Former Blackhawks Left Winger Bobby Hull Had Stage 2 CTE, Researchers Say

Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull has been posthumously diagnosed with stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to researchers and his family. 

According to researchers in the Concussion Legacy Foundation, the former Chicago Blackhawks left winger appeared to have suffered from CTE for nearly the last 10 years of his life. Symptoms included short-term memory loss and impaired judgment. He died at 84 years old in Wheaton, Ill., on Jan. 30, 2023.

Mayo Clinic describes CTE as "a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries. It causes the death of nerve cells in the brain, known as degeneration. CTE gets worse over time."

“He insisted on donating his brain, feeling as though it was his duty to help advance research on this agonizing disease,” Deborah Hull, Bobby's wife of 39 years, said in the announcement.

According to the foundation, Hull is the 17th known former player to be diagnosed with CTE. Other players include Henri Richard, Bob Probert and Hull's longtime teammate, Stan Mikita. 

“Seeing the pain and heartache suffered by his lifetime friend Stan Mikita’s family, Bobby felt strongly no other family should have to endure CTE,” Deborah Hull said. 

NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh told The Hockey News in late 2024 that hockey players are prone to concussions because the ice and boards don't move.

"A doctor in Boston told me that one time about athletes, football players seem to be, they say the most prone to concussions. They're banging," Walsh said. "But he said, probably the more dangerous is hockey because of the ice and the boards. Field gives a bit. I want to make sure any scientific discoveries are made, that our players understand."

In April 2023, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told NPR there has been isolated cases of players who played hockey and had CTE, but he doesn't think it means it necessarily came from playing in the NHL.

In December 2024, a study by Boston University suggested the odds of getting a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries with every year played after studying 77 deceased male hockey players. Nineteen of those players were NHL players, and 18 of those NHLers had CTE, the study found.

Hull played 1,063 NHL games, scoring 610 goals and 1,170 points. He is the Blackhawks' franchise leader in goals with 604 – four more goals came with the original Winnipeg Jets, and two came with the Hartford Whalers.

In his 16-year NHL career, Hull won back-to-back Hart Trophies, three Art Ross Trophies and a Stanley Cup with Chicago in 1961. 

Later in his career, he played seven seasons in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets. In 411 games, he scored 303 goals and 638 points and won two AVCO World Trophies as champions of the WHA. Hull had the second-most goals and third-most points in WHA history. 

The left winger's last season of professional hockey came in the 1979-80 campaign where he played 27 games for the Jets and the Hartford Whalers, scoring six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. 

Hull announced his retirement at the age of 41.