Phil Esposito

Phil Esposito OC
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1984
Esposito in 2012
Born	(1942-02-20) February 20, 1942 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Chicago Black Hawks Boston Bruins New York Rangers
National team	Canada
Playing career	1963–1981

Philip Anthony Esposito OC (/ˌɛspəˈziːtoʊ/ ESP-ə-ZEE-toh, Italian: [eˈspɔːzito]; born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian broadcaster, and former professional ice hockey executive, coach and player. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time, and is the older brother of fellow Hall-of-Famer Tony Esposito, a goaltender.

After retiring as a player, Esposito served as head coach and general manager of the New York Rangers before co-founding the Tampa Bay Lightning. He now serves as Tampa Bay's radio colour commentator.

In 2017, Esposito was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Playing career

Minor league

Esposito signed with the Chicago Black Hawks as a teenager and was assigned to the Sarnia Legionnaires Jr. 'B' hockey team for the 1960–61 season. In just 32 games with the Legionnaires, he scored 47 goals and 61 assists, for 108 points - a scoring pace of 3.3 points per game. In a playoff game, he scored 12 points in one game as the Legionnaires advanced to the Western Ontario final before being eliminated. After a sparkling junior season with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1962, Esposito spent two seasons with Chicago's minor league affiliate, the St. Louis Braves, scoring 90 points in his first season and 80 points in only 46 games in his second.

Chicago Black Hawks

Midway through the 1964 season, Esposito was called up to the parent Black Hawks to make his NHL debut. Centreing for the great Bobby Hull beginning in the 1965 season, he proved himself a quality playmaker, twice finishing amongst the League-leading scorers over the next three seasons.

Boston Bruins

Esposito with the Boston Bruins in 1969.

In 1967, Esposito was dealt with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to the Boston Bruins in a blockbuster trade. While Hodge and Stanfield rose to become stars in Boston, Esposito blossomed into the greatest scorer of his day. In 1969, he became the first NHL player to score 100 points in a season, far eclipsing the "century" mark with a record 126. He would fall a single point shy in 1970, then reached triple digits again the next five years running. Along the way, he captured the Art Ross Trophy as the top regular-season scorer in 1969 and 1971 to 1974, and led the League in goals six straight seasons between 1969–70 and 1974–75.

Esposito was named to the NHL's First All-Star team six consecutive times (from 1969 to 1974), and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1969 and 1974. His Boston fans, celebrating his scoring touch during his heyday, displayed bumper stickers that read, "Jesus saves, Espo scores on the rebound." Esposito, while not a fast or graceful skater, was best known for his unmovable presence in front of the opposition net from which he could score from all angles. Esposito has said, "Scoring is easy. You simply stand in the slot, take your beating and shoot the puck into the net." He also possessed a combination of skating and stickhandling ability, strength, and long reach that enabled him to "rag the puck," holding onto it for long periods of time in the face of opponents' checks and thus enabling his team to kill off penalties.

During his prime, Esposito centred one of the most renowned forward lines in history, featuring Ken Hodge on his right wing and Wayne Cashman on his left. Esposito and fellow superstar Bobby Orr led the Bruins to Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972, and first-place finishes in the League in 1971, 1972 and 1974.

During 1970–71, Esposito shattered the record for most goals in a season, finishing with 76. The mark stood until 1982, when Wayne Gretzky scored his 77th, 78th and 79th goals against the Buffalo Sabres on February 24, 1982, at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Esposito was on hand to present the game puck to Gretzky. Esposito also set the single-season point-scoring record in 1971 with 152, a mark later raised by Gretzky to 215. Only three others have reached the 150 point plateau — Mario Lemieux (4 times), Steve Yzerman and Bernie Nicholls — and only Gretzky, Lemieux, Brett Hull, Teemu Selänne and Alexander Mogilny have matched or bettered Esposito's 76 goals in a season. The 1970 season also saw Esposito shatter the single-season mark for shots on goal, tallying 550. Only one other player has come within 100 shots of this record, Alexander Ovechkin in 2008–09, in a season that was four games longer than when it was set.

As of May 31, 2021, Esposito ranked second in all-time regular-season goals for Boston with 459 (behind only Johnny Bucyk's 545). As of the end of the 2020-21 season, Esposito is tied for second spot with Patrice Bergeron in all-time Bruins playoff goals with 46. (Both men trail Cam Neely's career mark of 55.) Esposito holds the Boston record for most playoff hat-tricks with four, one of which was a four-goal game versus Toronto in 1969. Often used to kill penalties, Esposito scored 20 shorthanded goals for Boston over his career.

After his performance in the Summit Series, where he was the inspirational leader for Canada and its leading scorer in the series, Esposito won the 1972 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding male athlete of the year and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He also scored the first goal of the series and he scored or assisted four times in the deciding game. During that series, his scolding of Canadian fans, who booed the national team after a 5–3 loss to the Soviet Union in Game Four, was credited with firing up his teammates:

"If the Russian fans boo their players in Moscow like you people are booing us, I'll come back and apologize personally to every one of you, but I really don't think that will happen. We gave it and are doing our best. All of us guys are really disheartened. . . We came out here because we love Canada. They're a good hockey team, and we don't know what we could do better, but I promise we will figure it out. But it's totally ridiculous – I don't think it is fair that we should be booed."

Esposito also played for Canada in the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, on a line with Hall-of-Famers Bobby Hull and Marcel Dionne. The following year, he would represent Canada once more in the 1977 World Championships in Vienna.

New York Rangers

In 1975–76, Esposito was traded because he did not want to relinquish his playing time, even with his age. He and Carol Vadnais were traded to the New York Rangers on November 7 in exchange for Brad Park, Joe Zanussi and Jean Ratelle. This trade was monumental, as Esposito was still a great scorer, but Ratelle was a skilled centre and Park was arguably the second best defenceman in the NHL, behind Bobby Orr.

While not as glittering an offensive force as in his glory days, as captain of the Rangers, Esposito led the team in points each of his full seasons with the club and remained an effective scorer until his final season. The highlight of his years in New York was leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final in 1979 where, at 37 years of age, he finished third in post-season scoring.

On November 4, 1977, Esposito scored his 600th NHL goal, against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, becoming the first player to reach that milestone in a Rangers uniform.

Esposito retired in 1981, behind only Gordie Howe in career goals and total points, and third in assists to Howe and Stan Mikita.

Post-playing career

Esposito served as general manager and head coach of the Rangers for three years in the mid-1980s, during which he earned the nickname "Trader Phil" for the numerous transactions he made. During his tenure as GM, he made more trades than the Vancouver Canucks had made in the entire 1980s. While serving as GM, two of his most famous trades included the trade for the legendary Marcel Dionne and one in which he sent a first-round pick to the Quebec Nordiques as compensation for signing Michel Bergeron to be the Rangers' head coach.

Esposito moved on to found the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning but faced competition from the Compuware Group, which wanted to place a team in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida. It was proposed to Esposito that he merge his bid with the Compuware Group, which he refused. His reputation and force of personality was widely credited with winning the expansion bid for Tampa Bay—in 1992, serving as the team's president and general manager until 1998. Compuware eventually purchased the Hartford Whalers.

In the Lightning's inaugural season, Esposito made hockey history by signing Manon Rhéaume, making her the first woman to sign with an NHL team. He remains the team's radio colour commentator and also co-hosts a daily call-in show on SiriusXM's SiriusXM NHL Network Radio channel.

Honours

Esposito was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. On December 3, 1987, his #7 jersey was retired by the Boston Bruins in an emotional ceremony where the then-current wearer, superstar defenceman Ray Bourque, pulled off his #7 jersey to reveal his new number, 77—dramatically "surrendering" his old number in Esposito's favour (coincidentally, Esposito wore #77 with the New York Rangers, because #7 was already being worn by Rod Gilbert). Esposito was "visibly moved" when Bourque showed the Boston Garden crowd his new number, which he used for the rest of his career. Esposito was also on hand in Boston to hand Bourque his retired number after the latter retired.

Esposito's younger brother Tony is also an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Former NHL player Alexander Selivanov is Esposito's son-in-law.

Awards and achievements

• 1968–69 – Art Ross Trophy winner
• 1968–69 – Hart Memorial Trophy winner
• 1968–69 – First player in NHL history to reach 100 points in a single season (finished with 126)
• 1969–70 – Stanley Cup champion
• 1970–71 – Art Ross Trophy winner
• 1970–71 – Lester B. Pearson Award winner
• 1971–72 – Stanley Cup champion
• 1971–72 – Art Ross Trophy winner
• 1972–73 – Art Ross Trophy winner
• 1973–74 – Art Ross Trophy winner
• 1973–74 – Lester B. Pearson Award winner
• 1973–74 – Hart Memorial Trophy winner
• 1977–78 – Lester Patrick Trophy winner
• 1984 – Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
• December 3, 1987 – #7 jersey retired by the Boston Bruins
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980)
• NHL First All-Star Team (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (1968, 1975)
• Retired as the second leading all-time NHL goal and point scorer, and third in assists.
• Among the all-time NHL leaders in goals scored (7th), assists (21st), and total points (10th).
• First player in NHL history to score 1,000 points in a decade (1970s).
• Won Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year in 1972.
• Received Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1972.
• Holds the record for shots on goal in a single season with 550 in 1970–71.
• All-time leader in game-winning goals with 118. (tied by fellow Bruin Jaromír Jágr on April 21, 2013)
• Had thirteen consecutive 30+ goal seasons, second most in history.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 18 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
• Inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
• Inducted in 2007 (alongside brother Tony) into the Sault Ste Marie Walk of Fame.
• In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 23 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons
• Received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2009.
• Statue unveiled in his honour in front of the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now Amalie Arena) on December 31, 2011.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1961–62	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA		49	32	39	71	54		6	1	4	5	9
1961–62	Sault Thunderbirds	EPHL		6	0	3	3	2		—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	St. Louis Braves	EPHL		71	36	54	90	51		—	—	—	—	—
1963–64	St. Louis Braves	CPHL		43	26	54	80	65		—	—	—	—	—
1963–64	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		27	3	2	5	2		4	0	0	0	0
1964–65	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		70	23	32	55	44		13	3	3	6	15
1965–66	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		69	27	26	53	49		6	1	1	2	2
1966–67	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		69	21	40	61	40		6	0	0	0	7
1967–68	Boston Bruins	NHL		74	35	49	84	21		4	0	3	3	0
1968–69	Boston Bruins	NHL		74	49	77	126	79		10	8	10	18	8
1969–70	Boston Bruins	NHL		76	43	56	99	50		14	13	14	27	16
1970–71	Boston Bruins	NHL		78	76	76	152	71		7	3	7	10	6
1971–72	Boston Bruins	NHL		76	66	67	133	76		15	9	15	24	24
1972–73	Boston Bruins	NHL		78	55	75	130	87		2	0	1	1	2
1973–74	Boston Bruins	NHL		78	68	77	145	58		16	9	5	14	25
1974–75	Boston Bruins	NHL		79	61	66	127	62		3	4	1	5	0
1975–76	Boston Bruins	NHL		12	6	10	16	8		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	New York Rangers	NHL		62	29	38	67	28		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	New York Rangers	NHL		80	34	46	80	52		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	New York Rangers	NHL		79	38	43	81	53		3	0	1	1	5
1978–79	New York Rangers	NHL		80	42	36	78	37		18	8	12	20	20
1979–80	New York Rangers	NHL		80	34	44	78	73		9	3	3	6	8
1980–81	New York Rangers	NHL		41	7	13	20	20		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1,282	717	873	1,590	910		130	61	76	137	138

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1972	Canada	SS		8	7	6	13	15
1976	Canada	C-Cup		7	4	3	7	0
1977	Canada	WC		10	7	3	10	14
Senior totals				25	18	12	30	29

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Postseason
		G	W	L	T	Pts	Finish	W	L	Win%	Result
NYR	1986–87	43	24	19	0	(48)	4th in Patrick	2	4	.333	Lost in Division Semifinals (PHI)
NYR	1988–89	2	0	2	0	(0)	3rd in Patrick	0	4	.000	Lost in Division Semifinals (PIT)
Total		45	24	21	0			2	8	.200	2 playoff appearances

In popular culture

Esposito and New York Rangers teammates Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney and Anders Hedberg famously appeared in a TV commercial for Sasson designer jeans in 1979. In 1979, Esposito and Ranger teammates recorded a song written by Alan Thicke as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation called "Hockey Sock Rock".

Esposito makes an appearance in the 2015 animated Christmas special, The Curse of Clara: A Holiday Tale, both as a young ballet dancer's imaginary mentor and as the actual person performing a cameo in The Nutcracker. He voiced the role himself.

Esposito also appeared in a recurring role for several episodes as a fire chief in Denis Leary's FX show Rescue Me.

See also

• Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• Notable families in the NHL
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals
• 1972 Summit Series

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Legends of Hockey
• Esposito learned to love the Big Apple
• The Trade
• Phil Esposito, winner of the Lionel Conacher Award and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award: Virtual Museum of Canada Exhibit

Sporting positions
Preceded by Brad Park	New York Rangers captain 1975–78	Succeeded by Dave Maloney
Preceded by Bobby Clarke	NHLPA President 1979 – February 10, 1981	Succeeded by Tony Esposito
Preceded by Michel Bergeron Tom Webster	Head coach of the New York Rangers 1989 1986–87	Succeeded by Roger Neilson Michel Bergeron
Preceded by Position created	General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning 1992–98	Succeeded by Jacques Demers
Preceded by Craig Patrick	General Manager of the New York Rangers 1986–89	Succeeded by Neil Smith
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Bobby Hull	NHL Goal Leader 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975	Succeeded by Reggie Leach
Preceded by new award Bobby Clarke	Lester B. Pearson Award winner 1971 1974	Succeeded by Jean Ratelle Bobby Orr
Preceded by Bobby Clarke Stan Mikita	Winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy 1974 1969	Succeeded by Bobby Clarke Bobby Orr
Preceded by Stan Mikita Bobby Orr	Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1969 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974	Succeeded by Bobby Orr Bobby Orr