Brett Hull - Why was he drafted so late?

[Le Barron de HF]

Why was the son of a superstar like Bobby Hull drafted in the sixth round? Did his skating plus lack of size turn teams off?

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[vadim sharifijanov]

fat and lazy

 

[crobro]

To many teenage arrests for drinking in west Vancouver as a youth.

 

[Killion]

Well, he was a bit of a tearaway as a teenager, overweight, undisciplined, was playing Juvenile hockey in 82 when he was first eligible for the Draft & passed over altogether. He then went on to play Tier II Provincial Jr.A in BC,passed over again in the 83 Draft however the following year he did draw a lot of attention in putting up some big numbers, enough to eventually be picked by the Calgary Flames in the 6th Round in 84... however.... he went the NCAA route thereafter at the University of Minnesota at Duluth & it was while playing there (according to his biography & interviews) that he began taking hockey seriously, deciding to get in shape, pursue an NHL career..... There are numerous examples of the sons of Star players who for whatever reasons simply dont follow in their fathers footsteps, others who not only follow in them but surpass their Dads exploits. The Hull family no different. Famous last name will only get you so far & indeed for many, its more a curse than a blessing. When the kids playing, like he's got a target on his back at times.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Well, he was a bit of a tearaway as a teenager, overweight, undisciplined, was playing Juvenile hockey in 82 when he was first eligible for the Draft & passed over altogether. He then went on to play Tier II Provincial Jr.A in BC,passed over again in the 83 Draft however the following year he did draw a lot of attention in putting up some big numbers, enough to eventually be picked by the Calgary Flames in the 6th Round in 84... however.... he went the NCAA route thereafter at the University of Minnesota at Duluth & it was while playing there (according to his biography & interviews) that he began taking hockey seriously, deciding to get in shape, pursue an NHL career..... There are numerous examples of the sons of Star players who for whatever reasons simply dont follow in their fathers footsteps, others who not only follow in them but surpass their Dads exploits. The Hull family no different. Famous last name will only get you so far & indeed for many, its more a curse than a blessing.

Thanks for the well detailed response. I wasn't aware that Hull had such a bad reputation as a kid.

 

[Killion]

Thanks for the well detailed response. I wasn't aware that Hull had such a bad reputation as a kid.

... "bad"?...nah... he just had some wild oats to sew... issues to deal with... its difficult
for kids to deal with Divorce... compounding matters, famous father, ugly publicity etc.

 

[crobro]

Just reminded me about the tragedy surrounding the son of former Whitecap Derek Possee.Shot and killed by police in West Van cause the TV remote he was holding in his hand on his couch was mistaken for a gun.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

... "bad"?...nah... he just had some wild oats to sew... issues to deal with... its difficult
for kids to deal with Divorce... compounding matters, famous father, ugly publicity etc.

not to mention witnessing domestic abuse. as i recall, until the younger hull became an NHL star and every reporter wanted to write a father and son story, he was estranged from his father. which is really to say, until he needed his dad to boost his profile and endorsement career (which in the early 90s included easton and upper deck), he wanted nothing to do with him. he had fantastic things to say about his step-dad in that autobiography though.

totally unrelated situation, but another son of a hall of famer who was taken lower than he should have been: paul stastny. i remember a lot of people saying that a team in the bottom half of the first round should have taken a flyer on him, and were they ever right.

 

[BayStreetBully]

Ahh Brett Hull. He earned all the respect and accolades he gets in hockey, but still rightfully took every advantage afforded to him as Bobby's son.

One of my favourite anecdotes of Brett is how he used to just walk into Scotty Bowman's office, sit down and just chill with him. Scotty Bowman! The greatest coach in history, 30 years his senior, and never one to fraternize with his players. Hull's confident (cocky?) personality had much to do with allowing for this relationship, but I suspect being the son of Bobby must've been the key reason why Scotty gravitated to him.

 

[Archangel]

Why was the son of a superstar like Bobby Hull drafted in the sixth round? Did his skating plus lack of size turn teams off?

attitude was the big thing

 

[crobro]

Was best buds with Ian Kidd who bragged about fooling the canucks that he was a potential NHL'er after signing as a college free agent.its all in Brett Hulls first book biography.

 

[Big Phil]

"I don't like hockey, I'm just good at it." - Brett Hull

One of many quotes attributed to him that sort of frustrate you but make you laugh at the same time. I honestly don't think Hull meant what he said there, he was just critical of the way the game was played at times and voiced his opinion about it.

The thing with Hull is that he is one of those guys who could afford to be a lazy player on the ice. He wasn't physical, didn't back check, never fought, etc. But at the end of the day, you were better for having him on your team because of his goal scoring and his clutch goal scoring which can never be overlooked. Is the only player other than Gretzky, Kurri or Messier with 100+ playoff goals and has as many playoff game winning goals (24) as him also.

He was stubborn, cocky and could drive you nuts, but he was also a winner.

 

[The Panther]

Yeah, Hully is sort-of a strange one. Major talent, but kind of comes across as lazy and slightly disinterested in the sport itself. Didn't really come across as someone who bought into hockey or team culture. Had few pretensions.

 

[Passchendaele]

You'd wonder.. Ryan Sittler was a top-10 pick, Alexander Kharlamov was picked #15. most likely because of their last names.. both were major busts.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Why was the son of a superstar like Bobby Hull drafted in the sixth round? Did his skating plus lack of size turn teams off?

Please use a more descriptive subject line than "Question" in the future. (Similar to my edit.)

 

[Hoser]

You'd wonder.. Ryan Sittler was a top-10 pick, Alexander Kharlamov was picked #15. most likely because of their last names.. both were major busts.

Sittler was ranked the 6th North American skater by Central Scouting, so it's not like Philly went way off the board picking him 7th overall. Like so many 'busts' Ryan Sittler's career was ended by injury. Seriously, do a Google search for scouting reports from '92, and then do another for "Ryan Sittler injuries".

 

[cujoflutie]

The risk of a player like Hull is that if he's not scoring goals, he's useless. No defense or grit to his game and he rarely got the puck himself. He did seem like a selfish player, how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Keenan coached St. Louis. I know a lot of people will just state that Keenan fights with all his stars but he also developed a lot of great hockey players pushing them to the next level and so you have to wonder if the reason they didn't get along was Keenan pushing Brett to be a more well rounded; Hull actually made defensive plays and played the PK under Keenan more than he did at any other stage.


He was quite the downer. Probably the quote which bugged me the most was when Mario returned in 2000, Hulls response would be “why would anyone come back to this game? I can’t wait to get outâ€


I'm actually surprised he got into management.

 

[Stephen]

He's like the Pavel Brendl of the 80s who made it as a goal scorer...

 

[Voight]

Well, he was a bit of a tearaway as a teenager, overweight, undisciplined, was playing Juvenile hockey in 82 when he was first eligible for the Draft & passed over altogether. He then went on to play Tier II Provincial Jr.A in BC,passed over again in the 83 Draft however the following year he did draw a lot of attention in putting up some big numbers, enough to eventually be picked by the Calgary Flames in the 6th Round in 84... however.... he went the NCAA route thereafter at the University of Minnesota at Duluth & it was while playing there (according to his biography & interviews) that he began taking hockey seriously, deciding to get in shape, pursue an NHL career..... There are numerous examples of the sons of Star players who for whatever reasons simply dont follow in their fathers footsteps, others who not only follow in them but surpass their Dads exploits. The Hull family no different. Famous last name will only get you so far & indeed for many, its more a curse than a blessing. When the kids playing, like he's got a target on his back at times.

#richkidprobs

 

[Voight]

You'd wonder.. Ryan Sittler was a top-10 pick, Alexander Kharlamov was picked #15. most likely because of their last names.. both were major busts.

Brett Lindro was was 9th overall.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Brett Hull always has interesting takes on positioning, goal-scoring, and dead vs. useful ice. He'd get frustrated when other players wouldn't position themselves for an optimal shot!

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Just reminded me about the tragedy surrounding the son of former Whitecap Derek Possee.Shot and killed by police in West Van cause the TV remote he was holding in his hand on his couch was mistaken for a gun.

North Van, but yeah. The police at that time were getting a bit of a rep for being out of hand and playing fast and loose with the law. Posse's high profile search for justice changed that. For a while, at least.

 

[iamjs]

Brett Lindro was was 9th overall.

and also had to retire early due to concussions.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Crazy looking back at Hull's Minnesota Duluth stats in the NCAA, considering almost no one puts up monster numbers at UMD now.

Also interesting that the Blackhawks didn't take a flier on Hull in 1983 or 1984 simply for name recognition

 

[WarriorofTime]

Crazy looking back at Hull's Minnesota Duluth stats in the NCAA, considering almost no one puts up monster numbers at UMD now.

Also interesting that the Blackhawks didn't take a flier on Hull in 1983 or 1984 simply for name recognition

Why didn't Dallas draft Brett Hull's son? While NHL is a very "in the family" sport, that doesn't mean everyone who is a son of someone else gets drafted "just cuz".

As it says upthread, Hull had actually already been passed up twice already and wouldn't have even been on the radar his first go-around. He was playing in the second tier as an older player. For instance, he was already two full years older than Eddie Olczyk who went third overall in the same draft.

It happens when a naturally talented player is not particularly motivated. Sometimes they put it all together, most of the time they don't.