(9 of 10)
Five days later, after the Red Wings had beaten the Hull-less Hawks in Detroit, Bobby was back on the ice. His nose was packed with medicated gauze, his eyes were swollen almost shut. He still played, and scored a goal, though Chicago lost. "Worse yet," says Bobby, "I got elbowed in the nose, so I had to go back to the doc next day when we returned to Chicago and get my nose set again." He played the next night, and scored another goal, but Detroit won again to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Finally came the sixth game, and with it, one of the most astonishing one-man shows in hockey history. At this point, Bobby turns laconic: "They scored, and I went out and got one. Then they got another, and I got another. And so on. They eventually wore us down and won 7-4." By then, packed nose, blood-filled eyes and all, Hull had assisted on one goal and scored three of his own—for a record-tying total of eight in the series.
Fit for the King. More than any of his other records, more than his skating speed or the velocity of his slap shot or his indifference to the way opponents knee and trip and hook him, that performance in Detroit explains why Hull's peers as well as his public regard him with something approaching awe. Yet respect, even adulation, are intangibles. Hockey has also given Hull the tangible trappings that befit its reigning king. Chicago is paying Bobby $40,000 this season, and if the second-place Black Hawks can overcome the Montreal Canadiens' eight-point lead in the East Division—or better yet, win the Stanley Cup—there will be some fancy bonus money as well. Next year, Hull says, he will demand $100,000, more than twice what any player has ever received before. But it still will not match his outside income. Endorsements (Ford cars and tractors, Jantzen sportswear, Supp-hose) and manufacturers' royalties (Bobby Hull sticks, pucks, T shirts) will net him at least $50,000 this year, and he has just signed a several-year "six-figure" contract with a Canadian firm to produce a whole new line of Bobby Hull hockey gear.
Plus, of course, the farm. "I'm no city boy," says Hull, "and never could be. As soon as the season is over, I want nothing but my farm." Yes, but which farm? Bobby owns a 150-acre spread near Millbrook, Ont, two more of 100 and 110 acres outside Demorestville, the 330-acre Hullvue Polled Hereford Farms near Picton, and a half interest in the 240-acre Golden Hawk Hereford Ranch near Demorestville. Around those various properties are scattered his 540 head of cattle, including a prize Polled Hereford bull named Hardean Woodrow Masterpiece—one of whose heifers sold at auction last year for $2,500. Hull does not really expect to get that much for any of the 57 head he will put on the block at his annual auction next August; he'll be satisfied if he clears $50,000 for the lot.