Hockey career

Early years

Esposito grew up Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario with his brother, fellow future NHL star Phil Esposito. He played college hockey for Michigan Tech.

A three-year hockey letter winner, Esposito was a three-time first-team All-America selection. He was a driving force in helping the Huskies to the 1964-65 NCAA Championship and was named a first-team NCAA All-Tournament Team choice in 1965. Still currently the MTU career leader in goals against average (2.55) and second in career saved percentage (.912), Esposito was also a three-time All-WCHA first-team selection.

Esposito turned pro with the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Hockey League in 1967-68 and played with the Houston Apollos in the Central Hockey League in 1968-69.

He first played in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1968-69 season. He made his NHL debut against the Oakland Seals, playing 26 minutes in relief of Rogie Vachon. His first NHL start was against the Boston Bruins, then led by his brother Phil. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, in which Phil scored both goals for Boston and Tony made 33 saves. Esposito played thirteen regular season games, due to both Gump Worsley and Vachon being injured. However, Esposito returned to the minors when they both returned from their injuries. Worsley was injured again during the playoffs, so Esposito was called again. Tony Esposito served as backup to Vachon, dressing for all four games in the finals. As the Canadiens club was deep in goaltenders at that time, with Worsley, Vachon and other prospects in the system, Esposito was left unprotected by the Canadiens in 1969.

Rise to fame

For 1969-70, the Chicago Black Hawks claimed him from Montreal on waivers, known at the time as the "intra-league draft". Esposito had a spectacular season with Chicago, posting a 2.17 GAA and setting a modern day NHL record with fifteen shutouts, for which he won the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie. He also took the Vezina Trophy and was named to the First All-Star team at season's end. He also was runner-up for league MVP (Hart Trophy). It was during this record setting season he earned the nickname Tony 'O' for his shutout abilities. In 1970-71, he again proved to be one of the league's top goalies and helped Chicago finish first in the NHL's West division. The Black Hawks made it to the Stanley Cup Final, but lost in seven games to Montreal. The following season he posted the lowest GAA of his career (1.77) and shared the Vezina with backup Gary Smith. He was again selected to the NHL's First All-Star team.

Esposito was named to Team Canada for the Summit Series of September, 1972. He was the first goalie to earn a win against the Soviets, splitting Canada's goaltending duties with Montreal's Ken Dryden. Esposito posted both the lowest GAA and the highest save percentage of the three goalies (Esposito, Ken Dryden, and Vladislav Tretiak) who appeared in the series. Tony's brother Phil had an exceptional series as well and was the inspirational leader of the team.

Despite the loss of Bobby Hull, Esposito and the Hawks led their division in 1972-73, but lost the Stanley Cup in six games to Montreal. 1973-74 was another brilliant season with a sparkling 2.04 GAA and 10 shutouts. Esposito won his third Vezina, sharing it with Philadelphia's Bernie Parent.

The Black Hawks declined over the next few seasons although Esposito remained among the top netminders in the NHL. In 1979-80, Esposito enjoyed a fine season with six shutouts and made the First All-Star team for the third time. In 1981, he became a naturalised American citizen and played for Team USA in the Canada Cup (he had previously represented Canada at the 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament). He played a few more seasons in Chicago, retiring after the 1983-84 season.

Distinctions

Esposito was one of just eight goalies to win the Vezina catching the puck right-handed. The other seven were fellow Black Hawks' legend Charlie Gardiner (in 1932 and 1934), the New York Rangers' Davey Kerr (1940), ambidextrous Montreal goalie Bill Durnan (1944—47, 1949 and 1950), the New York Rangers' Gilles Villemure (1971), Tom Barrasso of the Buffalo Sabres (1984), Edmonton Oilers' Grant Fuhr (1988) and José Théodore of the Montreal Canadiens in 2002.

Esposito was the first NHL Goalie to officially wear the number 35, a common number now worn by many Goaltenders. It was assigned to him during training camp prior to the Chicago Black Hawks 1969-'70 season due to the fact that the standard numbers 1 and 30 were already assigned, and after posting a shutout in his first ever exhibition game for the Hawks, he chose to keep wearing the number going on to a Hall of Fame career. His number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks on November 20, 1988.

Esposito was noted as being superstitious, becoming upset by crossed hockey sticks and regularly lining up his hockey sticks in a particular way.

Retirement

He retired from professional play in 1985 and was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. His number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks.

Esposito later became General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins briefly, where he hired former Black Hawks teammate Gene Ubriaco as head coach. In his first year, the Penguins finished 40-33-7 and ended a lengthy playoff drought. After starting the 1989-90 season 10-14-2, Esposito and Ubriaco were both terminated. During his tenure, Esposito is best known for drafting Mark Recchi and pulling off a trade which landed the Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso.

In 1991, when his brother helped found the Tampa Bay Lightning, Phil hired Tony as chief scout. Legend has it that they came up with the team name during a thunderstorm. Both Espositos were fired in 1998.

In 1998, he was ranked number 79 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, 61 places behind his brother Phil, who ranked number 18.

In 2007, Tony was inducted (alongside brother Phil) into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame.

On March 19, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks honoured Esposito with "Tony Esposito Night", where he was formally introduced as an Ambassador to the Blackhawks organization. Then-Blackhawk goaltenders Patrick Lalime and Nikolai Khabibulin both wore Esposito's #35 jerseys in the pre-game warmups, and Khabibulin recorded a shutout in a Hawks 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals.

Awards and honors

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.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1962-63	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	NOJHA		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1963-64	Michigan Tech Huskies	WCHA		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1964-65	Michigan Tech Huskies	WCHA		17	—	—	—	1020	40	1	2.35	—
1965-66	Michigan Tech Huskies	WCHA		19	—	—	—	1140	51	1	2.68	—
1966-67	Michigan Tech Huskies	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	—
1969-70	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		63	38	17	9	3763	136	15	2.17	.932
1970-71	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		57	35	14	6	3325	126	6	2.27	.919
1971-72	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	31	10	6	2780	82	9	1.77	.934
1972-73	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		56	32	17	7	3340	140	4	2.51	.917
1973-74	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		70	34	14	21	4143	141	10	2.04	.928
1974-75	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		71	34	30	7	4219	193	6	2.74	.905
1975-76	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		68	30	23	13	4003	198	4	2.97	.904
1976-77	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		69	25	36	8	4067	234	2	3.45	.900
1977-78	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		68	28	22	14	3840	168	5	2.63	.914
1978-79	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		63	24	28	11	3780	206	4	3.27	.901
1979-80	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		69	31	22	16	4140	205	6	2.97	.903
1980-81	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		66	29	23	14	3935	246	0	3.75	.890
1981-82	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		52	19	25	8	3069	231	1	4.52	.867
1982-83	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		39	23	11	5	2340	135	1	3.46	.888
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

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1968-69	Houston Apollos	CHL		1	0	1	59	3	0	3.05	—
1969-70	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		8	4	4	480	27	0	3.38	.907
1970-71	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		18	11	7	1151	42	2	2.19	.928
1971-72	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		5	2	3	300	16	0	3.20	.895
1972-73	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		15	10	5	895	46	1	3.08	.898
1973-74	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		10	6	4	584	28	2	2.88	.911
1974-75	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		8	3	5	472	34	0	4.32	.878
1975-76	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		4	0	4	240	13	0	3.25	.901
1976-77	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		2	0	2	120	6	0	3.00	.915
1977-78	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		4	0	4	252	19	0	4.52	.838
1978-79	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		4	0	4	243	14	0	3.46	.889
1979-80	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		6	3	3	373	14	0	2.25	.924
1980-81	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		3	0	3	215	15	0	4.19	.878
1981-82	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		7	3	3	381	16	1	2.52	.917
1982-83	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		5	3	2	311	18	0	3.47	.889
NHL totals				99	45	53	6017	308	6	3.07	.903

International

Year	Team	Event			GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1972	Canada	Summit-72			4	2	1	1	240	13	0	3.25
1976	Canada	WC			9	6	2	1	510	27	1	3.17
1979	NHL All-Stars	Ch-Cup			—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981	United States	CC			5	2	3	0	300	20	0	4.00
Senior totals					18	10	6	2	1050	60	1	3.43

Personal life

Esposito and his wife Marilyn have two sons.

In popular culture

• Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) wears Esposito's jersey while playing road hockey in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2.
• He made an appearance in the second season of Rent-a-Goalie playing poker alongside his brother Phil.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]