Ironically, it was against Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres that Hull scored the controversial triple overtime goal which clinched the 1999 Stanley Cup for the Stars. Hull, a bonafide sniper who scored 39 goals for the defensive-minded Stars last season, is the third major off-season acquisition by Detroit.ĭominik Hasek, a five-time Vezina and two-time Hart Trophy winner, and Luc Robitaille, who has 590 career goals, are the others. "That shows you that they have a lot of players there with the commitment to go for the Stanley Cup again. "From what I understand, a few of the players deferred a little bit to help out - as well as I did," Hull said. Hull claimed some of the Red Wings - 10 of whom are 34 and older - were willing to defer their salaries to sign him. "He has a tremendous goal-scoring ability and is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of our game." "By signing Brett Hull, we have added significant punch to right side", said Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, whose player payroll is now estimated at $60 million US. One of those teams was Detroit, which promptly put the finishing touches on a two-year pact worth $9 million US. Other teams came back into the picture and it kind of changed things." "But from there, it never progressed any further. "One afternoon, I called (agent) Mike (Barnett) and I was 100 per cent sure that I was ready to commit to the Montreal Canadiens. "About two weeks ago, when Detroit had left the picture (temporarily), I was firmly committed, I thought in my mind, to signing with the Montreal Canadiens," Hull said. Hull, 37, was hotly pursued by the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, both of whom offered $10 million US over two years. I couldn't think anything negative about it and that's really what persuaded me." "It's close to home (Minnesota) and I get to stay in the Western Conference. They got a chance to win the Stanley Cup. "Detroit just seemed a perfect fit for me," said Hull, who qualified as an unrestricted free agent when the Dallas Stars elected not to exercise a $7 million US option on the final year of his contract. Brett Hull, the NHL's seventh all-time leading scorer, agreed to join the Detroit Red Wings late Tuesday and will be formally introduced at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday (2 p.m.
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