The 3rd Best Guy Named Hull

 

Often, when you find a brother combination in pro hockey, one is really good and the other one tries hard.

An exception was the outstanding Hull brothers ... Bobby and Dennis. They came from a family of eleven, from Pointe Anne, Ontario.

Just FYI ... I've lived in Ontario all my life but have no idea where Pointe Anne is.

Bobby became the Golden Jet and sadly passed away in 2023. His resume is remarkable and you can view the tribute I wrote about him on my blog.

Don't Lie to Me - Your Bobby Hull?

His brother, Dennis, was his teammate with the Chicago Black Hawks for 8 seasons. Dennis was a beast. Bigger than his brother with an equally lethal slapshot.

He'd finish his 14 NHL seasons with more than 300 goals.

He enjoyed seasons of 40, 39, 30 and 29 goals. A beast.

He was also a force in The Summit ... the 1972 Canada - Russia tournament.

But, this isn't about Dennis the hockey player ... it's about Dennis the Entertainer.

Following his playing days, he somehow morphed into a terrifically funny stand-up comedian which, according to his brother, Bobby, was the very last occupation he would have qualified for based on his locker room reputation and sour demeanour.

I'd met Bobby on a few occasions. He said he didn't have any idea how his brother became a successful funny man because he was anything but while with the Black Hawks. Bobby described him as quiet and aloof and sullen -- words he used comfortably -- like he'd used them to describe Dennis several times before. To punctuate that, he said, "Dennis was the definition of an introvert."

I met Dennis at a charity event in 1998. I'd seen him perform on three or four occasions and in my opinion, he'd become a top-level after-dinner speaker and comedian. Incidentally, he was also an experienced, first-rate auctioneer.

He'd spent a decade refining his "act" and would go on to earn much more money in front of a microphone than he ever did in front of a net.

I had an idea ... I pitched him ... The Dennis Hull Cooking Show.

A half-hour sports channel weekly TV show featuring Dennis in a 5-minute comedic monologue then switch to him and a celebrity guest as they cooked the celebrity's favourite dish. He liked the idea and we prepared a script, found a kitchen studio, film crew, and director and organized a celebrity guest - internationally famous thoroughbred jockey, Sandy Hawley, and we shot the pilot episode.

During the planning process, Dennis and I discussed the show over lunch. At one such meeting, he admitted that his mother was hoping for a daughter when he was born. He saw the look of confusion on my face with his reveal so he pulled out his official laminated birth certificate, it read, Denise Hull.

I mentioned to Dennis that Hall of Fame player, Ted Lindsay and I were pals. He told me that when Ted was moved to the lowly Black Hawks for the 1957-58 season from the Red Wings as punishment for creating the NHLPA, he and his brother Bobby became great friends.

However, in the first exhibition game between the Wings and Black Hawks, when Ted had been traded back to Detroit, something crazy happened.

"Prior to a faceoff as the players were lining up, Ted skated around the circle to Bobby's side, took off his glove and punched Bobby in the face". No discussion. No warning. No explanation. "It was just Lindsay's way of telling Bobby that things had changed - on the ice, we're not friends anymore."

At the end of that season, Dennis returned to Pointe Anne to visit his mother who was sick. When he pulled into the driveway of their farm, there was a sparkling new Ford Thunderbird sitting in the driveway. Dennis didn't recognize the car. When he entered his mother's bedroom, he found Lindsay sitting at his mother's bedside holding her hand.

But, back to the cooking show ...

For the TV pilot, Dennis opened his monologue by saying ... "Following the 1972 Canada - Russia tournament, if we'd lost, and the Russians had won, the Russian goalie, Tretiak, would be driving a cab in Moscow".

I thought that line was gold and following his monologue, he proceeded to have a terrific no-script exchange with his guest cook as the show moved on to the actual cooking portion.

I thought we had a winner. I made an appointment with the show producers at TSN The Sports Network. Hull's wife joined the meeting to make sure her husbands' financial needs were met.

I rolled the tape of our pilot episode for the two program segment producers ... they howled at Hull's jokes and comments and his exchanges with Sandy Hawley from beginning to end.

When the video finished and the lights came on they said, "the only time we have available is two years from now at 4 pm on Tuesdays and we would never put a fat bald guy on to headline a show." I was sure these two twenty-somethings had no idea who Dennis was and I didn't tell them that the lady beside me was his wife.

The Dennis Hull Cooking Show died that day. I thought it was a good idea based on his name, sports reputation, and ability to capture an audience and be funny.

TSN thought six hours a day of "Hold 'em Poker" was a better idea.

You be the judge.

Click on the image below to see clip of Dennis the Entertainer.