From the Pressbox

He was first eligible for the NHL Draft in 1982. Two-hundred and fifty-two players were selected. He wasn’t one of them. Again available in 1983, 242 more were picked. Again, his name wasn’t called.

Finally, the Calgary Flames took Brett Hull 117th overall in 1984. Tuesday night, the team that made him a full-time NHLer – the St. Louis Blues – will retire his number 16. None of the 610 men taken before him scored more goals than Hull, who ranks third all-time behind Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. These were the years of Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Patrick Roy, so history doesn’t make him the best player from those drafts – but every team in the NHL had several shots to get him, some of them close to 30 chances.

(Ironically, the team with the fewest opportunities was the Blues, who failed to show up for the 1983 draft amidst attempts to move them to Saskatchewan.)

Monday afternoon, hours before he did colour on the Dallas-Detroit radio broadcast – he works for the Stars now – Hull reminisced about his career in the team’s hotel. It is The Headliner on Saturday’s pre-game show, and my biggest regret is that we just didn’t have time to include everything.

Hull said other than believing he was good enough to play in the NHL, didn’t have enormous expectations. He was glad to be traded from Calgary, not because he didn’t like the city, but because there was no room on the roster for another right winger.

“When Terry Crisp told me, I tried to hold back, but I couldn’t prevent the smile from coming to my face,” he said.

St. Louis was where his career exploded: 527 goals in 744 games. A love affair between an outspoken player and a city that historically prefers quieter sports heroes. Hull said his greatest regret was that neither of his two Stanley Cup rings came with the Blues “and the worst thing about it is that we were never really close.”

In the interview, you will hear some interesting comments about Ken Hitchcock, Scott Bowman and Mike Keenan – boy, does Hull not like Keenan – why he’ll never coach, what he’d do if he was NHL commissioner for a day, the best quote he ever delivered and the misconception about his relationship with father Bobby.

Some of the stuff we had to leave out:

• Hull said that Ed Belfour was the best big-game goalie he ever played with;
• One of his greatest memories was lining up next to Wayne Gretzky for the National Anthem when The Great One was traded to St. Louis;
• He loves the new NHL, except that referees have to learn that there is a difference between putting a stick on an opponent and obstructing them;
• He doesn’t regret never putting on a Team Canada jersey (Hull was rejected for the 1986 World Championships and joined Team USA instead);
• In his first NHL game – Game 3 of the 1986 Stanley Cup Final – he didn’t have his own sticks because his college season had ended months earlier;
• Sergei Fedorov “doesn’t know how good he is”;
• Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Zubov are up there with Bobby Orr “among the best offensive defencemen to ever play the game.”

The other night, the Blues drew an estimated 1,500 (it was announced at 5,000) against Nashville, as fans decided to stay home during a snowstorm. John Davidson has a huge job here. It’s incredible to see how far the franchise has fallen since Hall & Oates rocked defensive systems across the league.

=====
Hull’s biggest goal came in 1999, his Stanley Cup overtime winner for Dallas in Buffalo. Seven years later, he says it absolutely should have counted: “It’s not my fault the NHL changed the rules for control of the puck in the crease without telling anyone.”

(That’s true. In one of the great attempts at spin control, the NHL revealed 24 hours after the game that they had sent a memo to the teams in four months earlier indicating Hull’s kind of goal would count.)

That was the first Stanley Cup I covered beginning to end and I wanted some kind of souvenir. Wandering through Marine Midland Arena (now HSBC Arena), I found Michael Peca’s stick, smashed in frustration after the winning goal.

I still have it today.
=====
Scouts at the Wings-Stars game were saying that those two teams join Calgary as the best five-on-five teams in the NHL. Tampa Bay and Atlanta are best in the East. That’s a big change for the Thrashers, who used to be as tough as tissue paper.

====
Alright, comments.

Richard: Certainly, the rumour-mongering over Chris Pronger was ridiculous. While I think he was correct in shielding his wife from the maelstrom, the fact is Pronger didn’t handle things very well by disappearing as the proverbial poop hit the fan. If he had made some kind of immediate visible statement, things probably would have calmed down. By refusing to address the situation right away, Pronger allowed the goofiness to erupt.

It is unfair to solely pick on Edmonton for this kind of thing. You should have heard the lunacy going around when Shayne Corson left the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, for example.

As for Whyte Ave., actions of a few idiots should not define a city’s reputation. All of Vancouver cannot be blamed for the rioting following the 1994 loss to the Rangers, just as all of Calgary cannot be blamed for the relatively minor acts of vandalism on the Red Mile.

We can agree to disagree, that’s cool, but Tuesday night could have been an embarrassment for the city. And it wasn’t.

This, by the way, reminds me of a great story. During the 2004 Stanley Cup Final (Calgary/Tampa), I ran into an NHL player who was attending Game 5. (His team wasn’t playing.) He asked me about the Red Mile, saying he’d heard it was a crazy scene. I told him if he wanted to get an idea, he should take a look at a then-popular website that showed women flashing their chests.

He said he’d check it out.

I didn’t see the player again until after the lockout, and I asked him if he’d ever seen the site. He said, “I did. And my wife killed me for it. Next time, I’ll clear the history on my home computer.”

====
Steve from Vancouver: You are talking about Randy Wolf, and there are some people who think that’s a sensible contract because it’s only for one year.

But you are right about the owners. That’s why the NHL lockout was as much a battle between them as much as war against the players. They had to be protected from themselves.

« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »

This discussion is now Open. Submit your Comment.

Post a Comment

Disclaimer:

Note: By submitting your comments you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that due to the volume of e-mails we receive, not all comments will be published, and those that are published will not be edited. But all will be carefully read, considered and appreciated.

Name:

Email Address: (will not be published)

Location:

Comments:

Privacy Policy | Submissions Policy