OT - Bobby Hull passes away
A lot of hockey fans here - and, there's something special about "Original Six.
Any Red Wings fan appreciates hockey's tradition. Unfortunately, one of hockey's historical stars has passed away. Bobby Hull, the "Golden Jet" of Chicago Blackhawks, was 84.
Hoping he rests in peace with thoughts and prayers for him and to his family.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^
RIP to a legend
January 30th, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^
Legendary wife abuser and Nazi sympathizer
January 30th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
He was good at playing hockey and that's basically the only good thing about him.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:10 AM ^
the golden jet, playing with gordie in a great era of hockey. and these old photos, the kind you had on your wall as a kid, are awesome. kids these days and their fancy, high-pixel phone cameras....
January 30th, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Back when manly men played the game - no helmets, no mouth guards, and pads so small that soccer players would decline to play.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
no doubt. teeth optional. i played in an era when masks started to be worn in the U.S., not so much in canada. i made it through with teeth, but i still remember my freshman year sitting next to joey milburn in the dressing room at yost before we were going out for practice and him taking his teeth out. like, 4 uppers and 2 lowers. and he had a story for how/where he lost each one.
January 30th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
You must have been around when my dad starting taking me to games during the 79-80 season. That was the last one without face masks. Dan Lerg was captain. Names like Richmond, Richter, Basseoto, Eaves, and one of my all-time favorites, Brad Tippitt. My dad made a sign we brought to a lot of games that said "Rip It Tippitt".
Fun years back when Yost held over 8000, including a bunch of seats in corners where you could barely see the rink. And it was filled beyond capacity for those games against MSU.
A sole MMB alum would fill in for the pep band when the kids were on break, belting out the various songs on his euphonium, from his seat right in front of us.
One of those teams back then beat the traveling Soviet Spartak team. Their only loss on their North American tour against college and NHL teams.
Good memories of good times with my dad.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
i started right after that. richmond ('chi'), richter ('magic'), tippitt ('tipper'), speersy, blummer, krussman ('special k') were some of the guys i played with - but as i posted in a diary around the time that red stepped down, my playing time was extremely limited and i ended up not even going out for the team by my junior year - for which teddy speers and donny krussman searched me out the second day of school and conned me into going to talk with giordano to play again.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
Wasn't our goalie back then Paul Fricker?
Tippitt was the man. I remember him harassing opposing teams all on his own sometimes so much that they had trouble getting out of their own end on a power play, just unbelievable passion/energy/drive.
Tippitt wasn't the most physically gifted -- Murray Eaves, of that era, probably -- but he was absolutely the fan favorite. He was awesome.
Damn I'm old.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:54 PM ^
Iwas trying to remember the goalie, thanks for pulling Frikcker out of the mist
As far as Bobby Hull, the group of players at the time like Orr, Howe, Richard, that was fun hockey to watch. I still have my Bobby Hull guide rod table top hockey game. It came with stamped metal players for all of the original 6 NHL teams. Tried to get my kids interested in that type of game, but their reaction was , meh.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
Yessir: We also had a "Fricker is Quicker" sign.
Tippitt was a freaking magician with his stick. I recall more than one standing O for his play on penalty kills.
One of those early years we got tickets for the GLI at the Joe. Back then one ticket got you in for both games of the day. Right as the second game started a bunch of players, many in long black leather jackets came up the aisle right in front of us. I asked for autographs and then ended up sitting down behind us to watch the game. Ten year old me was on Cloud Nine for days.
Somewhere I have my little autograph book from back then. And yes, Ted Speers, the local kid, John Blum, so many names with good memories for me.
I still have the article from when Giordano suddenly quit. It has a photo of Fricker in his old-school plastic face mask.
January 30th, 2023 at 2:18 PM ^
giordano got canned for ruining the program. it was farrell that quit, and then when wilf martin took over he couldn't handle the pressure and was gone after a couple of games into the '80 season. there was a bunch of stuff going on back then, decades before the interweb, that would've made a pretty good story.
January 30th, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
Ah yes, Farrell. Yeah, boy, his departure led to a long, slow slide that didn't end until Red showed up. And that was well after I'd left A2.
I'm going to dig up some of the stuff I have from back then and post. I have programs, signatures, photos (including the Spartak game), etc.
January 30th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
I went to a lot of games throughout the 80s, and had a lot of fun (and collected a lot of pucks from underneath the bleachers). Sounds like I'm not alone here. But ... yeah, those were some bleak years. I remember hearing from teachers at school how dominant Michigan hockey used to be, but ... those stories seemed so distant from the half-empty stadium and frequent losses that they didn't even resonate. I mean ... they could have been talking about a different sport, on a different planet.
January 30th, 2023 at 9:13 PM ^
Fricker was not quicker. I was quicker.
January 31st, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
that's a little scary, given that you died last january...
you were a tiny goalie, but awfully good.
January 30th, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
fricker was the 'spaceman'. if you knew him, that fit. let's just say he may have been ahead of his time with medical marijuana. possibly.
and he was a great goalie at that level. i was surprised he never made it to the show.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:22 AM ^
RIP Bobby.
On a side note, get Bertuzzi some of those gloves.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Looks a lot like Brett there.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
Well, so much for Monday. Sad news, but the guy lived a glorious life and goes out not owing anything to anyone. What a career! The Hawks lost a legend today, but so did hockey writ large.
RIP, Bobby...
January 30th, 2023 at 3:56 PM ^
If by "glorious" you mean full of beating up women and appalling, unrepentant racism, yeah. Pretty glorious.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Damn..... RIP Bobby....
January 30th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Bobby was an early adapter to the use of a curved blade on a stick to increase the velocity of a shot. Coupled with his natural skills to take a big windup on his 'slap shot', he was a goalie's nightmare in the days when they wore no helmets and facemasks. Rest in Peace, O fair-haired Blackhawk.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^
Glenn Hall hated practice (famously) thanks to Hull and the no-regulation curved sticks.
January 30th, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
He was good at first with the curved stick. He just went too far.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:29 AM ^
Sad to lose a legend. My dad would tell stories about watching Bobby Hull play near the end of his career. Hockey royalty.
RIP Bobby
January 30th, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
One of the best to ever play, RIP 🙏
January 30th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^
RIP to one of the all-time NHL greats
January 30th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^
Behind Bobby Orr & Gordie Howe...the next name for me to mention Bobby Hull.
What an era for hockey...greatest era ever in hockey.
January 30th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
That is is an impressive trio. Three faces on the NHL's Mt Rushmore.
RIP, Bobby!
January 30th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Bobby "Hitler had good ideas" Hull?
Bobby "I beat my wives" Hull?
Bobby "My Daughter became an attorney for Women victims of abuse because she grew up watching me beat her Mother" Hull?
January 30th, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^
Chicago legends have an unfortunate affinity with Adolf
January 30th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
Wayne's World, Blues Brothers classic films...
January 30th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
Yes that guy off the ice.
I was more of a Stan Makita guy myself the best center of his time. "Mikita made adjustments to his game that forever changed the way hockey was played. An errant shot during a 1967 game tore a piece of his ear off. Because of the injury, he developed his own helmet and became one of the first players in the league to wear one all the time."
January 30th, 2023 at 1:40 PM ^
Zoltan, I met Stan Mikita several years ago after a round of golf. Great conversation - engaging - etc. Unfortunately, he passed away about five years ago, and is watching thinks from that rink up in the sky.
January 30th, 2023 at 4:45 PM ^
Very cool. Stan was the first foreign born ( non North American) star to win the Stanley Cup and a brilliant playmaker.
Bobby Hull was terrific on the ice and very good to his fans and I'll stop there.
I had the pleasure of meeting Gordie Howe a couple times and each time he couldn't have been nicer. And like Ernie Harwell who also thanked me for being a fan and follower! Gordie shook my hand and I almost peed in my pants. Like Bobby Hull these guys were built like Popeye and were tougher/crazier than any current NHL hockey player.
A great story involving Howe, Hull and Esposito ( Phil):
It was in Esposito's second NHL game, with the Blackhawks against the Red Wings in 1963 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. In Esposito's first shift, he lined up against Howe on a faceoff. Teammate Bobby Hull told Esposito, "Watch that old (expletive)." Howe blinked once or twice, flashed a little grin. The puck dropped, and Howe shocked Esposito with an elbow to the mouth.
"I turned around, swung my stick at him," Esposito said. "I'm on the ice six seconds and I've got six stitches and I'm in the penalty box.
"I came back at him, I'd say to him, 'You old (expletive), you used to be my idol.' Later on, he told me that's the first time anyone had said, 'You used to be my idol.' He said, 'I respected you for that.'
January 30th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^
Wow, that's terrible stuff. Looks like he got one too many pucks to the noggin.
Also, better twitter link: https://twitter.com/SatchelPrice/status/816004235154378753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
January 30th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
I kept scrolling down wondering when someone would mention the obvious. But I guess he played without a helmet which makes it cool.
January 30th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
Thank you. It's not hard to simultaneously acknowledge he was a great hockey player and a complete trash pile of a person.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
Wow, I had no idea. I can't say I ever had any particular feelings about Hull. I didn't really watch hockey when he was playing. Basically, all I knew him as was Brett's dad and a good player in his own right.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
Total legend. He was my guy as a very young kid growing up outside of Chicago. RIP Mr. Hull.
January 30th, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
Total legend. He was my guy as a very young kid growing up outside of Chicago. RIP Mr. Hull.
January 30th, 2023 at 12:43 PM ^
Sad news. My dad was a big fan of his, at least as much as the Detroit-Chicago rivalry would allow. My son played in a big youth tournament in Chicago 6 or so years ago and Bobby and Brett were special guests there signing autographs. His hands were a bit shaky which made it difficult for him to sign things... as he said to my dad (who was wearing a red wings hat) "from all of those slashes from Gordie." Was very kind to my son and let him try on his Stanley Cup ring.
January 30th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
The man who changed Roger Crozier career as a goalie with his slap shot
January 30th, 2023 at 12:53 PM ^
RIP Bobby
January 30th, 2023 at 12:59 PM ^
"damn, it's hot"
-bobby hull, right now
January 30th, 2023 at 1:00 PM ^
RIP to one of the greatest ever!
January 30th, 2023 at 1:42 PM ^
1. Fantastic, iconic hockey player.
2. Not a good man in his private life, to put it mildly.
Recognizing and acknowledging the first does not imply condoning or excusing the second.
January 30th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^
It does if you don't mention it at all.