Brett Hull couldn’t believe it.
When informed that Auston Matthews was the first player to score 66 or more goals in a season since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96, Golden Brett responded: “Really? For example, Ovi didn’t do it?
No. Alex Ovechkin’s best was 65, I informed Hull.
“Wow,” replied Hull, chatting on the phone with Athleticism in Nashville on Wednesday, a day after Matthews reached 66.
“It’s nice to see what Matthews is doing,” Hull added. “Because it’s part of the game that I love. I love seeing it. I like the way he likes to do it.
High praise from a former 86-goal scorer who reached 70 or more goals three times in a season (still crazy to think about).
What impresses Hull most is how Matthews achieves this.
“He does it in different ways,” Hull said. “You can look at me and Ovi, we were kind of set in our ways. It worked, which was good.
“But Auston does it in a myriad of ways, which is probably why he gets those kinds of totals.”
This is absolutely true. No. 34 has found a way to score from all over the offensive zone, making him nearly impossible to defend. But what’s particularly impressive is how he’s willing to pay the price for traffic to achieve even the most difficult goals.
“That’s what you have to do if you want to score goals,” Hull said. “To anyone who will listen, I tell them: ‘You’re going to score goals from the outside, but if you want to score a lot of goals, you have to get dirty.’ You need to take a step forward.
“And it’s worth it in the end.”
The added bonus for Hull is to see a fellow American finally join him in this rare club of over 65 scorers. Until now, Hull was the only one.
“Especially (Matthews) doing it in Toronto as a kid born in the United States,” Hull said with a laugh.
Hull had three magical seasons with the Blues that are still difficult to comprehend: 72 goals in 80 games in 1989-90, 86 goals in 78 games in 1990-91 and 70 goals in 73 games in 1991-92.
Ridiculous in every way.
“It was surreal,” Hull said looking back. “I remember my 86-goal year, I felt like I was scoring every time I played. That’s what I felt. And then, six points behind Wayne (Gretzky’s record 92 goals), I can’t imagine how he felt.
“He only had 120 assists to go with those 92 goals,” laughed Hull.
Yet Hull scored 228 goals in 231 games over those three seasons. What a feeling.
“It’s been an incredible three years,” Hull said. “You have done a lot of things to work and score goals for yourself. But there were times when it was so weird that all of a sudden the puck ended up in the net. For example, if you just threw it on a cross change and the goalie would miss it, I would say, “What? – or you accidentally drop one from a great height and it would go in.
“I remember one night on Long Island, I was way past the blue line, and a guy, for no reason, ran up to me and slid like Rod Langway. I had nowhere to go because it was so unexpected, so I just grabbed him and pulled him and made sure I got it on him, which was very high. If you remember, the Long Island glass was so hard. The puck went over the net, came off the glass, came back over the net, came off the goalie’s back and went in.
“I’m like, ‘What the fuck?’ So in addition to the work you put in to score, you also need good breaks to increase those numbers.
Not to mention extraordinary teammates who help make it happen, added Hull. He pointed out that Matthews certainly had some in Toronto.
“You really can’t do it alone,” Hull said. “You need quality teammates and linemates to score that many. »
NHL 70-goal seasons
Player | Season | General practitioner | g |
---|---|---|---|
Wayne Gretzky, Oilers |
1981-82 |
80 |
92 |
Wayne Gretzky, Oilers |
1983-84 |
74 |
87 |
Brett Hull, Blues |
1990-91 |
78 |
86 |
Mario Lemieux, Penguins |
1988-89 |
76 |
85 |
Phil Esposito, Bruins |
1970-71 |
78 |
76 |
Alexandre Mogilny, Sabers |
1992-93 |
77 |
76 |
Teemu Selanne, Jets |
1992-93 |
84 |
76 |
Wayne Gretzky, Oilers |
1984-85 |
80 |
73 |
Brett Hull, Blues |
1989-90 |
80 |
72 |
Wayne Gretzky, Oilers |
1982-83 |
80 |
71 |
Jari Kurri, Oilers |
1984-85 |
73 |
71 |
Brett Hull, Blues |
1991-92 |
73 |
70 |
Mario Lemieux, Penguins |
1987-88 |
77 |
70 |
Bernie Nicholls, Kings |
1988-89 |
79 |
70 |
Top American career scorers
Player | General practitioner | g |
---|---|---|
Brett Hull |
1,269 |
741 |
Mike Modano |
1,499 |
561 |
Keith Tkachuk |
1,201 |
538 |
Jeremy Roenick |
1,363 |
513 |
Joe Mullen |
1,062 |
502 |
Joe Pavelski |
1,329 |
476 |
Patrick Kane |
1,226 |
471 |
Pat LaFontaine |
865 |
468 |
Zach Parise |
1,251 |
433 |
Bill Guerin |
1,263 |
429 |
Tony Amonté |
1,174 |
416 |
Phil Kessel |
1,286 |
413 |
John LeClair |
967 |
406 |
Auston Matthews |
558 |
365 |
(Photos by Brett Hull and Auston Matthews: Bruce Bennett and Patrick Smith/Getty Images)