NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time
By Nick Villano
NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time: No. 7 Bobby Hull
The slap shot wasn’t the slap shot until Bobby Hull showed us all how to properly shoot a slap shot. His was the best at that point, and it might still be the best slap shot of all time. He used the speed and ferocity of that shot to score 610 goals in his career. When Hull pulled his stick back in the air, he chose violence, and that usually made goalies, who sometimes didn’t have a mask, decide it was best to just let this one in.
Hull called the game of hockey “show business,” and he knew what that meant. Goals would keep the fans happy, so he scored them in bunches. He broke 50 goals five times in the NHL. They weren’t all on slap shots. Hull had a knack for the net. He would cheat on a teammate’s shot, and within moments, he’d be putting a rebound in the net.
Hull was so good all around the ice, but his bread and butter was that slap shot. It literally put fear into his opponents. They changed the way they played against him because of how scary that shot was. He was built like a brick house, and he used that to his advantage. There weren’t these crazy lifting programs in 1950s hockey, so a guy who lifted barrels of hay and chopped down trees since he was a child would come in with a major strength advantage.
Hull was one of the first real stars in the league. He’s a name everyone that’s remembered although he hasn’t stepped on the ice in over four decades.