NHL ROUNDUP : Hull Makes Believers of Whalers--and Dad

The hardest job for Brett Hull was to prove to his father that he was a good hockey player.

His father, Bobby Hull, is one of the all-time hockey greats. The Hall of Famer, who had a shot that was timed at 140 m.p.h., is now a believer, along with just about everyone else in the sport.

It did not bother Brett Hull that he was facing the hottest goaltender in the NHL Wednesday night at Hartford, Conn. Hull had two goals and two assists to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-3 victory over Mike Liut and the Whalers.

Liut went into the game with a goals-against average of 1.56, two consecutive shutouts and a scoreless string of 120 minutes 21 seconds. He extended the string to 147 minutes 28 seconds.

Hull assisted on Rod Brind’Amour’s goal at 5:07 of the second period that tied the score, then scored at 16:31 to put the Blues ahead to stay. Hull scored his league-leading 13th goal to make it 4-1 midway through the final period.

A year ago, when Brett was starting his fourth NHL season, his dad said he lacked motivation and the proper attitude to become a star. Dad has changed his mind.

“I told him the other day he needn’t take a back seat to (Wayne) Gretzky, (Steve) Yzerman and (Mario) Lemieux anymore,” he said. “I’m proud of him, as long as he doesn’t get too high on what he’s doing and always realizes that it takes hard work.”

Like his father, Brett is noted for a blistering slap shot, one of the hardest in the league.

Brett, after struggling for three seasons, became a complete player for the Blues last season. He led the Blues with 41 goals and 43 assists and became much more than just a shooter. This seems to be his season for stardom.

“I’m no Gretzky,” Hull told the Associated Press. “I just go out there and try to do my best. The way I’m going lately, I’m getting chances and the puck is going into the net.”

Philadelphia 5, Detroit 5--In a strange game at Detroit, Tim Kerr scored his second goal of the game with 7:49 left to get the Flyers a tie.

The Flyers led, 4-3, when goalie Ken Wregget injured his leg and had to leave the game eight minutes into the last period. His replacement, Pete Peeters, had no warm up and gave up two goals in 49 seconds and Detroit led, 5-4. Peeters stopped the last eight shots he faced.

Calgary 5, Winnipeg 3--Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice and had an assist at Calgary to lead the Flames to a hard-fought victory.

Nieuwendyk’s second goal, into an empty net with just one second left, was his 13th, tying Brett Hull for the league lead. Gary Roberts also scored twice for the Flames.

Edmonton 6, New Jersey 6--Mark Messier scored his 10th goal of the season with 6:19 left in regulation at Edmonton to give the Oilers a hard-earned tie.

Both teams scored twice in the third period in the first five minutes. Jari Kurri scored his 11th for Edmonton.