Bobby Hull, the Hall of Fame forward and two-time NHL MVP who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup and played nine games for the Hartford Whalers at the end of his career, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when he died two years ago, his widow said in a statement released Wednesday.

He insisted on donating his brain, feeling as though it was his duty to help advance research on this agonizing disease," Hull's wife said.

Bobby Hull's widow says the Hall of Famer and two-time NHL MVP who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup had chronic traumatic encephalopathy when he died two years ago.