The first thing I noticed about Dennis Hull was the size of his hands.
My right hand disappeared when we shook. His fingers were like sausages. The man had huge mitts.
And Dennis Hull put those huge mitts to good use during a sterling 14-year NHL career spent mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks. A five-time All-Star, the younger brother of the legendary “Golden Jet,” Bobby Hull — natives of Point Anne who grew up playing their early minor hockey in downtown Belleville at old Memorial Arena — Dennis would score 303 goals and total 654 points in 959 career NHL games. In 104 Stanley Cup playoff games, Hull notched 33 goals and 67 points.
Dennis Hull died on May 30. He was 81.
I met Dennis Hull several years ago when he was participating in a 1972 Summit Series anniversary tour. The story of how he wound up playing for Team Canada against the former Soviet Union in the most significant hockey series in the history of the game was the first question I asked him.
Dennis had been selected to the Team Canada roster, but his superstar older brother, Bobby, was blackballed since he had just inked a whopping million-dollar contract with the upstart World Hockey Association. The WHA had burst on the big-league shinny scene in ’72 as a rival circuit to the NHL. The NHL’s big wigs promptly declared that any player who jumped to the rebel loop would automatically be ineligible to play for Team Canada in the upcoming Summit Series.
Bobby was out. Dennis was miffed.
He told me that he talked to Bobby and offered not to play as a show of support for his brother. Bobby said no. ‘Play for both of us,’ he said.
And Dennis did.
In his typically understated style, he was one of Team Canada’s most consistent and disciplined forwards as our NHL nationals defeated the former USSR in a thrilling eight-game set that is universally regarded as the most important hockey series ever played. Hull produced four points in the four games he played (two goals, two assists) including the dramatic Game 8 clincher in Moscow where he earned a helper on a first-period tally by Team Canada defenceman Brad Park.
In some of the many photos that captured the rapturous Team Canada celebration after Paul Henderson’s historic game- and series-winner late in Period 3, Hull (wearing his customary No. 10 jersey) can be seen in the midst of the mob of jubilant Canadian players.
“It’s the best team I’ve ever been on,” he later said. “One of those times in life you’ll never forget.”
Following his NHL career, an industrious Hull went back to school to earn a university degree at Brock in St. Catherines where he’d played his junior hockey. He was later a college athletic director and eventually became one of the most sought-after speakers on the North American sports banquet circuit.
If you haven’t read his book, “The Third Best Hull,” you really need to. Especially if you come from Belleville. It’s one of the most entertaining and hilarious sports memoirs you’ll ever get your mitts on.
NEED TO KNOW: The three big-league Hulls — Bobby and his son Brett, along with Dennis — combined for a total of 1,654 NHL goals.
