DETROIT -- A lot of professional athletes and teams say it's
not about the money, they just want to win.
Brett Hull and the Detroit Red Wings can say those things and
mean it after their actions this offseason.
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Fri, June 15
Brett Hull is never afraid to speak his mind. But if Scotty Bowman didn't want to coach Hull, the Red Wings wouldn't have gone after him. At the same time, Hull wouldn't have signed with Detroit if he didn't think he could work with Bowman.
Engblom's complete analysis
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Detroit general manager Ken Holland said Hull signed a two-year
contract for about $9 million on Wednesday, when he could have
signed for more elsewhere. Holland added that "three or four
players" whom he would not name reworked their contracts to give
the Red Wings the cash necessary to sign Hull.
"I think that just shows you how committed and serious
everybody around here is to winning," Hull said after a news
conference in Joe Louis Arena.
The signing of the Hull, the NHL's seventh all-time leading goal
scorer, caps an active and expensive summer for the Red Wings.
They traded for goalie Dominik Hasek, who will make $8 million
this season, and signed left wing Luc Robitaille, who will make
about $4 million.
"When we added Dominik Hasek and Luc Robitaille we felt we were
done," said Holland, before he asked some Red Wings to rework
contracts. "In order to get this entire team together, it took
some people to work with us."
Hull said the rest of the NHL will worry about playing Detroit
this season.
The Red Wings now have three of the top five active goal
scorers.
Hull is second among active players with 649 goals, two behind
Mark Messier and one ahead of Mario Lemieux. Detroit captain Steve
Yzerman, 36, is fourth with 645 goals and Robitaille is fifth among
active players with 590.
Add Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan to the Red Wings list of
snipers and scoring should not be a problem.
Detroit should be solid, with a chance to be spectacular, on
defense.
Norris trophy winner Nick Lidstrom leads the defense along with
Chris Chelios. Both will become even better playing in front of
Hasek, who has won six Vezina trophies and two Hart trophies as the
league's MVP.
"I think there are a lot of teams that are extremely worried
about the Detroit Red Wings," Hull said.
The Red Wings may have added some of the luster they've lost
after winning the Stanley Cup in 1997 and 1998. They haven't
advanced past the second round since their consecutive
championships.
Detroit has decided to reload with aging stars while making one
of the NHL's highest payrolls even higher at about $60 million.
"We might have nine future Hall of Famers on this team,"
Detroit's Darren McCarty said.
Finding a scoring threat at right wing, the position Hull plays,
became important once Martin Lapointe, Pat Verbeek and Doug Brown
became ex-Wings this summer.
Hull scored 39 goals last season, seven more than Fedorov,
Detroit's leading scorer.
"When you look at goal scorers in the league, Brett is there,"
said Scotty Bowman, the NHL's winningest coach. "You have to have
players that can score because defense is taking over the league."
Hull has led the NHL in scoring three times, most recently in
1992. He earned the Hart trophy in 1991 and is a seven-time
All-Star, most recently in 1997.
Hull ranks seventh all-time among goal scorers while Yzerman is
ninth and Robitaille is 13th.
"I've always wanted to get him in the organization, but was
never successful," team owner Mike Ilitch said. "It's extra
special."
Hull became a free agent when the Dallas Stars didn't exercise
the final year of his contract, which would have paid him $7
million.
With the Stars, Hull scored the series-clinching goal against
Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres in the third overtime of Game 6 of the
1999 Stanley Cup finals. Detroit hosts Dallas on Oct. 26.
He signed with Dallas as a free agent in 1998 and played with
the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames.
Hull and his father, Bobby, hold the record for NHL goals by a
father-son combination with 1,259. Bobby Hull had 610 goals in a
Hall of Fame career spent mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks.
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