Tony Esposito, G
- 5'11, 185 lbs
- Member of the HHOF (1988)
- Summit Series Champion (1972)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1971, 1973)
- NHL 1st All-Star Team (1970, 1972, 1980)
- NHL 2nd All-Star Team (1973, 1974)
- Vezina Trophy (1970, 1972, 1974)
- NHL All-Star Game (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1980)
- Top-7 in All-Star Voting 7 more times (3rd-1971, 3rd-1978, 5th-1979, 6th-1975, 6th-1976, 7th-1977, 7th-1981)
- Top-11 in Hart Voting 8 Times (2nd-1970*, 3rd-1980**, 5th-1974, 6th-1972, 8th-1971, 9th-1973, 9th-1978, 11th-1979)
- Top-10 in Sv% 12 Times - among goalies with 1500+ minutes - every full season but two (1st-1970, 1st-1972, 2nd-1973, 2nd-1974, 2nd-1978, 2nd-1980, 4th-1971, 4th-1979, 6th/26-1976, 7th/25-1975, 8th/30-1983, 9th/31-1977)
- A workhorse: top-3 in minutes played 11 times (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd)
- Team Stats: 8 times top-3 in wins, 8 times top-3 in shutouts
- Four significant playoff sv% rankings - among goalies with 300+ minutes (1st/5-1971, 2nd/13-1982, 3rd/5-1974, 3rd/13-1980)
- At time of retirement, was five years older than any other player in the NHL!
- #35 Retired by the Chicago Blackhawks (1988)
- #79 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
---> *2nd to Bobby Orr in Hart Trophy Nomination (1970)
--->**3rd to Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne in Hart Trophy Nomination (1980)
ONLINE SOURCES
Originally Posted by legendsofhockey.net
As one half of perhaps the most colorful brother act in NHL history, Tony "0" revolutionized goaltending in the NHL with his legs-open "butterfly" style and his spectacular flop-on-the-ice saves during the 16 years he spent in the league, all except one with the Chicago Black Hawks... His first partial year with Montreal was unspectacular - the Canadiens had Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon ahead of him - but after being traded to Chicago, he was impressive in his first full season, recording a Calder and Vezina Trophy-winning year in 1969-70 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a modern-era record of 15 shutouts.
Fans of the game were quick to point out that the Hawks under coach Billy Reay were a defensive-minded squad and that at 5'11" and 190 pounds, Esposito was a stocky, very mature 26-year-old rookie. But more important, he was fast gaining a reputation as having the quickest glove hand in the game and an unorthodox style that was confounding but nevertheless extremely effective. The Vezina win in his first year made him the first rookie to win the trophy since Frank Brimsek in 1939.
As a pro, he quickly gained a reputation as an emotional, vocal goalie who would yell regularly at his defensemen and stay well back in his crease except when he came out to poke-check skaters. He added to his rookie Vezina win by sharing the trophy with Gary Smith in 1972 and tying Bernie Parent in 1974. In his career, he totaled 76 regular-season shutouts.
Incredibly, the Black Hawks never failed to make the playoffs while Esposito was on the team. Internationally, he was a standout as well. In 1972 he shared the goaltending role with Ken Dryden on Team Canada in the Summit Series. And in 1981 he tended goal during the Canada Cup, but this time for Team USA, his country of residence.
Later in his career, Esposito began to gain a reputation as one of the grand old men of the NHL. But it wasn't always easy. By the early 1980s, he'd become dissatisfied with the way his teammates were performing in Chicago. But by 1982, with Tony's help, the Hawks turned their game around again. As the oldest player in the league, Tony started to play like he was a decade younger in the 1982 playoffs, with a goals-against average under 2.00.
By 1983-84, Tony was the oldest player in the league and the only one over 40 years of age. Observers started to notice that while he was once the type of player who insisted on playing every minute of every game, he wisely realized that, at his age, he had to pick his spots and he happily shared the goalie's duties with backup Murray Bannerman.
Originally Posted by Joe Pelletier
Tony O played part of the 1968-69 season with the Montreal Canadiens and earned his only Stanley Cup ring there while serving as the backup goalie. His first NHL game came against brother Phil's Boston Bruins and resulted in a 2-2 tie. In total that season Esposito would only get into 13 contests, with a 5-4-4 record. He did post 2 shutouts, including a 0-0 tie against Phil and the Bruins.
The following year he was acquired by Chicago. The Canadiens had to choose between the young Esposito and the veteran legend Gump Worsley. While the Habs did have Ken Dryden a couple of years away, the move could have proved to be disastrous if Dryden hadn't emerged. Tony inherited Glenn Hall's position in Chicago and played phenomenally for the next fifteen years.
His first full season saw him win the Calder and Vezina Trophies as he posted a 2.17 GAA and 15 shutouts in 63 games. The 15 shutouts is a modern day record for most in one season. He would go on to win or share 3 Vezinas, and five All Star berths. He thrived on a heavy work load. In fact, over 8 year stretch he averaged 68 games a season.
Despite Esposito's incredible play, the Hawks were never able to achieve elite status, which probably holds Tony Esposito back when it comes to discussions about the game's greatest goalies. He was clearly an elite goalie though, and was chosen to play in the 1972 Summit Series with Team Canada. He played in 4 games and by most accounts outplayed number one goalie Ken Dryden.
Tony O also played in the 1981 Canada Cup, but not for Canada. He had acquired his US Citizenship just in time for the tournament, and agreed to play of Team USA since he wasn't invited to Canada's training camp. Tony O instantly gave Team USA some credibility, but ultimately wasn't able to give them enough wins to make a splash in the tournament.
Tony would play past the age of 40, retiring as a Hawk in 1984. He would later go on to NHL management positions with Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.
He was a bit of an unorthodox goalie. He would play the butterfly style to stop shots, which back then was not as common as it is today. He often would cheat to one side when facing a shooter, displaying extra room and forcing the shooter to shoot, but then would quickly take it away with his quick glove hand. A noted poke-checker, the only thing more active than Esposito's stick was his mouth. He was a loud and talkative goalie, always yelling directions to his defensemen.
One thing is for sure - Tony was an exciting goalie to watch!
PUBLISHED SOURCES
Originally Posted by Players, the Ultimate A-Z Guide of Everyone Who Has Ever Played in the NHLt
throughout his career he proved to be a durable goalie, routinely playing more than 60 games a year. Much of his success came from his pioneering, and unorthodox, style. For starters, he caught with his right hand, which threw off many shooters. And he used a butterfly style of goaltending. That is, his knees touched but his feet were apart as he crouched in the ready position. The result was that his feet covered more of the lower part of the net, and the open space was so new that players didn't dare shoot at what was, normally, dead center of the goalie's pads. Espo augmented this stance by falling to his knees quickly.
Originally Posted by Kings Of the Ice
for the Blackhawks, the return to defensive hockey paid huge dividends, as the team went from sixth to first place in the East division. The teams GM Tommy Ivan summed up Tony's contribution: "you might say that we solved all of our goaltending problems in one season."... CBS broadcaster Dan Kelly once shared this sentiment: "how he ever stops the puck with that style is more than most hockey men can understand – but he does the job."
One of the NHLers who was puzzled by Tony's style was the Maple leafs Mike Walton. "I don't see how he is as good as he is," complained Walt. "He allows rebounds to come out in front, and he doesn't clear the puck into the corner like he should, but somehow he beats you!" For his part though, Esposito said that there was considerable method to the seeming madness of his style. "I probably watched Glenn Hall, the former hockey goalie, more than any other netminder. He is just sort of an expedient type of goalie and I think that's my style. I just try to stop the puck."
Although he was one of the coolest and most relaxed goalies when he was in the net, Esposito had a terrible time with the pregame jitters. "I get very nervous before a game. I have trouble with my emotions and my nerves. I keep my food down okay because I eat about seven hours before gametime. But I always worry about making a mistake. If I make a bad play, the puck is in, and everybody sees it. That feeling is what makes me sick."
Esposito usually shunned the spotlight, preferring to give most his credit to his defenders. "In case you aren't familiar with the Esposito personality," wrote hockey reporter Bob Verdi, "he isn't one to praise himself. If the Blackhawks win with him in goal, the guys played great in front of him. If the Hawks lose when he is playing, then it was his fault. Every, but every, goal is his fault. Folks who cover the team are waiting for someone to score an empty net goal on the Hawks to see if Tony will take the blame for that one, too."
By the early 1980s, he had become dissatisfied with the way his teammates were performing in Chicago. "We had absolutely no desire to win. The only desire was to survive, to get your paycheck. There were people who didn't care about anything else. The attitude was terrible, and I made up my mind that if it didn't change I would be back. I couldn't be associated with it anymore. "
"I have always had a pretty heavy workload and I liked it that way. But a two-goalie system is how the team wants it, and so far it has worked out well. I do find it a bit tough when I play a game on, say, a Sunday and then don't play again until the next Saturday. But I am satisfied with my play." So was coach Orval Tessier. "No coach could ask for anything more than Tony has been for this team. From the first day of camp, he worked his butt off and has been nothing but a very positive influence on this team."
Originally Posted by Without Fear
Johnny Bower's commentary on Esposito: "Tony Esposito was much quieter than his brother Phil, but you can't mistake that for lack of intensity. He hated losing, which I guess must've come from playing all of that hockey with his brother on the outdoor rinks. Tony mashed the traditional standup style with that of the modern butterfly. He was incredibly tough to beat when forwards were in tight on him because of his quickness. He could drop down into the splits and then be back up in the crouch before a second shot could be fired upstairs."
Second opinion: ABC Analyst John Davidson on Esposito: "when Tony played, he would smell like old horse liniment because he would get the rubdown all over his arms and legs from the training staff. At a time when goaltending wasn't a great deal of fun because shots were getting harder and higher and the equipment was better, Tony was always messing around with equipment. He had stuff to cover the toes of his skates. He had little bars to cover his eyes on the outside of his fiberglass mask. He always had little additions to his equipment. When you watched him play, he looked like a big guy in the net, spread out with big pads and arms. The when you met him, he really wasn't a big guy"
In the days before goaltending equipment was inflated to epic proportions, Esposito developed his advantage over the shooters. "He has a plastic pad he'd wear on his arm at the end of his blocker, which he used as a route to send pucks flying out of play, "Hall of Fame NHL linesman Matt Pavelich says. "He used to sew fishnet between his legs and under his arms. We checked his pants all the time, because we were sure he was using illegal Pats, but they always measured out to be correct. We couldn't figure it out, then one day, we discovered his secret. He had zippers in the side of his pants and he would just fill them with stuffing after we measured them.
His methods and his style were certainly unconventional, but it would be sheer madness to suggest that Esposito doesn't deserve recognition as one of hockey's greatest goalies." I respect him so much because he came up in an era when the hockey mindset jumps to the conclusion that you couldn't play if you are on your knees, "ESPN analyst and former NHL forwards Bill Clement says. "Tony went against the grain. He swam upstream like a salmon, but fortunately for him, he didn't die when he got to the top. He beat all the odds to be successful.
Originally Posted by The Chicago Blackhawks Story
New York Rangers coach Emile Francis regarded Esposito as a flash in the pan. "He couldn't even carry Giacomin's stick," snorted Francis. Tony's reply was brief. "Let Giacomin carry his own stick. I'll use the one I've got."
Francis' pique was understandable. Giacomin for several years has been the hardest working and one of the most highly regarded goalies in the game. His style is more orthodox than Esposito's, which has been called no style at all. Actually it is a combination of several styles, with strong – of freelancing throw it. Tony explained: "as a kid I watched Glenn Hall a lot on TV, and also Johnny Bower of Toronto. I tried to pick up something for each one. Paul is a reflex goalie, and they call me the "unorthodox goalie" maybe because, like Hall, I depend a lot on reflexes. From Bower I picked up the way he uses his stick. I try to poke check with it and I guess I use it more than most guys. I like to use the stick a lot and I'm not too proud to accept a little help from the goalposts, although they bounce off it against you about as much as they bounce for you."
Tony doesn't hug the goalposts, however as do most goalies. He'll move off to the side a little, figuring he'll be better balanced slide across the crease if the direction of attacks suddenly changes. In short, he prefers to roam, and that includes coming out of the net much more daringly than most goalies. He comes out freely, often wandering, as Reay complains, to cut down the angle is even more sharply and to gamble on sweeping the puck away from an onrushing opposition forward.
Reay shudders at Esposito's forays. "I've asked Tony to stay in his net, but occasionally he seems to think he's a forward and comes out almost to the blueline." And Tony's answer: "I guess Billy's right, but it works for me. I know it makes more sense to stay in the crease, but once in a while you have to take your chances when the puck is loose in front and an opposing player is the nearest man to it. You've got to gamble a little. I never go for the puck unless I think of got a better than equal chance of beating the other guy to it. I've been lucky most of the time."
Despite occasional tremors of apprehension when Tony takes a flyer, Reay is rather pleased with his goalies freewheeling and confident reliance on his superior reflexes. "He reminds me a lot of Glenn Hall. When he's behind that facemask and yelling you'd swear it was Glenn. And he has a lot of Hall's moves, the same quick reflexes. Also, he's like a third defenseman out there. He's in on every play. I've never seen a more alert goalkeeper. He'll never be beaten because he's asleep."
Esposito carries his stick in his left hand and catches the puck with his right hand. When he's crouching, his hands are touching, but his lower legs are bent outward so he can move in either direction for you. His position also keeps the puck from going through his pads, although occasionally he separates them to give the shooter target, then snaps shot, a feat requiring great timing. He has a way of dropping to his knees and spreading the paths out to either side on certain kinds of shots, mostly from the point. Sometimes he gets with his right leg when making a stop, but seldom touches the ice with his left knee unless he flops – which he does quite a bit.
One observer compares Esposito style of playing goal with that shortstop in baseball. It's an apt comparison. Esposito has great range and his skating skill, even on the awkward goalie skates, is an asset that can't be discounted. His steadiness under fire is remarkable. He gives the appearance of a man totally without nerves. It isn't quite accurate. Before the start of the game he betrays his nervousness by rocking slightly while the national anthem is played. He admitted: "I get nervous like anyone else, but during a game I haven't got time to think about it. You get keyed up, and if you're concentrating on what's going on, you're not aware of it. I try to stay calm as the game approaches, but in a way I'm glad I'm not. Have to be a little tense to function at your peak."
After a game, Esposito seems totally drained, but – unlike some goalies – is never on edge. And, true to the resolution he made years ago, he never blames anyone else for goal scored against him. After a disappointing game in 1970, in which Tony allowed a cheap goal, of Toronto sportswriter remarked: "that goalkeeper gives it to you straight every time – he doesn't alibi, does he? He's as calm as if he had a shutout."
Brother Phil noted that Tony always has had an even disposition. "Even as a kid, he never did get too nervous. He'd get excited once in a while, but mostly he was a pretty cool customer. Now, it's pretty hard to shake him up."
… "A shutout is really a team award. All the guys worked so hard for me. They have all year. I appreciate it so. That's why I have 13 shutouts – their work. The other guys played so well that I kept thinking, don't ease up, you don't want to let them down." He never did let them down.… A Stop on Detroit's Frank Mahovlich in the first period left Reay stunned. Esposito was out of the cage, to his right, when Mahovlich came in on a virtually undefended net. As Mahovlich got off a shot, Esposito appeared out of nowhere to turn it aside. "I've never seen a shot in my life that I figured was as sure a goal and then have it saved us. Esposito made on Mahovlich," said Reay. "I've never seen a better save in my life." That save was just one of 35 Esposito made as the Hawks went on to win… Two days later he held the Maple leafs 21:011 tie at Toronto. The next day, in Chicago, she shut them out 4-0 two round out a new modern NHL record for shutouts in a season at 15. More important, the victory moved the Hawks into a first-place tie with Boston, setting up the drive toward the Prince of Wales trophy in the final week.
Coach Reay made another point: "I never thought I'd see the day that record would be broken. Not with the kind of hockey that's played today and with the slapshot being used. There's no doubt in my mind players – on the average – shoot harder than they did 15 or 20 years ago. We had a few men who could drive the puck, sure, but not as many as today with the slapshot. And goalkeeper has to play a little more protectively than he had to years ago. That puck's winging at him. Strain is much greater than it used to be, and he takes more of a beating. What Esposito has done is incredible."
... The Hawks owed him more and the debt increased a little. He went through the Stanley Cup quarterfinals with his skills undiminished, holding Detroit two goals in each of the four games and giving the Hawks an unusual sweep with identical scores of 4-2. It was only after the seven-day layoff between the Detroit series and the semifinals against Boston that he lost his edge. Even at that, who can say that the injury he suffered in the first minute of play in the opening game with the Bruins on April 19 at the Stadium didn't have something to do with that?
Boston's Ken Hodge took a slap shot from the corner at Tony's left and the puck hit the goalie directly over the left eye, stunning him and knocking him to the ice... When the game was over, Tony manfully faced the reporters and refused to blame Hodge's stunning shot for his ineffectiveness that night. Even as he spoke, the imprint of the puck was visible over his left eye, although the shot had struck him on the mask. " Hodge blasted it. I'm not blaming him – he was probably just hoping it would bounce off somebody into the net. It stunned me at the time, but it didn't affect my play at all. If I had just come up with a couple of good saves we would have won that game. I just played badly. There aren't any excuses."
There never were, not even after the final 5-4 defeat at Boston a week later, when the Bruins reigned 54 shots on goal and Tony kept the Hawks in the game with some incredible saves. Time and again, the hockey fans left him naked to his enemies, yet he refused to complain. In the final summing up, neither would Reay blame Tony. "How could I blame him, after what he has done for us this year how could I ever blame him? He brought us to the top. Main difference this year is the goalkeeping, the big save Tony has given us. Last year it was the bad goal that was beating us – they were getting by DeJordy. This year we've had Esposito making the big saves game after game, the saved it gives you a lift. So many times you get that big save, and bang! You go right up to their end and put the puck in the net." To the and Reay defended Esposito's style against critics, even though he himself at first had been worried by the flopping, diving way his curlyhaired magician tends goal. "He has got a great glove hand and he's hard to beat down low. It takes a shot into a high corner to beat him, and not too many guys can do that if the defense keeps them off balance. Some goalkeepers are a split second behind the play: Tony's a split second ahead of it. He may be awkward, but he's rarely out of position. You know, I get kind of tired of people mocking his style. He keeps the puck out, doesn't he?" Only 20 himself, through sheer ineptitude, can ruin his career now. It is unlikely that will happen. Nobody ever would expect him to match his rookie season. He could play less ably and still be sensational. "If Tony plays anywhere near as well next season as he did this year, no one in the league is going to be even close to him as a goalie. Certainly, he can't have the same kind of sensational year, but if you just has a really great year, he'll still be in a class by himself."… According to Reay, most goaltenders mature later than other players. Tony is a well conditioned athlete, and there is no touch of the flake in his personality. He's much more serious than his fun-loving brother Phil, who remarked: "Tony's the type of guy for whom hockey is hockey and business is business. I respect him for it."
Originally Posted by The Hockey News: Century of Hockey
#23 greatest NHL season – Tony Esposito 1969 – 70: the Blackhawks rookie goalie racked up the second most shutouts in history and becomes known as "Tony O."... "He hates to have anyone score on him, even in practice. Many goalies today take practices to o lightly, but not Tony." – Chicago coach Billy Reay
Originally Posted by Chicago Blackhawks: 75 Years
"you always knew when it was game day, because Tony was miserable," quipped Stan Mikita. "He didn't say anything to him, and he didn't say anything to you. But he was our miserable, and he did a hell of a job." On game days, Esposito was in the zone of his own as he built his concentration toward the task that evening. Few athletes compared themselves as thoroughly as Esposito, who possessed an unconventional style and uncommon devotion to duty. He did his job, often in spite of injury, migraine, or illness. He was a warrior in every sense.
Originally Posted by Pro Hockey Heroes of Today
"goaltending is a job," Tony Esposito once said. "It's a tough, dangerous job. There is pressure every time you're in there. It was torture for me when I was a kid and still torture for me whenever the puck goes in. Not doing your job scares you. The older you get, the more afraid you get. To be playing well as a goalkeeper you have to be afraid. Not petrified, exactly, but you have to be afraid. Not afraid that you'll get hurt, but afraid they're going to score on you. Every time they come down the ice with that puck, I'm afraid the puck is going to go in. If it goes in, you get blamed. If it goes into often, your team get beat and you get blamed. In practice, I'm physically afraid I'm going to get hurt. I back up. I try to get out of the way. In practice, you don't have the adrenaline going for you like you do in a game. Who the hell likes to have pucks shot at them at 100 miles an hour from 15 or 20 feet? I tell them in practice, take it easy, don't blast away. But they do, they crank up from 10 or 15 feet out. If that puck goes into the masc at 120 miles an hour, it will ring your bell, all right. A concussion maybe. Mask keeps it from splitting your face open. But there are still places exposed on your head you can get cut. And having the mask banged against your face but puck can break your bones. But in games, I'm only afraid of being scored on. I don't back up. I forget the fear of getting hurt. I push it out of my mind. It's The giving up goals, the getting beat that bothers me. It's a job and it pays good, so I do it. But I don't like it. No, I don't like it. I do it because I can make a good living at it."
For brother Tony Esposito, hockey really was a job, and it wasn't fun. Tony was different from his brother both in appearance and personality. He was shorter, stockier, rounder of face. He was a warrior, who brooded about his job and found life difficult. Both brothers were tough, but Tony was the one who faced fear in every game and would not give in to it.
There are purists in hockey and feel style is essential, and Tony was not a stylish goalie. He was a "fall down" goalie who flopped all over the ice, diving this way and that to make savings. He often seems to be out of position. But his great reflexes and extremely fast hands and feet allowed him to make the saves anyway… "You do it anyway you can do it," Tony said in defense of his play. "It doesn't matter how you do it, just so you do." Chicago coach Billy Reay said, "totally fooled us. We got him because we thought he might become good. It turned out he already was great. He may not look like much, but he's a lot of goaltender. I don't care if he plays on his year, he keeps the puck out, which is what counts." Bobby Orr agreed. "He looks like hell. He does everything wrong. He gives the shooters all sorts of openings. He doesn't play the angles properly. He doesn't even keep his legs together. He gives you holes half the net wide. When you shoot for them, he closes them up. You think you've got him, and he's got the puck. He's amazingly quick. He has to work harder than smooth goalies. But he gets the job done."
The 1973 season, Tony went 2.51 with four shutouts. "The team was weaker so my record was worse. Of goalie is at the mercy of his teammates to some extent. I don't blame my teammates for the goals I give up. We all share in it. We are a team. We all have our jobs to do." Nevertheless, goalies still get blamed for defeats much more than do other players, and Tony was blamed for the Blackhawks failure to take the Stanley Cup. In 1970, he was riddled by 27 goals in eight games, an average of more than three again. In 1971 he bounced back with a splendid 2.19 Mark in 18 games. The Hawks went to the seventh game of the finals against Montréal, and Tony was shutting out the Canadiens 2-0 late in the second period when Jacques Lemaire lofted a high, easy shot from mid-ice. Somehow it escaped Esposito and bounced into the net. The Canadiens gained heart and attacked relentlessly in the last period. Henri Richard put two shots past Esposito to win the game and the cup for Montréal. "It was a long time before I recovered from that one. But I played a good game. Everyone had to see that. We should have one. But I let one bad one get by. So I was blamed." Then in 1973 Tony helped carry the Hawks to the seventh game of the finals against Montréal. The Hawks lost again, as Tony gave up six goals. It was a badly played series, the defenseless series, in which both goaltenders were riddled almost to the point of shell shock. Montréal's Ken Dryden said, "play was loose and we both suffered and struggled all the way. It wasn't a goaltenders series."
"People wonder why I don't laugh more, like Phil. Well, Phil's not a goaltender. I don't find anything funny in playing goal. But I don't know anything I could do besides playing goal that would make me anywhere near the kind of money I'm making. So I play goal. I'm hard on my family all season and I try to make it up to the in between seasons. It's not an easy life. I've learned I'm going to be blamed for every goal I give up. I don't like it. But I've learned to live with it."
Off in a corner, coach Billy Reay was talking about a goal the Hawks had given up in Vancouver. Someone pointed out to him that it was the only goal Tony had given up three games. Smiling, Billy said, "yeah, but it was a bad goal. It never should've been scored. Of course, I don't blame Tony, mind you." Of course. Tony wasn't laughing.
Originally Posted by Without Fear
at age 16, Tony Esposito was close to sure he was going to play professional hockey. He grew up in the shadow of his supremely talented older brother, and the fact that he had to wear glasses when he played, with a cage protector, hampered his game. His parents invested money in contact lenses, a considerable investment back then, and that probably saved his career… His mechanics scandalized the experts. He hung too far back in his net, they groused, making stops right on the goal crease. Conversely, others were ready to argue that he played too far out of the net. And he gave up big rebounds and didn't seem to know what to do with loose puck set his feet. None of that mattered much to the Blackhawks. He got in the way of the puck. They won games.
Two thirds of the way through the opening game of the Soviet leg of the Summit series, it appeared that it would be left Esposito to provide the Canadian net minding her Rolex. He had already logged a win and a tie, allowing only six goals, back in Canada. Esposito was anchoring an impressive 5-1 lead for the Canadiens in the third period. When the Soviets came back and scored five unanswered goals to put their record at three wins, one loss and one tie. "We should have won it 7-0" series co-organizer Alan Eagleson told author Scott Young. "But Tony had a bad third period In goal… He just shook his head and said, I blew it. There was no way they should've got five goals and one period. I'm the one to blame. God dammit, we can beat them, we would have tonight if I hadn't let you down." Such unadorned humility was typical of Esposito. He was always, first and foremost, a team player. He did not point fingers when he had an off game. Esposito's apology provided a catharsis for the rest of the team. He gave them permission to break one of the games taboos, to blame the goaltender. The team had played more than well enough to win. Esposito helped make them recognize that the series was winnable. Eagleson came to see the Esposito apology as an important rallying point.… And Esposito was not finished. He was in the net for the win in game seven, and finished the tournament with the best goals-against average and win loss record of all three goaltenders.
Originally Posted by NHL – the World of Professional Hockey
though some have, in brief stretches, played more spectacularly than Tony, no one has been as consistent.
Within a year, three of the Masters – Ken Dryden, Gerry Cheevers and Bernie parent – were gone. In searching for the heir apparent we need not scan the future, but the backward instead. He is found where he always was. In goal at the Chicago Stadium.
Tony Esposito notes the irony but understands the circumstances. "A great deal has to do with who you play for, "he said. "I've done a lot of things I've wanted to do in hockey. I have three Vezinas, but the Stanley Cup is the one thing I don't have. I haven't given up, I think were on the move now. Dryden was very capable, but I'll tell you this. He was blessed to be on the right team, in a position where he didn't have all those rebounds. He was a good first shot goalie, but not a good rebound goalie. I'm not saying he wasn't good, but he came with the right team at the right time. I used to come into some of those ranks when we had our bad years and the shots would be 42 to 18 and 15 of ours would be from the blueline. Hell, that would be a cakewalk. You could blow one goal and it would mean nothing, because your team is going to get you three or four. I've had good teams I've had that teams. When you have a good one, you say, thank God. But I can remember feeling sorry for the other goalie, too.
Then the WHA took Bobby Hull from the Blackhawks and by the next year Pat Stapleton was gone too. Age and complacency set in and soon Tony became that guy to be pitied. And once the decline was underway, Esposito never had the chance to disprove all the "buts" that came up, when the Hawks were powerful and his name was bandied among the best. There was his style, stoop shouldered, pads forming a V, which made the standups stuffed shirts shake their heads. There was, in the early days, has solid defense as has ever been put together, which some argued masked Tony's weaknesses. There were two trips to the finals and out haunting goal Jacques Lemaire scored from outside the blueline. "It aggravated me, there was no way he should beat me from there. We had them, 2-0. Bobby Hull hit the crossbar and the puck came right back out, and soon after Lemaire scored that goal. Yeah, it would have meant one cup I don't have, but I don't think history has been bad to me. I know I'm still playing. And I think I've been more consistent than many other goalies in the game today. There have been others who have been great for a few years, but they lost their nerve or lost the edge at a lot younger age than it has happened to me. I think that's how you judge performance. By the guy who can endure. I'm not saying I was better than anybody, but I know I've been around 12 years in the league. And I will continue to be. When I'm done playing, and I have no projection – I think it could be as many as 8 to 10 more years without any problems – then people will judge." But maybe it would still be those years when the Blackhawks declined that should count the most. "It was getting depressing, we were going nowhere. I never quit but it was embarrassing to me to associate with a team not even in contention. The key is the mental concentration. You lose some of that excitement from the first few years, and then you have to start working at it. I had to give more. You see so many guys who can't do it after a few years."
12 years have changed only the people around him. It's still the same Tony, staring through his best friends and teammates on the afternoon of the game. He needs only a mask for protection, his face at game time is almost as inanimate as plastic. He'll Barkin grumble at the same reporters immediately after a game that he'll greet warmly the next day. "After state time comes, from then on it's all business," he said. "I worry only about myself because I know what I have to do to get ready. I do have a problem afterward. I don't try to be rude, I just need that time, especially after a loss, to be by myself. If you lost this kind of an edge, you're satisfied. And that's when you level off. "
"I feel great. I think I moved as well as I did when I came up with Montréal in 1967. You don't lose your agility, or your strength or reflexes, maybe a little speed, but then I don't have to do sprints."
Now he's 36, and it would be as glorious as it would be ironic for him to move into his prime time with the Hawks recharged. But the truth is there's been nothing wrong with him all along. In no year since 1972 has Esposito played in any less than 63 games. And in too few of these HTC less than 30 shots. It has been hard to keep standing for all those rebounds. "I don't think I'm really unorthodox. You can play more standup playing for Montréal. Ken Dryden never worried about rebounds. If I didn't, I could stand there like a board, too. They see 20 game and two rebounds, it's fine. You get two on ones and rebounds like I have, you have to hang back. I may play a different style, but I play by the rules, if you know what I mean. I know when it's time to go down. I don't make a move until the puck is played. I don't go out there and play guessing games. Billy Reay told me I could read the plays and be in position better than anyone he's ever seen. I told him I never really thought about it, I just did it."
Originally Posted by Cold War: The Amazing Canada – Soviet Hockey Series of 1972
game three: ironically, Ken Dryden has been using from the sidelines that Esposito has been successful against the Soviets because of his goaltending style – staying back in the net, instead of coming out to challenge.
20 Esposito certainly deserves credit for his strong goaltending, especially a key save on Maltsev with 13 seconds to play…
Game six: on top of that, try the suspects his teammates have lost confidence in him; probably they'd prefer to have Tony Esposito in goal again.
Although it's Henderson who administers the coup de grace, others clinch the victory in the final 2 min. and 6 seconds. Tony Esposito makes four more saves, including another on unlucky Maltsev, for a total of 28.
Originally Posted by Ultimate Hockey
when asked about his butterfly goaltending style, Esposito laughed: "my job is stopping the puck and I don't really care how." He had remarkable reflexes and a real knack for clearing rebounds. Foot speed and hand eye coordination were this goaltending legend's stock in trade.
Originally Posted by Great Goalies of Pro Hockey
Esposito appreciated coach Reay's confidence in him. Like many goaltenders, Tony detested the team workouts where he had to defend against heavy shooting from his own teammates. "I don't put much stock in practice. Playing goal is a strange business, and every goal he has his own approach to it. Billy leaves me alone and permits me to practice when I feel I need it. I don't see anything very brave about playing well and work out. In Fact, if one of our players with a hard shot, like Dennis Hall, shoots a slapper from 30 feet away, I won't even try to stop it. I just get out of the net, and it can go in." At training camp for the series against the Russians, Esposito had no opportunity to study his opponents play. When asked if the lack of a book on the Russian shooters was a handicap to him, he replied: "I don't even keep a book on the NHL shooters. The smart shooters, the guys I really have to worry about, never do the same thing twice in a row, so what good is a book on them? A shot is a shot!"
Tony was a standout in the grinding eight-game series. Team Canada one-act, four games to three with one game tied. It was a hard-fought battle – the deciding eight-game goal came just 34 seconds before the games and. In the four games in which Esposito played Canada had two wins, a tie and a loss.
Originally Posted by Last Minute of Play
at practice he was foreboding and fierce, snarling at errant high shots and sloppy defensemen. Like a lot of first string goalies, he would work casually or reluctantly. Game day skates are the goalie's top priority. However, nothing changed when the game rolled around. During a game, he could be heard berating his teammates, foulmouthed and demanding, the tone never far from insulting.
Ultimately the pressure of the second matchup of the Summit series would fall on Tony, and to say he came up big would be an understatement. Standing through the interminable Russian anthem made me appreciate the gravity of our own, but it didn't take away from the electric buzz of apprehension in the crowd that evening. I couldn't help wonder about Canadian players, and especially about Tony. It wouldn't be the first time over anticipation and tension had turned a fine tuned athletes into a lead legged uncoordinated lump, and I wondered if the pressure had gotten to Esposito and left in my dream running sand. At about the midway point of the opening. All of Canada received the answer. In retrospect, after all these years, I still firmly believe it was the play that eventually won the series for Canada.
A Brad Park penalty left the Canadians shorthanded. Kharlamov is rocketed past the defense and made a move to the short side, Tony, moving to his right, snaked a foot to the goalpost and trapped the puck for the save. Kharlamov was so sure about the goal that he raised his arms overhead in celebration as he circled behind the Canadian net. I can still see Esposito getting back onto his feet, housecleaning the crease, looking up at the clock, nonchalant and relaxed, as if to say to Kharlamov and his mates, "a routine save. I do it all the time, ***hole." To me, scrunched into my corner seat in the golds, it was the omen, the lift Canada needed to go the extra step.
…A lone loner. It was all part of the mystique, or part of the intolerance. From opponents I heard a number of blistering four letter descriptions of Tony, while others weren't much more charitable in their name-calling. Inevitably the cursing was followed by "ask anyone who played with." So I did. One former Hawk, asked for a one-word description, thought for a moment, then said, "sour." Over the years it would be safe to say that Tony wasn't held in high regard socially, as a teammate or opponents, by those who went through Chicago's dressing room doors on either side of the hall. Most considered him opinionated, and Kent, self-indulgent and, worst of all, "not a team player. The last remark was a bit hard to believe, since the very challenge of goaltending is to keep the other team from scoring, the job most other players do in tandem with their defense partners or linemates, and in the best scenario, all together as a unit. Yet, as the saying goes, goalies stand alone; there the last stop before the red light. The goaltenders position, given the pressure of the job, is bound to have a major share of flakes, weirdos, and people who march to a different drummer. Most GMs consider the moods, on athletic builds, and behavior of goalies the cost of doing business in the NHL.
Originally Posted by Bill Chadwick: The Big Whistle
the Blackhawks goalie is Tony Esposito, whose style I don't think I'll ever figure out. He looks like he's so easy to beat that aunt Emma could score against him. Yet game after game, season after season, he turns in top-notch netminding for the Blackhawks. When I first saw Esposito, I have to admit I didn't think he'd last a month in the NHL. He looks awkward and leaves all kinds of openings for shooters. But it's a case of now you see it, now you don't. Espo will show you a big piece of the net and when you shoot for it, all of a sudden, he's got the area covered. I don't know how the man does it. He's an unorthodox goalie but he seems to get himself in the way of an awful lot of shots. You keep waiting for him to make a mistake and for that cockeyed style of his to betray him. But it never happens. It keeps getting better and better. I have a lot of respect for him and I have to admit that I misjudged his ability. I still don't understand how he does it.
Originally Posted by The Men In the Nets
Esposito has no alibi for missing the shot. "I just lost it, that's all. I saw the shot leave his stick and after that I don't know what happened but these things happen all the time to every goalie. It has nothing to do with my vision. I've been nearsighted since I was a kid. I could see the blackboard from the back of the room till I got glasses. Now I wear contact lenses when I play and they correct my vision... Billy Reay has a quick answer for Esposito's critics. "In Tony's first season we went from last place to first. In his second season we went to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals before losing. I have to say that his goaltending has been the difference."
One of Tony's greatest admirers is Bobby Hull who has scored more goals than any active NHL player. "Tony is a terrifically brave man. He is really aggressive. He comes out of those shooters. He isn't afraid of anyone in hockey."
Tony Esposito, like most goalies, doesn't consider himself a particularly brave man. In fact he feels fear is necessary if a man is to play goal well... When he speaks of the job, Tony Esposito has little relation in his voice. "It's a job, and I have to do it. But it's tough and I don't particularly like it."
Originally posted by Glenn Hall, the man they call Mr. Goalie' by Tom Adrahtas:
Esposito was the second major NHL talent to employ the butterfly style after Hall originated the method. The other was Detroit Red Wing XXXXX. Like XXXXXX, Esposito caught with his right hand, but almost everything else bout him was vintage Glenn Hall- minus the great skating ability. By mid-season, Blue coach Billy Reay remarked on the similarities of the two men, admitting that he sometimes though Hall was back between the Stadium pipes. "He even sounded like Glenn," said the coach. "When he was barking directions on the ice, you'd swear it was Glenn."
Esposito also drew comparison because he never blamed a teammate for a goal, was more than intense in his pre-game preparation, and admitted that being scored on or playing poorly was a far greater source of fear than being hurt.
But it was Esposito's popularization of the "V" that is his most lasting legacy. That he could employ it successfully proved it was a legitimate puck-stopping weapon, not a method that would only be unique to Glenn.
Esposito recognized the style's effectiveness, was greatly entertained by it, and incorporated it into his own. Since his heyday was in the '70s when TV exposure was everywhere, Esposito inspired a generation of goalie to adopt the butterfly simply because more kids got to see him than they did Hall. And, of course, because he was good. In his 15 years in the NHL, he earned a membership in the Hall of Fame. And in his very first full year, Esposito set a record that has yet to be broken in themodern era when eclipsed Hall and Plante's single-season shutout production, recording 15 whitewashes.
Originally posted by Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks' by Harvey Wittenberg:
Tony told me that he developed his own style of goaltending from watching two of the all-time greats, Glenn Hall and Terry Sawchuk.
Hall was famous for the butterfly style, but Tony added some more of his own ideas coupled with quick reflexes. In the 1971-1972 season when the Hawks finished first for the third straight campaign, Tony had a record low goals-against average of 1.77 in 48 games with nine shutouts. That mark stood for 30 years...
...Esposito kept the Hawks in it.
Despite the score, Esposito was the difference.
Originally posted by The Big M: The Frank Mahovlich Story' by Ted Mahovlich:
Detroit had played well against Chicago throughout the year and were optimistic about facing them in the first round. To beat the Blackhawks they'd have to solve the goaltending of the stingy Tony Esposito. Mahovlich remembered a game from that season in which Esposito was unbeatable. "That year we played a game against Chicago in Detroit. I'll never forget it. I had three of four good chances, but they beat us 1-0. Tony Esposito played one of the greatest game I've ever seen a goalie play - he stopped everything! It was a hell of a game."
LEGENDS OF HOCKEY VIDEO
For "Tony O", there was no such thing as a "good goal".
Originally Posted by Tony Esposito
"a lot of guys would get the 3-4 goal lead, and they'd say, 'we got a nice lead, we're gonna win.' Not me. I want the shutout. I don't wanna win 5-3, i wanna win 5-0. If you compete at that level... you wanna win."
Originally Posted by Jim Robson
"he had this flopping style that most of the traditional hockey people of the 60s didn't like. The coaches were mostly old school guys who didn't like goalies who didn't stand up and face the puck and cut down the angles. he was maybe the first of the real butterfly goalies who threw his legs out, and went down to cover the lower part of the ice, and it was successful for him, although a lot of coaches tried to talk him out of it."
Originally Posted by Darren Pang
"and at first, he was criticized for that style - that won't last, it's not a long-term style, that won't last the test of time, there are so many great players - and Tony, he did did his business, and all of a sudden the 'V' style was a popular style, and people started playing that butterfly style. And talk about teasing the shooter. Here, I'm going to give you six feet between my legs. And you're going to shoot it there, and I'm just going to shut it down before you even come close to getting it there."
Originally Posted by Peter McNab
"Tony was excellent in close. You'd think the way he went down, he'd be vulnerable to shots up top. But he was always in the right position, it seemed. Very difficult guy to beat, even though you thought, 'hmm, he's going down, maybe I'll throw it here.' it didn't happen.
Originally Posted by Don Cherry
"He tried every trick in the book all the time. He was the very first guy to take the snow and pile it beside the posts all the time, after a while it got so obvious that they had to kick it away. He's the guy who got the big glove, he's the guy who got the wire on the mask for the eyes, he tried all the different things, the bigger sweater to catch the puck. He had every angle figured the whole way, and that's the way he played - play every angle to win."
Originally Posted by Pat Quinn
"Tony started out with little webbings off here, nets between his legs... really incredible... most of us didn't realize it for a while, all we knew was he was stopping the puck, 'how'd he get that one?' Eventually, nobody could beat the guy very often, so we had to start getting some rules in there with some teeth. But Tony was clearly a great player, but also a very inventive one.
Originally Posted by Dave Dryden
"I'm sure he did a lot of... "maximizing" on things. And back in those days, that was almost considered, "we took the equipment as it came from the factory, we put it on, yes there were rules, but we didn't really measure it, and that was just the way it was"
Originally Posted by Bryan Lewis
"We were always suspicious of Tony Esposito. And he would be the master. He's probably changed the game for goalies over the years. And probably one of the main reasons today that they're having such a hard time on goalkeepers, because of what he's done in the past."
Originally Posted by Tony Esposito
"I used to have extra wide pads, but who didn't? But I'd stuff 'em myself, I did everything. They'd check 'em, I'd take the stuffing out. They'd leave, I'd stuff it back in. I repaired my own pads myself. I sewed 'em all, I did everything. I made 'em wider, sure, I had 'em like about 14 inches at times. But, why not, if you get away with it. And then I had a web between my legs one time. Year in s ago there was no rule about it in the 60s. Then I made this piece where no puck could go through the five hole. Then after, they made a rule, and I stopped that. They did all these things to me. Tried to ruin me, to throw me off my game (laugh)"
Originally Posted by Phil Esposito
"You don't think the goalies cheat nowadays? Whoa. Look at the size of their gloves. And their pads are like three inches wider than my brother wore."
"He was miserable before a game because he believed that's the way he had to be, to play his best. That's what he believed, ok? If that's the way a guy gets up for a game, then that's fine!"
Originally Posted by Tony Esposito
"When the puck drops, I'm like this: Tighter than a drum. Nervous. Everyone thinks you're calm? You're not calm, at least I wasn't. I'm sure that most goalies aren't. You're a nervous wreck."
"I'm not the kind of guy who'd have a bad game and then say, 'meh, it's just a game.' I never was. I wanted to play every game because I liked that competitive edge that you get only from playing. And I wanted to be successful, and I wanted to endure, and I wanted to set records. I wanted all those things. The way you have to do it is sacrifice. And I sacrificed a lot of my personal life to do it. But I'd do it all again."
"most players, once they retire, they never really have as much fun... the high point of your life is over, being a professional athlete and very successful. How do you top that? I'll never find that level of success in anything I do again. Not that level. I could feel successful in anything I do, and I think I am. But not like that.
When that national anthem comes on, even today, I think about when I'm getting ready for a hockey game, isn't that amazing? After all those years of hearing that anthem. It just makes me sweat, even today at an event. Even when I'm not participating. I get nervous... brainwashed, that's the word! (laugh)"
Originally Posted by Sports Illustrated, March 30, 1980
The rest of the Hawks' attack is less imposing, but a vastly unheralded defense, anchored by Goaltender Tony Esposito, makes amends. Esposito, certainly the most durable and probably the top goalie in the NHL, has starred for a decade despite migraine headaches, jangled nerves and broken bones. He has a crack in his left hand right now, but leads the NHL in wins (29).and shutouts (6) and has a fine 2.90 goals-against average.
"Tony's better than good," says Defenseman Bob Murray. "He's unbelievable."
SCOUTING REPORTS
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1972
has one of the most unorthodox goaltending styles in the NHL but he keeps the puck out of the nest and that's what counts with the Hawks… Stands with legs spread in an inverted V, giving shooters an inviting target that seems to disappear quite quickly when they fire…
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1974
one of the two best goaltenders in the league, whether he looks it or not… Worrier who admits goaltending makes his handshake before and after games. "Sometimes the pressure gets almost too much to take," he says. Not the most graceful shot stopper but and All-Star who beat the Rangers in last season's playoffs with remarkable goaltending… Shooters claim he has an uncanny ability to anticipate shots.
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1975
practically single-handedly won a share of the Vezina Trophy for the club… Did have some bad games last season and didn't look great in the playoffs. Won't win any awards for his style, but he still considered one of the NHL's top three goalies. Says Bobby Orr: "Tony doesn't have an Orthodox style, but you can't get the puck past him."… "He's like a third defenseman out there," says Chicago coach Billy Reay. "He's in every play."
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1976
his goals-against average was his worst since his rookie season with Vancouver of the Western league… But remember that he was in goal for 70 one of the Hawks 80 games and the defense in front of him wasn't as good as it has been in the past because of a rash of Black Hawk injuries… There's no question that he's one of the best goaltenders around.… From the fall and sprawl school of goalies, but he gets the job done.… Says brother Phil, "Tony plays the angles as well as anyone in the game. He's also got exceptionally quick hands."
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1977
keeps on going as one of the league's top goaltenders and one of the most durable. He didn't get as much help last season as he used to, though… Another efficient season… Led league's goalies in games played with 68…
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1978
the Blackhawks week team defense allowed 298 goals last season, the most by a Chicago team since 1951. It wasn't all the fault of goaltender Tony Esposito. He was overworked and often unprotected by his forwards and defensemen… Iron man who played more games than minutes than any goalie in NHL last two years... Was brilliant in defeat in playoffs by Islanders last season.
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1979
the Hawks had the fourth best goals-against record in the NHL, behind only Montréal, the Islanders and Philadelphia. One of the biggest reasons for that was the continued fine play of Tony Esposito, a top rate goalie… If there is a weakness, it is the Hawks need for a capable backup goalie for Esposito, who is bushed by the time the playoffs roll around.… One of the few lefty goalies in the pros...
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1980
still one of the best… Overworked and maybe underpaid… Can carry a team when he's hot.
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1981
there's not too much more that can be said about Tony Esposito. He knows every trick there is and some that don't exist. He's as good as they come… One of the outstanding NHL goalies in history… Again workhorse of the league last season with 69 games… Club's resident grouch…
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1982
toiled valiantly in 66 games – the most of any NHL goalie – and needs to play that often this season if a Hawks are to move up… Heart and soul of team… Still hungry to play after all those years… He claims he wants a bonus if he doesn't play 65 games...
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1983
last season was by far the worst of his distinguished career. There were a few nights when he looked like a goalie who had lost it, although he did redeem himself in the playoffs helping team to conference final… Master of the much duplicated butterfly style of goaltending...
Originally Posted by Complete Handbook Of Pro Hockey 1984
Rebounded to play some superb goal… Had the lightest workload of his 14 season career.
PLAYERS, COACHES & MEDIA POLLS
Throughout his career, Esposito was universally named as one of the league's two best goalies when players and coaches were asked. The exception was the 1979 poll.
Originally Posted by March 13th, 1971 NHL Coaches Poll - Toronto Star
Best Goalie - Jacques Plante (Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent, Ed Giacomin, Glenn Hall)
Originally Posted by
March 23rd, 1974 NHL Coaches Poll - Toronto Star
Best Goalie -
Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent tie (Dan Bouchard, Rogie Vachon)
Originally Posted by Pro Hockey Almanac 1974-75, NHL Correspondents' Poll
Best Goalie: 1) Bernie Parent, 52 pts 2) Ken Dryden, 29 pts 3) Tony Esposito, 17 pts 4) Ed Giacomin, 5 pts
Originally Posted by February 21st, 1976 NHL Coaches Poll - Toronto Star Best Goalie - Ken Dryden (Tony Esposito, Bernie Parent, Rogie Vachon, Dan Bouchard)
Originally Posted by Players Poll taken before 1980-81 season
Best Goaltender 1 Tony Esposito 2 Don Edwards 3 Mike Palmateer
WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DISCUSSED IN THIS DRAFT - some content edited
Originally Posted by
seventieslord
Tony Esposito vs. Martin Brodeur
Brodeur - Esposito
Top-2 in Minutes, 9 times -
9 times
Top-2 in Wins, 12 times -
7 times
Top-2 in GAA, 3 times -
3 times
Top-2 in Shutouts, 8 times -
8 times
All-Star Teams, 7 times -
5 times
Hart Finalist Seasons, 2 times -
2 times
Based on the above, it looks like Esposito was a poor man's Martin Brodeur in the regular season. Of course, rows 2, 3, and 4 are team stats and row 1 can be heavily team-influenced. Yet, it is exactly these types of numbers that have earned Martin Brodeur such a lofty reputation. Why not Esposito?
Before I answer and address why, let's not close the door on the regular season accomplishments just yet. The single most important statistic is save%. Brodeur is usually above average in save percentage, yet rarely dominant in that regard. What are the ten best save% seasons posted by each goalie, in terms of ranking among the league's other goalies?
Best sv% placements
Brodeur - 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16
Esposito -
1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 7
The other thing about Brodeur, though, is that even if he wasn't in the top-20, he was generally at least average. Maybe Esposito's worst seasons were worse, and thus he didn't sustain as great a day-to-day performance level as Brodeur? A good way to determine that would be to look at Hockey outsider's adjusted sv% thread:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=718221&highlight=adjusted
Note that Brodeur does very well despite the lack of dominant statistical seasons - far behind Hasek and Roy, rightfully so, and ahead of the "pack" despite playing way more minutes. It really underscores the value of longevity and consistency. HO's thread doesn't go back before 1983, but the stats do exist, and I ran them myself.
Esposito's career "adjusted save percentage" based on HO's model, would be .920, the same as Patrick Roy's. His five-year "peak" would have an adjusted sv% of .927, 3rd behind only Hasek and Roy..
So if Esposito had similar team success stats, and was more individually dominant in the regular season, is it even fair to say he was like a "poor Man's Martin Brodeur" in the regular season? Maybe he was better....
Regular season aside, why does Esposito lack Brodeur's great reputation? Well, he's not a "winner". He never won a cup. He got to two finals, and in one of them he flubbed a long Jacques Lemaire shot to lose the cup.
Single plays aside, is it fair to say Esposito didn't perform as well in the playoff opportunities he was given? Let's take a look:
weighted avg sv% pts+/- LgA, playoffs (Brodeur +5.1 - Esposito +3.9)
Esposito was not BAD in the playoffs, contrary to what some would tell you. It's often forgotten that in that in that 1971 playoff (that featured the Lemaire shot), Esposito's sv% was .928, versus a league average of .905, which makes it overall one of the most dominant individual playoff performances by any goalie, ever.
Overall, in Esposito's playoff career, he faced more shots than the league average:
weighted SA/60M +/- LgA, playoffs (Brodeur -2.8 - Esposito +1.5)
And a goalie like Brodeur was on a team that had the ability to shut it down in the playoffs even more than usual in the regular season. Esposito did not have this benefit:
career SOG/60M, playoff minus reg (Brodeur -0.97 - Esposito +0.64)
Lastly, although he performed about as well on a per-minute basis, he did not amass nearly as great a win% (.459 vs. .547). Why not? Well, wins are a function of goals against (which goalies have a lot of control over) and goals for (which they have zero control over). Esposito's Hawks came up with some brutal offensive performances:
Originally Posted by Hockey Outsider
To quote myself from another thread:
"In the playoffs from '75 to '79, [Tony Esposito] had at one point a 16 game losing streak... he had basically no support from his offense. In the losses his team scored:
0 goals - 3
1 goal - 7
2 goals - 4
3 goals - 2
4+ goals - 0
Esposito had no chance of winning unless he posted shutouts in 10 of 16 games. So, looking at the numbers, it looks like Esposito was doomed for four years, regardless of how well or poorly he played."
I'm certainly not saying that Esposito was as good a playoff performer as Fuhr or Smith. But I wonder how Espo would have done had his teammates scored 4-5 goals in each playoff game he started.
With or Without You
Originally posted by Seventieslord
Another way to assess a goalie's dominance is to compare their statistics to the sum of other goalies to play for their team during that same time. Backup goalies are generally of similar quality and generally play weaker teams. I decided to run some quick comparisons on some already-drafted goalies. Keep in mind that they need to have had a decent sample of other goalies playing for that team during their career, so a guy like Glenn Hall is not included, for obvious reasons, and neither is Terry Sawchuk, who missed just 13 games in his 5 dominant seasons. Also, this is not favourable to someone like Bower, who formed a HHOF tandem with Sawchuk. I will only do comparisons with the one franchise the goalie is best associated with. I could analyze sv% for all goalies, but for the pre-1983 goalies this would take a lot of work so I will use GAA for them as this can be done easily with hockey-reference.com. (shots against should be fairly steady on the same team, so GAA would work as a reciprocal of sv%) - Here is a list of some drafted goalies and the percentage by which they outperformed the rest of their team's goalies. (for GAA analysis it is goalie's GAA/teammates GAA, for sv% goalies it is goalie's error rate/teammates error rate.)
(study removed as overpass did a better job - see below)
Esposito, thanks to the O6 era and being owned by the dynasty Montreal Canadiens, never got the chance to be an NHL regular until he was 26. He displayed great longevity like Brodeur at the end of his career, but at the beginning doesn't get all those extra games, playoff games, and likely the "winner" reputation that would go along with it. Assume he started in the NHL at age 21, and assume those seasons went even 80% as well as his first 5 with the Hawks, and it's Esposito's 554 wins and 109 shutouts that Brodeur is chasing - Not Sawchuk, not Roy.
It's often been said that Belfour's Legacy gets hurt by being born at the same time as Dominik Hasek and Patrick Roy. Likewise with Esposito and Dryden/Parent, all born within four years. (Esposito was the oldest but played five seasons beyond either of them)
I wouldn't dream of selecting Durnan, Smith, Hainsworth, Gardiner, Fuhr, or Worsley over Tony Esposito. (Brimsek & Holecek are debatable as well)
Originally Posted by
Seventieslord
Yes, it is possible that it was just them (GBC & Pappyline) convincing everyone else. Although I don't actually recall any Espo smearing going on. It may have been before my time. Both those guys were veterans when I started here.
Somewhere along the line there began a stigma against selecting Esposito, as though your team would be sunk in the playoffs if you took him. To whover started that - it's nonsense. I think Hedberg did a great job proving otherwise last draft.
No doubt his regular season resume is a lot stronger than in the playoffs. According to Puck Prospectus, he's 4th all-time in career GVT, behind (of course) the consensus top-3.
http://www.hockeyprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=786&mode=print
He won't be an elite postseason ATD goalie, but I can count 24 post-1953 goalies with at least 2500 playoff minutes, who have been, will be, or are very likely to be drafted as starters. Based on outperforming the league's average save% throughout their careers, Esposito is 10th among those 24, and 14th in experience (playoff minutes) (no doubt, due to wins and losses, and/or significantly more minutes, some will be called better playoff goalies than Espo). Just Roy, Belfour, Smith, Hasek, Dryden and Plante did better per-minute while playing more minutes.
Averaging out his regular season resume with his playoffs, he should be about 14th-16th among goalies.
Originally Posted by overpass
I like the WOWY method, but you have to be careful to weight by season. The method you used can really throw things off when a large percentage of the backups games come in a season with a different scoring level. For example, much of Tony Esposito's backups' games played came in the high scoring 1980s. So it's not an apples to apples comparison.
I have a file with the average goals for of the teams that each goalie faced in a season, which easily corrects for this problem, as well as correcting for whether the goalie got easier or more difficult starts (home/road and strength of opponent).
XWOWY: The expected With or Without You numbers for the goalies you listed, just based on the average opposing GF/G over those time periods
Adjusted WOWY: The WOWY numbers you presented, adjusted for the expected WOWY (this fixes weighting issues and strength of opposition issues)
Goalie WOWY XWOWY Adjusted WOWY
Hasek 0.71 0.974 0.73
Parent 0.81 0.977 0.83
Roy 0.85 0.989 0.86
Dryden 0.86 1.038 0.83
Esposito 0.86 0.930 0.92
Brodeur 0.88 0.984 0.89
Plante 0.92 1.064 0.86
Belfour 0.97 1.008 0.96
Smith 1.01 1.002 1.01
Fuhr 1.04 1.029 1.01
Esposito (70-81) 0.83 0.969 0.86
You can see Esposito and Plante's numbers are really skewed by failing to weight properly.
But you've also done Esposito a disservice in including his numbers from 1982-84, when he was terrible. If we remove those as not representative of his career, his numbers still look pretty good, as you can see by the Esposito (70-81) numbers.
So I don't disagree with you on Esposito, just doing my part to make the overall numbers a little more accurate.
Originally Posted by
EagleBelfour
Hey 70's, to return on the Tony Esposito debate, I would really love you to take the time to read this:
http://brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-tony-esposito-lost-in-playoffs.html
and give me your opinion on the article + the back-and-forth debate afterwards. I've read it from top to bottom and taught they nailed pretty good Esposito overall performances in the playoffs. It definitely dosn't paint the picture you want to sell on Tony-O though. I'm not trying to bash Tony-O some more, I just want to get a clear picture on him, because as of now I really don't believe he was even average in the playoffs.
Originally Posted by seventieslord
TCG's article basically says exactly what my viewpoint is.
The first guy Bruce makes an incorrect assumption that Espo played in an expansion division - he did not. The schedule was completely balanced when Chicago moved over to that division. The alignment was just window dressing and for playoff seeding, as everyone played everyone else the same number of times. This has been established before.
Next, Bruce makes the assertion that the Hawks' GAA went up, on average, 54% in series that they lost, Before you get carried away with this number, you must remember three things. 1) As TCG pointed out, just once did he lose against a team with fewer regular season points. So it's only natural you will allow more goals against better teams - that's why they're better! 2) These better teams obviously took more shots. Espo didn't just start allowing 54% more goals per block of shots. Did they take 54% more shots than the Hawks were used to in the regular season? Not likely that much. But it would certainly have been something higher. Bruce's quick study does not account for that at all. I have the results for this in a book but I'm not sure it's worth digging up. 3) Better teams aside, this is an analysis of just a dozen losing series. Of course you're not as good in your losses, as you are in your wins. For Espo's career GAA to be what it is in the playoffs, he'd have to have been about 2.24 in the series that he won. This is not surprising. But of course who wants to credit him for the series he won? I'm sure similar stats can be drawn up for a lot of goalies and there would be some interesting results in there.
Bruce's next chart about playoff scoring dropping is correct in principle; however, the goaltenders being used for the chart played the majority of their careers on strong teams; they generally didn't face a team that should beat them until at least round 3. In the four round playoff system, a higher percentage of their games came against weaker teams and not powerhouses, whom Esposito played half his playoff games against.
Shot totals were available at this time; I'm not sure why one of these two didn't pick up a copy of THC; the discussion would have gone a lot differently. I see now that TCG discussed the regular season shots, which were sparse at the time, and known for only three seasons. The playoffs are in that book, in their entirety.Esposito's career playoff shots against per game average is actually the 3rd-highest among all goalies who have been, or will be drafted as starters here:
1. Bower 32.74 (+1.1)
2. Hall 31.90 (+1.1)
3. Esposito 31.71 (+1.7)
4. Worsley 31.38 (+0.6)
5. Barrasso 30.80 (+1.8)
6. Sawchuk 29.98 (-0.8)
7. Joseph 29.07 (+1.4)
8. Smith 28.87 (-0.8)
9. Fuhr 28.59 (-0.5)
the number in brackets is the weighted career average above or below the league average. Tony Esposito faced an average 0f 1.7 shots per game more than the league average, exceeded only by Barrasso.
In the end, TCG is correct to point out that the Hawks, all things being equal, still did allow more goals than they should have in those losing series. Everyone deserves a portion of that blame, including Esposito. But narrowing his playoff record down to that, ignores the series that he won, as well as the ones that he lost in which he was actually good.
Show me a goalie who, in the playoffs, faced more shots, from tougher teams than he faced in the regular season, and allowed fewer goals, yet still lost. That's not going to happen on a regular basis. Espo's Hawks bombed in general. Don't forget, when you count ALL his playoff games (as you should in any comparison), Esposito's sv% edge in the playoffs versus his contemporaries is 10th out of 24 post-1953 goalies likely to be ATD starters.
Efforts are made when voting on the regular season rankings, to completely isolate the players' regular season records and vote on them separately. (my last first round opponent disagreed with that, but I don't). The reason this is ok in the regular season, is that the regular season comprises generally 75-90% of a player's career games: They are very representative of what the player's performance is going to be in the ATD. Over a number of games that high, there is usually not a major issue with competition level, in terms of always facing a disproportionately strong or weak caliber of team.
For those exact reasons, it should not be OK to "just" look at playoff resumes as the determining factor in playoff performance in the ATD. For example, does anyone *really* think that Darryl Sittler will be a better playoff performer than Marcel Dionne in this? Playoff records are important to consider, but at some point common sense regarding the skills of the players has to come into play. A less obvious example is Turk Broda vs. Terry Sawchuk. Overall, Broda was definitely better in the playoffs. Does his GM get to claim a goaltending edge? I don't think so. Over a very large sample of games, Sawchuk clearly showed he was the better goalie, even if his "clutch" factor isn't as great.
So basically the point is, Esposito is not a "liability" as a playoff goalie in the ATD.
OTHER STATISTICAL STUFF
Powerplays
Powerplays against can have a great deal of impact on a goalie's sv%. A PP shot is a higher-quality shot, so if you face more PPs than the other goalies, you will have a harder time posting a high sv%. Here is Chicago's PPOA each season, expressed as a percentage of the league average:
1970|
87%*
1971|103%
1972|
89%*
1973|
98%
1974|
81%*
1975|98%
1976|95%
1977|106%
1978|
116%^
1979|110%^
1980|
105%
1981|107%
1982|120%^
1983|98%
1984|102%
This is an average of 101% per season. So basically, Esposito's career sv% stats are not overstated or understated by PPOA. They are what they are. The bolded are the six years in which he was 1st or 2nd in sv%. In three of those years, his team made it easier on him, in one, they made it harder.
It is actually pretty amazing how well the recognition accorded Esposito throughout his career matched his sv% exploits, when these numbers were not compiled until decades later:
Year | sv% rk | AS | Hart
1970 | 1 | 1 | 2
1971 | 4 | 3 | 8
1972 | 1 | 1 | 6
1973 | 2 | 2 | 9
1974 | 2 | 2 | 5
1975 | 7 | 6 |
1976 | 6 | 6 |
1977 | 9 | 7 |
1978 | 2 | 3 | 9
1979 | 4 | 5 | 11
1980 | 2 | 1 | 3
1981 | 12 | |
1982 | 26 | |
1983 | 8 | |
adjusted career playoff sv%
My own creation. Based on the same methodology as Hockey Outsider's regular season equivalent. It is obviously weighted more by playoff seasons in which the goalies played more minutes. This study is based solely on post-expansion seasons (as being compared to the average of 4 goalies is much different than the average of 8-16 goalies) and I only did this for ATD goalies with 3000+ playoff minutes (which is a total of 19 goalies). Results are normalized to .905. Here are the results:
Name | Mins | AdjPOSv%
Smith | 7640 | 0.921
Dryden | 6846 | 0.921
Roy | 15209 | 0.918
Parent | 4302 | 0.917
Belfour | 9945 | 0.916
Vanbiesbrouck | 3969 | 0.916
Hasek | 7318 | 0.915
Brodeur | 10949 | 0.910
Joseph | 8106 | 0.910
Esposito
|
6007
|
0.909
Richter | 4514 | 0.909
Fuhr | 8834 | 0.908
Barrasso | 6953 | 0.906
Hextall | 5456 | 0.904
Liut | 3814 | 0.904
Cheevers | 5396 | 0.903
Vernon | 8214 | 0.901
Peeters | 4200 | 0.899
Giacomin | 3834 | 0.891
It's funny, Esposito was just as good at stopping pucks in the playoffs as a lot of all-time greats and reputed "money goalies", but the way some talk about him, you'd think he was always the reason his team lost, and a guarantee for a playoff fizzle in the ATD. This is just not true.[/QUOTE]
Another one by seventies
