hockey player despite being drafted in the 6th round?

His shot