Tony Esposito
Anthony James “Tony O” Esposito was a Canadian-born professional ice hockey goaltender who played NHL 16 seasons in the NHL, primarily with the Chicago Blackhawks. Esposito first broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadians during the 1968-69 season. He played 13 games for the Habs, registering 2 shutouts and recording a 2.73 GAA and a .913 SV%. He was among the first of his generation to implement the butterfly style. He is also the younger brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito. In 2017 he was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players in history.
Early Years
Tony “O” grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario with his older brother Phil.
He acquired accolades as a three-time first-team All America selection and helped the Michigan Tech Huskies win the 1964-65 NCAA Championship, and was crowned as a first-team NCAA All-Tournament Team pick in 1965. In addition, he garnered three All-WCHA first-team selections. As recently as 2021, he was honored as a member of the WCHA All-Decade Team for the 1960s.
In 1967-68 he turned pro when he began playing with the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League and the following year with the Houston Apollos.
NHL
Tony Esposito broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadians during the 1968-69 season. He became only the third American college player chosen by an NHL team. He played 26 minutes in his NHL debut against the Oakland Seals in relief of Rogie Vachon. In his first game as a starter, he donned the pads against the Boston Bruins led by Phil Esposito. Ironically, brother Phil scored the first-ever two goals against his own brother, making it a unique piece of NHL lore. Tony made 33 saves, with the game ending in a 2-2 tie. Tony Esposito played in thirteen regular-season games for Montreal, mainly due to Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon’s injuries. Esposito was sent back to the minors once Montreal’s goaltending tandem recovered from their injuries. However, Esposito was called back up during the Stanley Cup final when Gump Worsley again was sidelined due to an injury. He would serve as the backup goaltender to Vachon en-route to a four-game sweep of the St. Loius Blues and winning his first and only Stanley Cup of his 16-year career.
Due to the Intra-league draft in 1969 and Montreal being rich in goaltending talent, Tony Esposito was left unprotected and consequently claimed on waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks. In his first season in the windy city, he had a remarkable campaign, recording a modern-era record with 15 shutouts and a stingy 2.17 GAA on the way to winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. However, the awards didn’t stop there. He won the Vezina Trophy and was named to the First All-Star team. He was also runner up for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP. Because of his 15 shutouts during his inaugural season, he earned the moniker Tony “O.” It’s ironic to note that although Esposito broke into the NHL with the Montreal Canadians and won a Stanley Cup with them as a nonstarter during the Stanley Cup Final, that Montreal would become his greatest playoff nemesis. He would be on the losing end of a Stanley Cup Final in 1971, losing in game seven and again in 1973, losing in six games to the Montreal Canadians both times.
Esposito was selected to play for Team Canada at the historic Summit Series of 1972 against the Soviet Union. He shared netminding duties with Montreal Canadians Hall of Famer Ken Dryden. He was the first Team Canada goalie to win a game against the powerful Soviets. Of the three goaltenders (Esposito, Dryden, and Vladislav Tretiak) at the Series on either side of the puck, Esposito registered the lowest GAA and the best SA%.
After becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1981, he chose to represent Team USA in the Canada Cup after having previously played for Team Canada in 1977 at the Ice Hockey World Championship tournament.
Retirement
Tony Esposito retired from the NHL in 1984. The Chicago Blackhawks retired his #35 on November 20, 1988. He was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the same year.
After his playing days, Esposito had a stint as GM for the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was credited with acquiring Mark Recchi and securing star goaltender Tom Barrasso in a trade. In 1991 he joined brother Phil with the Tampa Bay Lightning as chief scout. Both brothers were later fired in 1998 after the team sold.
In 1998, The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players ranked him number 79, 61 spots below his brother Phil who is listed at number 18.
In 2007, Tony “O” and brother Phil were inducted into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame.
On March 19, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks held a “Tony Esposito Night,” where he was named as an Ambassador for the Blackhawks franchise.
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-WCHA First Team | 1964–65 | |
| AHCA West All-American | 1964–65 | |
| All-NCAA All-Tournament First Team | 1965 | |
| All-WCHA First Team | 1965–66 | |
| AHCA West All-American | 1965–66 | |
| All-WCHA First Team | 1966–67 | |
| AHCA West All-American | 1966–67 |
- Stanley Cup Champion (1969).
- Calder Memorial Trophy (1970).
- NHL First All-Star Team Goalie (1970, 1972, 1980).
- NHL Second All-Star Team Goalie (1973, 1974).
- Vezina Trophy (1970, 1972, 1974).
- NHL All-Star Game Goalie (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1980).
- Member of Canada men’s national ice hockey team at 1972 Summit Series and 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament.
- Played for US national men’s hockey team in the 1981 Canada Cup.
- His #35 was retired by the Chicago Blackhawks on November 20, 1988.
- In 1998, he was ranked number 79 on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
- Hockey Hall of Fame 1988
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% |
| 1962–63 | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | NOJHA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963–64 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1964–65 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 17 | — | — | — | 1020 | 40 | 1 | 2.35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965–66 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 19 | — | — | — | 1140 | 51 | 1 | 2.68 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966–67 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 15 | — | — | — | 900 | 39 | 0 | 2.60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967–68 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 63 | 25 | 33 | 4 | 3734 | 199 | 4 | 3.20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968–69* | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 746 | 34 | 2 | 2.73 | .913 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968–69 | Houston Apollos | CHL | 19 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1139 | 46 | 1 | 2.42 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 3.05 | — |
| 1969–70 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 63 | 38 | 17 | 9 | 3763 | 136 | 15 | 2.17 | .932 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 480 | 27 | 0 | 3.38 | .907 |
| 1970–71 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 57 | 35 | 14 | 6 | 3325 | 126 | 6 | 2.27 | .919 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 1151 | 42 | 2 | 2.19 | .928 |
| 1971–72 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 48 | 31 | 10 | 6 | 2780 | 82 | 9 | 1.77 | .934 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 300 | 16 | 0 | 3.20 | .895 |
| 1972–73 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 3340 | 140 | 4 | 2.51 | .917 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 895 | 46 | 1 | 3.08 | .898 |
| 1973–74 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 70 | 34 | 14 | 21 | 4143 | 141 | 10 | 2.04 | .928 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 584 | 28 | 2 | 2.88 | .911 |
| 1974–75 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 71 | 34 | 30 | 7 | 4219 | 193 | 6 | 2.74 | .905 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 472 | 34 | 0 | 4.32 | .878 |
| 1975–76 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 68 | 30 | 23 | 13 | 4003 | 198 | 4 | 2.97 | .904 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 240 | 13 | 0 | 3.25 | .901 |
| 1976–77 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 69 | 25 | 36 | 8 | 4067 | 234 | 2 | 3.45 | .900 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 120 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | .915 |
| 1977–78 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 68 | 28 | 22 | 14 | 3840 | 168 | 5 | 2.63 | .914 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 252 | 19 | 0 | 4.52 | .838 |
| 1978–79 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 63 | 24 | 28 | 11 | 3780 | 206 | 4 | 3.27 | .901 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 243 | 14 | 0 | 3.46 | .889 |
| 1979–80 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 69 | 31 | 22 | 16 | 4140 | 205 | 6 | 2.97 | .903 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 373 | 14 | 0 | 2.25 | .924 |
| 1980–81 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 66 | 29 | 23 | 14 | 3935 | 246 | 0 | 3.75 | .890 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 215 | 15 | 0 | 4.19 | .878 |
| 1981–82 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 52 | 19 | 25 | 8 | 3069 | 231 | 1 | 4.52 | .867 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 381 | 16 | 1 | 2.52 | .917 |
| 1982–83 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 39 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 2340 | 135 | 1 | 3.46 | .888 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 311 | 18 | 0 | 3.47 | .889 |
| 1983–84 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 18 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1095 | 88 | 1 | 4.82 | .859 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| NHL totals | 886 | 423 | 306 | 151 | 52,583 | 2563 | 76 | 2.92 | .906 | 99 | 45 | 53 | 6017 | 308 | 6 | 3.07 | .903 |
* Stanley Cup Champion.
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Canada | SS | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 240 | 13 | 0 | 3.25 | |
| 1977 | Canada | WC | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 510 | 27 | 1 | 3.17 | |
| 1981 | United States | CC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 300 | 20 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Senior totals | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1050 | 60 | 1 | 3.43 |
Rest in peace Tony You were a great one.
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