Dec. 9, 1964 - The boos cascaded through Madison Square Garden in the third period tonight. The frustrated Ranger fans were taking out their fury on Bobby Hull, the best player in the NHL.
“Get Hull, get Hull,” the fans chanted. Nobody “got” Hull because he is too smart to risk injury in a meaningless brawl.
The Rangers got a little Hull of their own, first from the Chicago Black Hawks and then from coach Red Sullivan after what was a very poor performance for the Rangers. Chicago beat the New Yorkers, 6-1, and the 15,197 fans didn’t get the fight they hoped would break out after the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Bob Plager is a rookie trying to win a job on the Ranger defense. He hit Hull with as hard a body check as a man could ask for, and Bobby bounced off the sideboards ready for a battle. But then he thought better of it. He settled for calling Plager a few nasty names and then skated away while Plager skated to the penalty box.
Hull would have no reason to fear any mortal. His physique would do just fine for any vitamin pill ad in the land. The muscles ripple in his shoulders even when he stands relaxed. Plager, the Lou Fontinato type, is tough too, but Hull just laughed when asked why he didn’t try to teach the young defenseman a lesson.
“Gordie Howe and I were talking about just that not long ago,” Hull replied. “Why should I risk injury by fighting a nut? This would be a pretty decent game if we could just get some of the stupid idiots out of the league.”
You wouldn’t need a Ph.D. to figure out who Hull meant. “Some guys would as soon end your career as look at you,” Hull went on. “I’m not interested in playing that kind of game. You’ll find the idiots on every club, and I’d like to stay away from them if I can, but I wouldn’t back off.
“No player likes to be booed like that, but I guess those fans paid their way in, and that gave them the right to boo. I guess the fact that we were kicking the hell out of their team upset them. Too bad.”
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