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Bobby Hull, the first NHLer to score over 50 goals in a season, dies at 84

Bobby Hull, the first NHLer to score over 50 goals in a season, dies at 84

Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull has died at the age of 84.

He played for Chicago and Hartford of the NHL as well as the World Hockey Association’s Winnipeg Jets over a 23-year pro career.

The NHL Alumni Association announced Monday morning it had learned of Hull’s death.

In 1961, he helped lead Chicago to its first Stanley Cup in 23 years.

Hull was the first player in the NHL history to score more than 50 goals in a single season. He set the record of 54 in 1966 and broke it by four goals a couple of seasons later.

Along with Chicago teammate Stan Mikita he helped popularize the curved hockey stick blade in the NHL.

His subsequent defection to the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA in 1972 was the catalyst that helped shatter the NHL’s stranglehold on players. It also started the escalation of salaries that now make Hull’s once record-setting million-dollar payday look like small change.

WATCH | Hull on leaving Chicago, playing in the WHA and his son, Brett:

Bobby Hull on playing hockey in the WHA

In 1977, hockey star Bobby Hull is interviewed by Peter Gzowski on CBC-TV’s 90 Minutes Live.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBC | NHL News…