Dennis Hull, the left winger who spent fourteen seasons in the NHL, scored over 300 goals, represented Canada in the legendary 1972 Summit Series, and spent the rest of his life making people laugh about all of it, died on May 30, 2026. He was 81.
Born November 19, 1944 in Point Anne, Ontario, Dennis came from perhaps the most talented hockey family in the history of the sport. His older brother Bobby Hull was one of the greatest players who ever lived. His nephew Brett Hull would go on to score 741 NHL goals. In that context, being known as “the Silver Jet” — a deliberate nod to Bobby’s nickname “the Golden Jet” — might have felt like a consolation prize. Dennis wore it like the punchline it was always meant to be, and spent decades getting laughs out of the family dynamic that might have crushed a less secure man.
The hockey, though, was genuinely excellent. He played 959 NHL games, scored 303 goals and 351 assists for 654 career points, was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1973, and appeared in five NHL All-Star Games. His best seasons came as part of the MPH line alongside centre Pit Martin and right wing Jim Pappin, one of the more productive forward units in the league during the early 1970s. In the 1972-73 season he posted 39 goals and 51 assists for 90 points, then led Chicago in playoff scoring with 9 goals and 15 assists as the Blackhawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals. That is not a footnote career. That is a very good hockey player who happened to share a last name with an all-time great.
The 1972 Summit Series gave him one of the best stories of his life. When Bobby was excluded from the series because he had jumped to the WHA, Dennis initially planned to boycott in solidarity. Bobby talked him out of it. Dennis stepped into the lineup, took over on the line with Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, contributed two goals and two assists in four games, and came home with a winner’s story and a friendship with Soviet goaltending legend Vladislav Tretiak that lasted the rest of his life. He told Tretiak, with characteristic warmth and cheek, that he had become famous for letting in Paul Henderson’s series-winning goal — and that if he had stopped it, he would probably be driving a cab in Moscow today. Tretiak apparently found this funny. Everyone who heard Dennis Hull tell a story usually did.
After retiring from hockey he became a broadcaster, went back to school at Brock University to earn a degree in History and Physical Education, taught at Ridley College, served as athletic director at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, ran a cattle farm raising Polled Hereford with his brother Gary in Northumberland County, Ontario, and built a second career as a public speaker and comedian. He wrote a memoir called ‘The Third Best Hull’, the title of which tells you everything you need to know about how he processed his place in his family’s story.
He played fourteen seasons, scored 303 NHL goals, helped Canada win the Summit Series, and never once stopped being funny about all of it. That is a good life.