This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2004.
Bobby Hull is perhaps the most beloved Blackhawk to have ever skated in Chicago. More importantly though, are the indelible marks that his career left on the game of hockey. To begin, Hull, the owner of the league's most feared slapshot in the 1960s, invented the idea of the curved stick. Before that time players relied exclusively on a straight blade. The curved stick however, allowed players to put greater velocity on their shots, caused the puck to move differently while in the air and gave players greater stickhandling control. Today, every player in the league uses a curved blade. Individually, Hull, known as the "Golden Jet," was a remarkable player. After entering the league in 1957-58, Hull led the previously dismal Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup Championship in 23 years in 1961, offering a brilliant playoff performance. The next year however, Hull became the third player in NHL history to record more than 50 goals in a single season, and he would do so four more times in his NHL career. In 65-66 he set a record for most goals in a season with 54 and rewrote the record in 68-69 with 58 goals. As an NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks for 14 years, Hull was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player twice. Amazingly though, Hull made the decision to sign with the Winnipeg Jets in 1972, a team that was then a part of the WHA, which was a separate entity from the NHL, competing for players, fans and money. Therefore, though his NHL career spanned only 14 seasons, his professional hockey career spanned a much longer 22. As a result, reviewing Hull's career stats necessitates that one recognizes not only the 1170 points he tallied while in the NHL, but also the 639 points he amassed while in the WHA, during which time he recorded four seasons of 50 or more goals and one in which he scored 77. Bobby Hull is without question one of the most special players the game of hockey has ever seen and he will be remembered for many things, not the least of which was his blistering slapshot. On the front of the jersey is the Blackhawks team logo patch. On both sleeves is another team logo patch. Below that on both sleeves, and on the back is the player number "9" done in white tackle twill. Inside the back of the collar is the "GUNZO'S" manufacturer's tag with a size tag attached reading "size 48." The jersey shows game-use and apears to have no alterations of any kind. The jersey also comes with an additional LOA.