[Writehooks]

The great "Golden Jet" died yesterday, at age 84.
In 1972, when Hull was the poster boy for the NHL, the Chicago Black Hawks lowballed him on a new contract, so he jumped to the Winnipeg Jets of the fledgling World Hockey Association for the then unheard of sum of $2.75 million, becoming the highest-paid team sport athlete on the planet. His move triggered the greatest player exodus in sports history, culminating with a court challenge of the reserve clause in NHL contracts that essentially ammounted to legalized slavery. Hull and the WHA won the case, thereby giving athletes in all sports the right to determine their own destiny. Besides being one of the greatest and most charismatic players of all time, Bobby was a tremendous off-ice ambassador for the game, and remained a fan favorite to the very end. In 2001 I was honored to have him write the introduction to my book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Biggest Deals in Hockey History", and he couldn't have been more gracious. RIP, Bobby.