TORONTO - Earlier today, Jim Gregory of the NHL stepped to the podium at the Hockey Hall of Fame and read this plaque.

“Brett Hull was one of the game’s purest goal-scorers during his career, finishing third all-time with 741 goals. After starring in Calgary, Hull was traded to St. Louis, where he would become the third player in NHL history to record 50 goals in less than 50 games. He posted three consecutive 70-plus goal seasons, including 86 goals, the third-highest ever in history, to win the Hart Trophy as MVP in 1991. Hull later played in Dallas, Detroit and Phoenix, winning a Stanley Cup with Detroit and Dallas, scoring the Cup-winning goal for the Stars in 1999. The Hockey Hall of Fame is pleased to welcome Brett Hull as an honored member.”

With those words, Hull officially became a Hall of Famer. He then stepped to the podium to receive his ring. Here’s a look:

Hull is going in as part of the star-studded 2009 class, which included Luc Robitaille, Steve Yzerman and Brian Leetch on the player side, and Lou Lamoreillo in the builder category.

“You just look at the people here that I’m standing with,” Hull said. “To be a part of it and to have your peers, or the people in this league, to think enough of you and highly enough of the way you played the game . . . that you fit up here with these people is . . . it’s mind-boggling.”

In an annual tradition, the Hall of Famers each grabbed a stick and popped a puck in the air for photographers.

Hull becomes the 15th player who ever wore the Blue Note to enter the Hall of Fame, joining Glenn Anderson (2008), Al MacInnis (2007), Scott Stevens (2007), Grant Fuhr (2003), Bernie Federko (2002), Dale Hawerchuk (2001), Joe Mullen (2000), Wayne Gretzky (1999), Peter Stastny (1998), Guy Lapointe (1993), Jacques Plante (1978), Glenn Hall (1975), Dickie Moore (1974) and Doug Harvey (1973).

Although it was a disappointment that Hull never won a Stanley Cup in St. Louis, I asked if his induction into the Hall of Fame was something the city could hang its hat on.

“To be honest, if we were like football or baseball and had to pick (one specific) team (to go into the Hall of Fame as a member of), I think obviously I would have picked the St. Louis Blues,” Hull said. “I’m very proud to be an alumni of the St. Louis Blues. If they would like to do (hang their hat on Hull’s induction), I’m certainly open to that. But they’ve got a lot of great things to be proud of and I don’t think they really need me in here to do that.”

Here’s more Hull on a variety of topics:

On seeing his Hall of Fame plaque and whether they put up his good side . . .

“I don’t know if I have a good side. But they could put any picture of me up there and I’d be happy.” 

On his greatest memories as a player . . .

“I was fortunate enough to play with tons of great players. I feel very lucky that I had the opportunity to play with the “Babe Ruth of Hockey” in Wayne (Gretzky). It wasn’t for very long, but I don’t care . . . I can tell my grandkids about the time that Wayne Gretzky was my centerman and teammate. That’s a huge thrill as well.”

On joining his father, Bobby Hull, in the Hall of Fame . . .

“It’s unbelievable. Being a hockey fan, to know what my father did and what he meant to this game . . . just to be included in that is something else. I didn’t start my career going, ‘Well, I’m going to be in the Hall of Fame.’ All of the sudden you’re here . . . (Bobby Hull told Brett) ‘I know it from the first time I saw you, that you were a Hall of Famer, just like a proud father. He was very happy.”

On playing five games with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2005-06 before announcing his retirement . . .

“I just wanted to play. After missing a full season, I had no idea if I was still able to. I found out very quickly that . . . I could play, but I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game. That was key.”

On how tough it was to lose the 2005-06 season to the lockout . . .

“You know what, you look at the men and women overseas in the war . . . to lose a season of hockey is nothing compared to what they’re doing. There are sacrifices that you make as a group and that was one as players that we felt had to be done.”

On whether the night the Blues retired his jersey in 2006 has prepared him for tonight’s Hall of Fame ceremony . . .

“It has prepared me to be able to stand up in front of your peers and give a speech that’s going to have a lot of emotion . . . I don’t know how long I had there, but I know it was a lot longer than four minutes (which is the alloted time players have to deliver their speeches tonight). It’s so hard to mention every single person you want to mention. There’s going to be a lot of people that I’m not allowed to mention because I only have four minutes. But to be able to stand up there (at the jersey retirement ceremony), to let it flow with emotion, it absolutely helped.”

Here’s Steve Yzerman recalling his memories about Brett Hull emerging as an NHL star . . .

“I saw it first hand . . . when he got traded to St. Louis, we played them eight times a year. I was on the ice, unfortunately, for a lot of those goals that were going in. Him and Adam Oates together on a line was . . . you had somebody shadow him on a line, Brett, and it didn’t matter. Adam would find him, he would pop into the slot and the puck was off his stick and in the net. It was quite a duo, unstoppable there for a couple of years.”

JR