Brett Hull (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #37)
1986-1987 Cgy 5 GP 1 goal 0 assists 1 point 0.17 PPG
1987-1988 Cgy/Stl 67 GP 27 goals 27 assists 54 points 0.81 PPG
1988-1989 Stl 80 GP 35 goals 36 assists 71 points 0.89 PPG
1989-1990 Stl 82 GP 62 goals 35 assists 97 points 1.18 PPG
1990-1991 Stl 80 GP 78 goals 41 assists 120 points 1.49 PPG
1991-1992 Stl 75 GP 63 goals 35 assists 99 points 1.32 PPG
1992-1993 Stl 78 GP 45 goals 39 assists 84 points 1.07 PPG
1993-1994 Stl 79 GP 53 goals 37 assists 90 points 1.14 PPG
1994-1995 Stl 82 GP 51 goals 37 assists 88 points 1.07 PPG
1995-1996 Stl 70 GP 42 goals 39 assists 81 points 1.16 PPG
1996-1997 Stl 77 GP 44 goals 42 assists 87 points 1.12 PPG
1997-1998 Stl 66 GP 31 goals 52 assists 84 points 1.27 PPG
1998-1999 Dal* 60 GP 37 goals 30 assists 68 points 1.13 PPG
1999-2000 Dal 79 GP 27 goals 39 assists 66 points 0.84 PPG
2000-2001 Dal 79 GP 44 goals 45 assists 88 points 1.12 PPG
2001-2002 Det* 82 GP 35 goals 49 assists 74 points 0.90 PPG
2002-2003 Det 82 GP 43 goals 45 assists 88 points 1.07 PPG
2003-2004 Det 81 GP 30 goals 51 assists 81 points 1.00 PPG
2005-2006 Phx 5 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.20 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1985-1986 Cgy 2 GP 0 goals 0 assists 0 points 0.00 PPG
1986-1987 Cgy 4 GP 2 goals 1 assist 3 points 0.67 PPG
1987-1988 Stl 10 GP 5 goals 2 assists 7 points 0.68 PPG
1988-1989 Stl 10 GP 4 goals 4 assists 9 points 0.86 PPG
1989-1990 Stl 12 GP 11 goals 7 assists 18 points 1.48 PPG
1990-1991 Stl 13 GP 9 goals 7 assists 16 points 1.25 PPG
1991-1992 Stl 6 GP 3 goals 3 assists 7 points 1.17 PPG
1992-1993 Stl 11 GP 7 goals 4 assists 11 points 0.97 PPG
1993-1994 Stl 4 GP 2 goals 1 assist 3 points 0.74 PPG
1994-1995 Stl 7 GP 5 goals 2 assists 7 points 1.01 PPG
1995-1996 Stl 13 GP 6 goals 5 assists 11 points 0.81 PPG
1996-1997 Stl 6 GP 2 goals 7 assists 9 points 1.58 PPG
1997-1998 Stl 10 GP 3 goals 3 assists 7 points 0.67 PPG
1998-1999 Dal* 22 GP 9 goals 8 assists 16 points 0.75 PPG
1999-2000 Dal 23 GP 13 goals 16 assists 29 points 1.26 PPG
2000-2001 Dal 10 GP 2 goals 6 assists 8 points 0.82 PPG
2001-2002 Det* 23 GP 12 goals 10 assists 21 points 0.93 PPG
2002-2003 Det 4 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.30 PPG
2003-2004 Det 12 GP 4 goals 3 assists 6 points 0.53 PPG
Career - 1309 GP, 748 goals, 670 assists, 1422 points, 1.09 PPG
Career-Highs - 78 goals (90-91); 52 assists (97-98); 120 points (90-91); 1.49 PPG (90-91)
Avg. (18 seasons) - 72 GP, 42 goals, 37 assists, 79 points, 1.09 PPG
Peak Avg. (89-97) - 78 GP, 55 goals, 38 assists, 93 points, 1.20 PPG, 0 Cups
Playoff Career - 202 GP, 99 goals, 90 assists, 189 points, 0.94 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 13 goals (99-00); 16 assists (99-00); 29 points (99-00); 1.48 PPG (89-90)
Accolades - 1 MVP award, 1 Lady Byng
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion
Brett Hull had one major flaw in his NHL career: he was Bobby Hull's son. When you're trying to live up to the career of the greatest left winger of all-time, it's almost impossible to carve out a niche of your own. And yet, that's exactly what The Golden Brett did, emerging as one of the best pure snipers the game had seen since Mike Bossy.
In his first few seasons, Hull showed promise, but it wasn't until 1989 that he began a run of seasons with the Blues that rank as among the best by any goal scorer. His 438 adjusted goals from 1989 to 1997 are fourth all time for any player's eight-year peak (excluding pre-WWII players like Morenz and Stewart), behind just Phil Esposito, Gordie Howe and (oh yeah) Bobby Hull. In his magical 1990-1991 season, Hull actually came close to breaking Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record, and his 78 adjusted goals that year are actually higher than Gretzky's 76 in 81-82 (and second all-time only to Esposito's 79).
That 1990-1991 season is the only one in which Hull ever eclipsed 100 adjusted points, a byproduct of the fact that Hull was never a particularly good playmaker, and his goal-to-assist ratio is one of the most lopsided of any player listed here. There's also no doubt that Hull was fortunate to find a perfect linemate in Adam Oates...and that Oates was lucky to have Hull. Oates' elite passes would have been wasted on a right-winger with a less devastating one-timer, or with less of an ability to stealthily find the open spots on the ice.
Despite the dominance of his years with the Blues, the team rarely advanced past the second round of the playoffs, and the whispers began that a team could never truly contend with a centerpiece player who was so one-dimensional (Hull was a goal scorer, and the best at it, but his backchecking was negligible). So Hull decided to sacrifice individual statistics and signed with the Dallas Stars, a heavily-regimented trapping team ruled with an iron fist by head coach Ken Hitchcock. While his per-game averages took a bit of a hit, Hull managed to adopt the two-way game that Hitchcock demanded, and in his first season with the Stars, he won the Stanley Cup in memorable fashion, with a goal that in most other seasons would have counted without controversy. As it happened, in 1999, the NHL was in year three of a ridiculous experiment in which goals scored while a player was in the crease before the puck (even if they weren't interfering with the goaltender) were disallowed. Still, amidst the melee and ensuing celebration by the Stars, the referees weren't able to review and disallow the goal. But give it up Buffalo fans...the Stars may well have won that game in overtime anyway, and even if they didn't, there was still a deciding Game 7 to be played in Dallas.
(While I'm at it, give this one up also Buffalo fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPhONc6xC48)
Hull continued to produce with the Stars, albeit not at the incredible pace of his Blues days, but still as a reliable sniper and now as a big-time playoff performer (he had always performed well during the playoffs...but the Blues hadn't gone far enough for anyone to notice). Repeating his Dallas feat, Hull won a Cup in his first season with the Red Wings. It's true that, on both of Hull's championship teams, he was not the best player, or even perhaps one of the two best players. This is why Hull ranks beneath Bossy on the list of the all-time great right-wingers. But Hull still earns a spot in the discussion of elite right wings with his staggering 748 career goals (tied for third all time with some guy named Maurice Richard), his passionate, brash and memorably witty personality, and his key contributions to two veteran championship teams. He may not have surpassed Dad, but the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
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