Detroit Red Wings Sign Brett Hull
DETROIT (AP) - The Detroit Red Wings signed free agent Brett Hull on Wednesday, adding another aging star to one of the NHL's highest payrolls in a bid to win a third Stanley Cup in six years.
The deal is for $9 million over two years, a team source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Hull, a 37-year-old right wing who ranks seventh in NHL history with 649 goals, joins goaltender Dominik Hasek, 36, and left wing Luc Robitaille, 35, as major offseason acquisitions by Detroit.
Hull scored 39 goals for the Dallas Stars last season, his 15th in the league.
``By signing Brett Hull we have added significant punch to right side,'' Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement.
``He has a tremendous goal scoring ability and is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of our game.''
Hull will have a news conference in Detroit on Thursday.
The New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens reportedly were courting Hull, too, and offering two-year deals worth $10 million.
Hull enters the 2001-02 season second among active players in goals, behind Mark Messier of the New York Rangers, who has 651. Hull's new Red Wings teammate, Steve Yzerman, has 645.
With the Stars, Hull scored the series-clinching goal against Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres in the third overtime of Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup finals.
Hull signed with Dallas as a free agent in 1998 and also played with the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames.
Hull and his father, Bobby, hold the record for NHL goals by a father-son combination with 1,259. Bobby Hull had 610 goals in a Hall of Fame career spent mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Originally published August 22, 2001.
