From: jca2@cec1.wustl.edu (Joseph Charles Achkar)
Subject: Brett Hull and the Golden Jet
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis MO
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:18:40 GMT


11/16/92  By Dave Luecking of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
 
* HULL SAVES THE BEST FOR LAST
* BLUES TIE MAPLE LEAFS 2-2

         TORONTO -- When Brett Hull needed help in regaining his golden touch,
he sought out the man that gave it to him in the first place.

         Bobby Hull was more than happy to oblige. The Golden Jet materialized
in Toronto on Monday, rubbed his son's arm for good luck, and suddenly, the
magic was back.

         The Golden Brett scored the tying goal with 14.7 seconds remaining in
the game, giving the Blues a hard-earned 2-2 tie with the hard-working Maple
Leafs.

         Bobby Hull glowed in his son's spotlight, proudly telling what he had
done.

         ``I did it this afternoon at the hotel," he said, beaming with pride.
``I rubbed his right arm, and said, `Go out there and do something tonight.' "

         This wasn't the first time Bobby Hull has worked his magic. ``A couple
of years ago, he was having problems, and we talked over the phone," Bobby Hull
said. ``He got three that night. The Blues should pay me."

         Or at the very least put him on their itinerary.

         ``We'll have to bring him along and rub Brett's shoulder all the
time," coach Bob Berry quipped.

         ``I needed something," Brett Hull said. ``The chances have been there
all year, and they weren't going in. It's a good feeling to get one. That's the
first big goal I've gotten all year."

         The goal, Hull's eighth of the season, was his first game-tying goal
of the season. He has yet to score a game-winner, but he said, ``Hopefully,
this is a sign that things will change."

         Hull leads the National Hockey League with 101 shots, but unlike
recent games in which he had gotten five or six scoring chances, he had only
three Monday.  ``Tonight was a little opposite," he said. ``I get no chances,
and finally one goes in."

         Still, he faced the game-tying shot with some trepidation. He was all
alone in the slot with the Blues on a four-on-three power play and goalie
Curtis Joseph pulled for a sixth attacker when Ron Sutter passed him the puck.

         ``Ronnie made a great pass, but I've missed those all year," Hull
said. ``So I was kind of nervous when I got it."

         Nevertheless,  Hull snapped a shot  past rookie Felix Potvin, the
NHL's hottest goalie, making the goal much less nerve-wracking than the seconds
leading up to it.

         After referee Denis Morel gave Bob Rouse a penalty for holding - -
Garth Butcher and Wendel Clark already were in the box for roughing -- the
teams had a hard time gaining control of the puck after the ensuing face off.

         Craig Janney, who earlier assisted on Nelson Emerson's goal, finally
got control of it and slid a pass to Jeff Brown at the right point. Brown fed
Ron Sutter in the bottom of the left circle, and Sutter slid the puck back to
Hull in the slot.

         There was a difference of opinion as to what sport was best
represented when the puck was bouncing out of control. ``It was like playing
basketball," Janney said.

         ``It was like a pingpong ball," Kevin Miller said.

         Up to that point the game had been an ugly one, a tight- checking,
low-shot match that could have put even the goalies to sleep. But the dueling
``Cats" -- Felix ``The Cat" Potvin and Curtis ``The Cat" Joseph -- made some
good saves.

         Potvin was beaten cleanly on both Blues' goals, but Joseph had some
bad luck. The rebound of Kent Manderville's shot bounced in the crease before
Dave McLlwain poked it in for Toronto's first goal.

         Rouse put the Leafs ahead in the third period with a shot that
deflected off Dave Mackey's stick and surprised Joseph.   ``I was expecting a
bullet so I was extended and it hit the toe of my stick and popped into the top
corner," Joseph said. ``We've seen them go in every way now."

         The Maple Leafs, the NHL's best-rated  defensive team, outshot the
Blues 23-19, but they had only three shots in the final period.

         The Blues have held the opposition to 23 or fewer shots in their last
four games. Coincidentally, the Blues are 1-1-2 in that stretch.

         ``Our main goal is to keep the shots down, and go from there,"
defenseman Murray Baron said. ``In the third period, we played very well."

         Berry concurred. He was extremely pleased with the point, only the
third garnered by the Blues on the road and in Norris Division games this
season.

         The Blues are 1-6-1 on the road and 1-7-1 in division games, last in
the division in both categories. This goes a long way in explaining why they're
in last place in the division with a record of 6- 10-3 for 15 points.

         The tie moved the Maple Leafs (9-5-3) into a first place tie with
Chicago and extended their unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).

         ``We should be proud of ourselves," Berry said. ``We came in against a
team that has been playing extremely well. We clawed, scratched and bit and
played pretty sound. We worked hard enough that we got a break in the last
minute to tie it up."

         ``Everybody was pleased with the goal and pleased for Brett."

         Especially, his Hall-of-Fame father.



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