Former Chicago Blackhawks player Bobby Hull introduced fans at an NHL Hockey Conference in Chicago on July 26, 2019. Hull's family announced he had CTE, a brain condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy when he died in 2023. AMR Alfiky/AP Closed subtitles
Hockey Hall hockey player Bobby Hull suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy - a degenerative neurological disease known as CTE when he died in 2023, according to his family.
Hull is a two-time NHL most valuable player and Stanley Cup champion, and he is known as the "Ginjie Flyingship" for his power performance, bruised hits and excellent goal-scoring ability. . His career spanned over twenty years, mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1960s and 1970s.
His wife released the results of his post-mortem analysis through the Concussion Legacy Foundation on Wednesday. The organization said in a press release that it hopes to raise awareness of the long-term effects of the repetitive head impact of hockey and encourage support for research. Hull's family died in 2023 at the age of 84, donating his brain to the Boston University CTE Center.
Deborah Hull said her husband strongly believed that no family should endure CTE. “He insisted on donating his brain and felt as if he had the responsibility to help research this painful disease.” She said her husband knew his Hall of Fame career came at a price. During the last decade of his life, she said he struggled with many of the cognitive symptoms of CTE, such as short-term memory loss and impaired judgment.
CTE can only be diagnosed as a brain autopsy, meaning it can only be detected after death.
Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks skated with hockey in a hockey game against the Boston Bruins on January 7, 1968. Hull will be one of the 100 greatest players in the National Hockey League. His wife said repeated collisions during his Hall of Fame career led to his post-verification diagnosis of CTE. Associated Press File Photos/AP Closed subtitles
As NPR reported in 2024, the link between American football and CTE is well known. However, even for contact sports such as ice hockey, research on other sports lags behind. In December, researchers at Boston University completed the largest study to date, establishing the relationship between athletes’ odds of developing CTE and the length of their hockey career (Hull is one of the brains in the study). The author determines that the longer the athlete plays, the greater the chance of getting sick.
Hull is the most well-known former NHL player diagnosed as a CTE.
NPR's Becky Sullivan contributed the report.