Brett Hull - Playing Style

Playing Style

Upon his arrival in the NHL, Hull was considered a "one-dimensional player". He was a natural goal scorer with a reputation for being disinterested 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 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.