Brett Hull is a legend. He’s one of the greatest goalscorers in NHL history and a true St. Louis icon. Hull’s legacy will never be forgotten, but it wasn’t just about the number of goals he scored.
Sure, 741 goals is an astonishing number that few people will ever beat, but he was also a great ambassador for hockey in general, especially in St. Louis. The stories about Hull on and off the ice are uncountable, and he’s just such a straight-up guy who always did everything to make those around him feel better.
Hull was a generational talent, and just imagine how great he actually would’ve been if he just trained harder. In today’s hockey, the players are machines, always at the gym, always doing that little extra. But those days were different; for example, you rarely saw Wayne Gretzky in the gym.
Brett Hull was the same. He loved the offensive game, but when his team had to practice defense, he once even got his coach to send him off. That’s just the way he was as a player, but it worked out great as well, to say the least.
One time in St. Louis, his coach Mike Keenan ordered fitness tests, but Hull wasn’t having it.
”This was a big deal back in the 90s. Because, even in hockey, Wayne Gretzky didn’t do a bench press,” former NHLer Jamie Rivers told 101 ESPN St. Louis.
”One time, Hullie went over to the bench press, it was at 185, I was like 19, I will never forget it, sitting there sitting watching Brett Hull doing bench press.”
”He sits down, kind of shakes out his arms, does a couple of stretches, lays back, puts his hands on the bar, and then just sits up quickly and goes, ’Yeah, no.’
Of course, Mike Keenan was furious. But Hull had the perfect response.
”Mike Keenan goes, ’What do you mean with no?’ And he goes, ’Mike, my arms go up above my head, not straight out in front of my chest. I score goals, I don’t do bench press. You want this done, call Twister.’ And I was like, ’this is going to be an awesome year!’”
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