Why focusing on Bobby Hull's hockey legacy, but not his abuse allegations, is a problem

Celebrity obituaries are never short on effusive praise or glorification, but when a star has a legacy that includes allegations of domestic violence and racism, as is the case with Canadian hockey legend Bobby Hull, the fawning tributes may be hard to stomach for some. 

Hull died Monday at the age of 84 after a storied career in the NHL. 

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who is marking 30 years in his position this week, remembered Hull as a "gregarious" and "explosive" player, lauding his string of achievements. The league made no mention of Hull's troubling past in its statement, or in its four-minute career retrospective video shared on social media, and Hull's image was projected on the ice at NHL games Monday night. 

The Hockey Hall of Fame, which inducted Hull in 1983, and two of the professional teams he played with, Chicago and the Winnipeg Jets (the Hartford Whalers no longer exists as a franchise), issued statements expressing sadness and sympathies. But, there was no recognition of Hull's personal history in their memorials either.

As of Tuesday, Hockey Canada had no statement on its website or social media channels about Hull, who won the 1976 Canada Cup as a member of Team Canada. The sport's governing body in this country is mired in its own scandal over its handling of sexual assault claims.

"We can't think about this player's history and his importance to the game without thinking about the fact that he was yet another player whose career is marked by violence against women," said Kristi Allain, an associate professor of sociology at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Allain has researched cultures of violent masculinity in men's elite-level hockey.

As hockey grapples with allegations of abuse, discrimination and toxic culture, Allain is concerned that glorifying Hull's career achievements without serious scrutiny of his behaviour could be a step back in efforts to reform the sport. 

While it may be difficult to "speak ill of the the dead," she said, it's important to be transparent. 

"When we're calling for hockey culture to change, we can't bury [this]. His legacy is not one of mere human shortcomings."

One of the biggest stains on Hull's reputation is the accusations he abused two of his wives. 

Joanne McKay divorced him in 1980 after an allegedly abusive relationship. "I took a real beating there," she said in a 2002 ESPN documentary, describing an alleged assault that took place in 1966 during a vacation in Hawaii.

"[Bobby] just picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, threw me in the room, and just proceeded to knock the heck out of me. He took my shoe — with a steel heel — and proceeded to hit me in the head. I was covered with blood. And I can remember him holding me over the balcony and I thought this is the end, I'm going."

Hull was charged with assault and battery in December 1986, in connection with an alleged assault on his then-wife, Deborah Hull. That charge was dropped a few months later when she said she did not want to testify.

In 1987, Hull did plead guilty to attempting to assault a police officer who tried to intervene in that incident. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Hull was ordered to pay a $150 fine and undergo six months of court supervision.