The Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday that Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull is no longer an ambassador for the organization.
The 83-year-old had held the position since 2008. At the time, the Illinois club named the former left-winger and Stan Mikita as ambassadors.
In a statement, the Blackhawks said they wanted to redefine the role of ambassador with the deaths of Mikita (2018) and former goaltender Tony Esposito (2021).
“In regards to Bobby specifically, we jointly agreed earlier this season that he would step down from any official role with the team,” the club also said in its letter.
Hull played 1,063 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), including 1,036 in a Blackhawks uniform. He had 610 goals and 560 assists for 1,170 points in the best hockey league in the world. In 1972, the Ontario native had left the NHL to join the World Hockey Association, either with the Winnipeg Jets. In seven seasons and 411 games in this league, he amassed 303 goals and 335 assists for 638 points.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, Hull had his number retired by the Blackhawks the same year.
Too many scandals?
The Hawks remained unclear regarding the decision, but it makes sense to wonder if the team simply wanted to disassociate from the man who has been at the heart of several scandals.
In 1986, Hull was found guilty of assaulting a police officer, following the latter intervened in an argument with his first wife. He was also charged with assault and battery once morest the woman, but the charges dropped following she refused to testify once morest her husband.
Hull’s second wife accused him of abuse in a 2002 interview with ESPN.
Hull was also embroiled in another affair in 1998, when a Russian daily claimed it had said Adolf Hitler “had some good ideas”. The former hockey player had strongly denied this.
The Blackhawks have been in image polishing mode lately, following they were heavily criticized for failing to report a sexual assault by one of their coaches to authorities during the club’s winning streak in 2010.