The Panther
Registered User
I'm sure it's been discussed before, but how many NHL goals would Bobby Hull have retired with if he'd never jumped to the WHA?
The Hull-ster scored 604 NHL goals (regular season) up to his defection after 1971-72. His 50 goals that season were tied for 2nd in the NHL (Esposito was right in his pomp then), so it wasn't as if Hull was declining noticeably yet, and he was 33 in mid-season.
Hull ended up with 610 NHL goals, after his measly 6 goals (in 27 games, mind) in his last kick at the can in 1979-80, between Winnipeg and Hartford.
In between (that is, 1972 to 1979, or aged 33-40), Hull scored a ridiculous 303 goals in 411 WHA games, all with Winnipeg. This means he in fact scored 913 'pro' goals between the two Leagues.
Of course, we can assume his WHA numbers wouldn't have transferred to NHL competition levels, but on the other hand he was still easily the best goal-scorer in the WHA at age 36, out-gunning everybody 15 years younger.
Even if he'd scored only half those WHA goals in the NHL (and I think it would be considerably more than that), he'd have ended up with 762 career NHL goals, which would today place him 4th all-time, ahead of his son. More likely, though, I could see him scoring maybe 2/3 of the WHA totals in the NHL, which would then place him 2nd all-time, just ahead of Howe and behind only Gretzky.
What do ya think?
The Hull-ster scored 604 NHL goals (regular season) up to his defection after 1971-72. His 50 goals that season were tied for 2nd in the NHL (Esposito was right in his pomp then), so it wasn't as if Hull was declining noticeably yet, and he was 33 in mid-season.
Hull ended up with 610 NHL goals, after his measly 6 goals (in 27 games, mind) in his last kick at the can in 1979-80, between Winnipeg and Hartford.
In between (that is, 1972 to 1979, or aged 33-40), Hull scored a ridiculous 303 goals in 411 WHA games, all with Winnipeg. This means he in fact scored 913 'pro' goals between the two Leagues.
Of course, we can assume his WHA numbers wouldn't have transferred to NHL competition levels, but on the other hand he was still easily the best goal-scorer in the WHA at age 36, out-gunning everybody 15 years younger.
Even if he'd scored only half those WHA goals in the NHL (and I think it would be considerably more than that), he'd have ended up with 762 career NHL goals, which would today place him 4th all-time, ahead of his son. More likely, though, I could see him scoring maybe 2/3 of the WHA totals in the NHL, which would then place him 2nd all-time, just ahead of Howe and behind only Gretzky.
What do ya think?