How Bobby Hull’s greatest season ever still echoes through Blackhawks history

Bobby Hull led the NHL in scoring eight times in his legendary career, with seven of those instances coming during his days with the Chicago Blackhawks. And yes, he set the goal-scoring record in one of those campaigns - the 1968-69 season, to be exact.

Funnily enough, this wasn't Hull's best season overall; that came during his WHA years in 1974-75 with the original Winnipeg Jets when he put up 77 goals and 142 points. Still, in 1968-69, 107 points and 58 goals aren't half-bad, especially 20 power-play goals and 11 game-winners.

And, given the way the Blackhawks haven't even had a player like Patrick Kane get too close to that record number in single-season goals, it'll be a while before anyone playing in the Windy City even challenges Hull. But, since this magical season occurred nearly six decades ago, few of us were around to see it.

All of that said, I wanted to show you the finer points of what remains the best scoring season in the colorful history of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Bobby Hull's legendary 1968-69 campaign was one for the ages

Hull kicked off the 1968-69 season with nine goals in nine games, scoring in all but one of those contests, with two goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He notched a hat trick in Game 14 on November 14th against, you guessed it, the Pens.

It would be the first of three hat tricks that season, with the second one coming against the Boston Bruins on December 8th, and the final one on February 20th against the Los Angeles Kings. And it seemed like Hull was constantly zeroing in on finding the net, as he also led the NHL in shots on goal that season with 414, good for 5.59 per game.

Hull's hat trick against the Bruins was one for the ages, as he took just three shots on goal that entire game and sank them all, finishing the contest with a perfect 100 percent shooting percentage.

And that's what makes Hull's 1968-69 season even more impressive: For a guy who averaged nearly 5.6 shots on goal per game, he scored a hat trick with nearly half that number.

Hull's 1968-69 campaign was one of many reasons why he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame

The 12-time All-Star won the Hart Trophy twice, the Art Ross Trophy three times, a Stanley Cup, and two Avco Cups, and it was campaigns like the one he enjoyed in 1968-69 that helped him get there.

Overall, regardless if you consider Hull the greatest player in franchise history or not, he nonetheless left his mark in Blackhawks and NHL history, going down as one fo the Top 100 players of all time in 2017.

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