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Brett Hull - Signs With Detroit Red Wings

Bouncing back from the rejection by the Stars, Hull signed with the Detroit Red Wings in 2001. The timing of his move proved fortuitous, as the team led the league all season and emerged as the winner of the Stanley Cup over the Carolina Hurricanes. A key player in the team's march to the championship, the victory vindicated Hull's talent and renewed his enthusiasm for the game. As he described his Stanley Cup experience to Dan Patrick in an interview for the ESPN Web site, "I enjoyed it. I was genuinely aware of what was happening and enjoyed looking at the people I won it with and how they enjoyed it. Before, I was just so excited that I won it that I didn't get to really enjoy the experience." Now ranked as one of the NHL's half-dozen all-time top goal scorers during the regular season and playoffs, Hull looked forward to another season with the Red Wings in 2002-03. He was also proud of his participation on the U.S. men's hockey team sent to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City; the team emerged with a Silver Medal, falling in the final game to Canada in one of the most-watched hockey games ever broadcast on North American television.

Career Statistics

Yr Team GP G AST PTS +/− PIM SOG SPCT PPG SHG
Blues: St. Louis Blues (NHL); Flames: Calgary Flames (NHL); Red Wings: Detroit Red Wings (NHL); Stars: Dallas Stars (NHL).
1985-86 Flames 0 — — — — — — — — —
1986-87 Flames 5 -1 0 1 1 0 5 20.0 0 0
1987-88 Flames 52 26 24 50 +10 12 153 17.0 4 0
Blues 13 6 8 14 +4 4 58 10.3 2 0
1988-89 Blues 78 41 43 84 -17 33 305 13.4 16 0
1989-90 Blues 80 72 41 113 -1 24 385 18.7 27 0
1990-91 Blues 78 86 45 131 +23 22 389 22.1 29 0
1991-92 Blues 73 70 39 109 -2 48 408 17.2 20 5
1992-93 Blues 80 54 47 101 -27 41 390 13.8 29 0
1993-94 Blues 81 81 57 97 -3 38 392 14.5 25 3
1994-95 Blues 48 29 21 50 13 10 200 14.5 9 3
1995-96 Blues 70 43 40 83 +4 30 327 13.1 16 5
1996-97 Blues 77 42 40 82 -9 10 302 13.9 12 2
1997-98 Blues 66 27 45 72 -1 26 211 12.8 10 0
1998-99 Stars 60 32 26 58 — 30 — — — —
1999-00 Stars 79 24 35 59 — 43 — — — —
2000-01 Stars 79 39 40 79 — 18 — — — —
2001-02 Red Wings 82 30 33 63 — 35 — — — —
TOTAL 1101 679 567 1246 — 424 — — — —

Related Biography: Hockey Coach Ken Hitchcock

Ken Hitchcock was born in 1951 in Alberta, Canada. His rise through the coaching ranks began with a six-season stint with the Kamloops Blazers in Canada's Western Hockey League in 1984. He then jumped into the NHL as assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1993 he became the head coach of the International Hockey League's Kalamazoo Wings, and in 1996 he returned to the NHL as the head coach of the Dallas Stars.

Hitchcock's strategy emphasized the importance of teamwork, which clashed with the style of some players such as Brett Hull, who joined the Stars in 1998. Hull and Hitchcock sometimes clashed over their approaches to the game, but Hull admitted that Hitchcock forced him to become a better all-around player. Although the Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999, the team declined to renew Hull's contract in 2001. Hull later signed with the Detroit Red Wings, who won the Stanley Cup in 2002.

For the 2002-2003 season, Hitchcock joined the Philadelphia Flyers as head coach. Hitchcock also served as the assistant coach on the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, where the squad won the Gold Medal.


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