[1/3] Former NHL star Bobby Hull (L) embraces his son Brett Hull during an on-ice ceremony to introduce the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees before the Toronto Maple Leafs' and Detroit Red Wings' NHL hockey game in Toronto November 7, 2009.
REUTERS/ Mike Cassese/File PhotoJan 30 (Reuters) - Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, the first National Hockey League player to score more than 50 goals in a season, has died at the age of 84, the Chicago Blackhawks said on Monday.
"Hull is part of an elite group of players who made a historic impact on our hockey club," the Blackhawks said in a statement.
"When Bobby Hull wound up to take a slapshot, fans throughout the NHL rose to their feet in anticipation and opposing goaltenders braced themselves," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
The decision cost Hull a chance to play for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union as the NHL blocked his participation.