The NHL.com has a series called <a href="http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/heroes/index.html" target="_blank">Heroes of Hockey</a> that profiles a retired NHL star each week. This week's article is on Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1960s. Great article about a player who knew the importance of connecting with the real fanbase...the kids. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Like the late, great Mickey Mantle, Hull represents a link to another era, when pro sports weren't such big businesses, when the innocence of the sport fostered unabashed adoration of idols. Hull, the charismatic, goal-scoring goodwill ambassador who throughout the 1960's simply was the Chicago Blackhawks, takes us back to another day, when it was so much easier to be young at heart.

"I have never denied any child of an autograph," Hull said, a fact seconded by Willie O'Ree, the director of Youth Development for NHL Diversity, when he likened current NHL star Jarome Iginla to Hull.

"When I think back over the years, Jarome reminds me a little bit of Bobby Hull," O'Ree said. "Bobby never turned down an autograph or the chance to linger and chat with someone. I can still see him, standing and signing outside Chicago Stadium. It was really just a kinda battered old wooden door, but that's where Bobby would set up shop, especially following afternoon games when there would be lots of kids around. Every single one of them got Hull's autograph. Bobby and Jarome are two of the finest ambassadors our game has ever had."</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Truly a role model who more of today's athletes should try to emulate...

A very cool guy...


I can't say I always agree with how his son plays hockey but I respect the father...