Dennis Hull – The Other, Other Great Hull

Often overshadowed by his brother and nephew, Dennis Hull was no hack on the ice, either. The younger brother of Bobby Hull and the uncle of Brett Hull, Dennis played in the NHL from 1964-65 to 1977-78. All but his final season were played with the Chicago Black Hawks. In 1977-78, Hull played 55 regular season games and an additional seven in the playoffs with the Detroit Red Wings before retiring.

So, how does the Dennis Hull rookie card stack up against the rest of the family? The 1965-66 Topps number 64 rookie card of Dennis Hull is valued at a high of $30. A reasonable price for a player not in the Hockey Hall of Fame. To put it in perspective, brother Bobby’s 1958-59 Topps #66 rookie card is worth more than the whole 1965-66 Topps set ($3000 to $2700). The Brett Hull rookie card from the 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee series is valued at up to $50 by Beckett.

Dennis Hull played four years in the OHA (predecessor to the Ontario Hockey League) from 1960-61 to 1963-64, all with the St. Catherines Teepees / Black Hawks. In his final season in St. Catherines, Hull broke out with 48 goals and 97 points in just 55 games. He was selected a First Team All-Star that season.

Hull hit the 40 goal plateau once during his NHL career, 1970-71, with exactly 40. His best offensive season came in 1972-73 when he led the Black Hawks with 90 points on 39 goals and 51 assists. He added another 24 points in 16 playoff games as Chicago made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before dropping in six to the Montreal Canadiens. His 24 points were one less than Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Yvan Cournoyer of the Habs. In a year that started with him playing for Team Canada in the legendary Summit Series against the Soviet Union, surely 1972-73 stands out as his career year.

Over his career, Dennis played in five NHL all-star games and was selected a Second Team All-Star for that career year in 1972-73. Hull finished his 14 year NHL career with 303 goals and 654 points over 959 regular season games. Ironically, brother Bobby put up exactly the same number of regular season goals in just 411 World Hockey Association games.

Dennis takes living in the shadow of his more famous family members in stride. He’s made a post NHL career of public speaking and stand-up comedy. In 1998, he came out with a book titled The Third Best Hull. The product description from Amazon of the 172 page book goes like this:

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Dennis Hull Collection

 

 

 

 

 

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Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1960-61	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	47	6	4	10	33
1961-62	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	50	6	12	18	29
1962-63	St. Catharines Black Hawks	OHA	50	19	29	48	73
1963-64	St. Catharines Black Hawks	OHA	55	48	49	97	123
1964-65	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	55	10	4	14	18
1965-66	St. Louis Braves	CPHL	40	11	16	27	14
1965-66	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	25	1	5	6	6
1966-67	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	70	25	17	42	33
1967-68	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	74	18	15	33	34
1968-69	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	72	30	34	64	25
1969-70	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	76	17	35	52	31
1970-71	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	78	40	26	66	16
1971-72	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	78	30	39	69	10
1972-73	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	78	39	51	90	27
1973-74	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	74	29	39	68	15
1974-75	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	69	16	21	37	10
1975-76	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	80	27	39	66	28
1976-77	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	75	16	17	33	2
1977-78	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	55	5	9	14	6
	NHL Totals		959	303	351	654	261