Tony Esposito, 1943 - 2021

Tony Esposito was one of the greatest of the greats in hockey history. A pioneer of the “butterfly” style of goaltending, he played 873 regular-season games and 99 playoff games for the Blackhawks. He ranks as the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (418) and shutouts (74). It was his propensity for shutouts, of course, that earned him the unforgettable nickname “Tony O.”

Esposito won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1969-70 and the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goalie three times. He was a five-time All-Star and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, his first year of eligibility. Hockey-Reference.com ranks him as the greatest player (not just the greatest goalie) in the Blackhawks’ illustrious history.

The Hawks acquired Esposito from Montreal after the 1968-69 season in the greatest waiver deal in NHL history. The Canadiens stuck with the two goalies who had just carried them to the Stanley Cup championship, future Hall of Famers Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon, while letting another future Hall of Famer get away.

 

The passage below is a look back at Tony O’s sensational 1969-70 season.    

 

TONY ESPOSITO

 

When the Blackhawks visited Montreal’s Forum to play the Canadiens on October 25, 1969, they were winless in six games for the young season and seemed destined for a second straight last-place finish, while the Canadiens were heavy favorites to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup.

 The Hawks had gone one game over .500 in 1968-69, but had nonetheless finished sixth and last in the NHL’s powerful Eastern Division, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1958. They entered the next season with more questions than answers. First, Ken Wharram, the plucky winger who was one of the club’s veteran leaders, suffered a heart attack that left him in critical condition for a time (he recovered, but his playing career was over). Then superstar Bobby Hull walked out of training camp, charging that the Hawks had reneged on certain promises made during his contract negotiations the year before. The goalie position was unsettled, with coach Billy Reay torn between Denis DeJordy, who had disappointed since replacing the great Glenn Hall two years earlier, and Tony Esposito, whose entire NHL experience consisted of 13 games with Montreal the season before.   

     With seven rookies (including Esposito and future mainstays Keith Magnuson and Cliff Koroll) in the lineup, the Hawks were bombed 7-2 in the season opener at St. Louis. Then they lost four more games before managing a tie at New York. “It may take 30 or 35 games before we play the kind of hockey I believe we are capable of playing,” Reay said, “but I am not discouraged.”

 The game in Montreal was the first portent of better things to come. Esposito, who had looked so bad in the opening-night debacle, was brilliant as the Hawks won 5-0. It was the Canadiens’ first loss of the season and their first on home ice in 25 games dating back to the previous January. “I decided to go with Tony,” said Reay, “in the hopes that he’d be fired up against the team that let him go, and it worked. I can’t remember winning that decisively too often in Montreal.”

     

The Hawks were a different team after Esposito’s shutout of the Canadiens. They lost their next game, then reeled off a 10-game unbeaten streak of eight wins and two ties. Esposito played every minute of the streak and allowed a total of 10 goals. Two of the games were shutouts, one of them a 1-0 decision over Montreal at the Stadium.

     Beginning with the game in Montreal on October 25, the Hawks went 45-17-8 for the rest of the season. For the last 12 weeks, they were 30-7-4.  

     Although their record of 38-22-16 would have easily won the Western Division (home of the six three-year-old expansion teams), the Canadiens were out of the playoffs for the first time since 1948. For the first time ever, the postseason would not include either Montreal or Toronto. 

     “Tony’s the guy who made the difference,” center Pit Martin said after the Hawks thrashed the Canadiens 10-2 in the regular-season finale. “He has made stops nobody could believe in game after game. He is the guy we’ve rallied around. I don’t think there ever has been a goaltender with a season like the one he’s had.”   

     Esposito’s season for the ages carried the Hawks from last place to first and earned him the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goalie and the Calder as rookie of the year (he finished second to Boston’s Bobby Orr in the MVP balloting). He played 63 games, allowing just one goal in 15 of them and setting a record with 15 shutouts. 

     As quick to refuse credit as he was to accept blame, Esposito was matter-of-fact about his feats. “All the guys worked so hard for me,” he said. “They have all year. I kept thinking, ‘Don’t ease up; you don’t want to let them down.’”

 

 

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Worth a Thousand Words: Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane played his 1,000th game for the Blackhawks last night, joining an exclusive club that already included Stan Mikita, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Bobby Hull, Eric Nesterenko, and Bob Murray. It was another in a series of milestones for Kane, who racked up his 1,000th point on January 20, 2020, and his 400th goal ten days ago, on February 28. At the relatively tender age of 32, he ranks fourth in franchise history in goals, third in assists, and fourth in points.

    

ONE OF PATRICK KANE'S MANY SENSATIONAL GOALS.

It would be hard to exaggerate Kane's importance to the franchise since he was selected first overall in the 2007 draft. In 2010 he scored the goal that gave the Hawks their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. He was also a key contributor, to say the least, when the Hawks captured the Cup again in 2013 and 2015. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013.

     Kane's trophy case includes the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2008 and a raft of awards in 2016--the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer, the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player (voted by journalists), and the Ted Lindsay Award as player of the year (voted by his peers). He was also named a first-team All-Star in 2010, 2016, and 2017. He will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

     In 2010, Kane was on the U.S. Olympic team that settled for a silver medal after losing the gold-medal game to the Canadian team that featured his friends and Hawks teammates Keith, Seabrook, and Jonathan Toews. He was the first American-born player to win the Hart or Ross trophy, and he is likely to retire--when the time comes--as the greatest American player of all time.

     This year, with Toews out of commission, Kane has taken on a more active and vocal leadership role while continuing to play with the energy, enthusiasm, and uncanny skill he has brought into each of his 1,000 regular-season and 136 playoff games.

     "As my 1,000th game approaches," Kane said this week in a recorded message to Hawks fans, "I can't help but think of you guys. These great moments are meant to be shared with friends, family, and obviously you great fans. 

     "I've dreamed of sharing this moment with you, so that's what we're going to do. When it's safe to pack the United Center with all 21,000-plus of the best fans in sports, we'll share that moment together."

 

 

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Blackhawks By the Numbers

The Blackhawks are one of the the NHL's legendary "Original Six" franchises, are in their 95th season of play, and have enjoyed a recent run in which they won the Stanley Cup three times in six years--equaling the number of times they captured the Cup in the previous 83 seasons. 

     For no particular reason, we thought it would be fun to name the greatest Blackhawks by sweater number, so here goes. (Asterisks indicate retired numbers.)

     No player ever wore No. 35 for the Blackhawks before Tony Esposito, and no one has ever worn it after him. Likewise, Patrick Kane is the first and last Hawk player who will ever wear No. 88. It also seems likely that numbers 2, 19, 50, and 81 have each been worn by the last player who will ever do so.

     Please note that there are many numbers beyond 45 that have never been worn by a Blackhawk or have been worn by very few players, none of whom made much of an impact. Those numbers are not represented below.

 

 

THE FIRST NUMBER RETIRED BY THE BLACKHAWKS.

 

  1. * Glenn Hall, G, 1958 - 1967

  2. Duncan Keith, D, 2005 - present

  3. * Pierre Pilote, D, 1955 - 1968

  4. Keith Brown, D, 1979 - 1993

  5. Phil Russell, D, 1972 - 1979

  6. Bob Murray, D, 1975 - 1990

  7. Brent Seabrook, D, 2005 - 2020

  8. Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941 - 1951

  9. * Bobby Hull, LW, 1957 - 1972

10. Patrick Sharp, LW, 2005 - 2018

11. Doug Mohns, LW/D, 1964 - 1971

12. Pat "Whitey" Stapleton, D, 1965 - 1973

13. Alex Zhamnov, C, 1996 - 2004

14. Doug Bentley, LW, 1939 - 1952

15. Eric Nesterenko, RW, 1956 - 1972

16. Chico Maki, RW, 1961 - 1976

17. Ken Wharram, RW/C, 1951 - 1969

18. * Denis Savard, C, 1980 - 1990, 1994 - 1997

19. Jonathan Toews, C, 2007 - present

20. Doug Jarrett, D, 1964 - 1975

21. * Stan Mikita, C, 1958 - 1980

22. Grant Mulvey, RW, 1974 - 1983

23. Behn Wilson, D, 1983 - 1988

24. Doug Wilson, D, 1977 - 1991

25. Cam Barker, D, 2005 - 2010

26. Steve Sullivan, RW, 1999 - 2004

27. Jeremy Roenick, C, 1989 - 1996

28. Steve Larmer, RW, 1981 - 1993

29. Bryan Bickell, LW, 2007 - 2016

30. Ed Belfour, G, 1988 - 1997

31. Antti Niemi, G, 2009 - 2010

32. Kris Versteeg, RW, 2007 - 2010, 2013 - 2015

33. Dirk Graham, RW, 1987 - 1995

34. Tony Horacek, LW, 1992 - 1995

35. * Tony Esposito, G, 1969 - 1984

36. Dave Bolland, C, 2007 - 2013

37. Adam Burish, RW, 2006 - 2010

38. Cristobal Huet, G, 2008 - 2010

39. Nikolai Khabibulin, G, 2005 - 2009, 2013

40. Darren Pang, G, 1985, 1987 - 1989

41. Jocelyn Thibault, G, 1998 - 2004

42. Jon Klemm, D, 2001 - 2003

43. James Wisniewski, D, 2005 - 2009

44. Patrick Poulin, C, 1993 - 1996

46. Colin Fraser, C, 2008 - 2010

50. Corey Crawford, G, 2006 - 2020

51. Brian Campbell, D, 2008 - 2011, 2016 - 2017

52. Dustin Byfuglien, D, 2005 - 2010

55. Eric Daze, RW, 1995 - 2005

56. Erik Gustafsson, D, 2015 - 2020

57. Trevor van Riemsdyk, D, 2014 - 2017

60. Collin Delia, G, 2018 - present

65. Andrew Shaw, C, 2011 - 2016, 2019 - present

72. Artemi Panarin, LW, 2015 - 2017

77. Kirby Dach, C, 2019 - present

81. Marian Hossa, RW, 2009 - 2017

82. Tomas Kopecky, C, 2009 - 2011

86. Tuevo Teravainen, C, 2014 - 2016

88. Patrick Kane, RW, 2007 - present

92. Bernie Nichols, C, 1994 - 1996

93. Doug Gilmour, C, 1998 - 2000

 

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The Puck Stops Here

 The Blackhawks of the early 1960s were blessed with three outstanding young forwards (Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Bill Hay) and two rock-solid veteran defensemen (Pierre Pilote and Elmer “Moose” Vasko). But the glue that held the whole enterprise together was goaltender Glenn Hall, who was so respected around the league that both teammates and opponents called him “Mr. Goalie.”

GLENN HALL

After the Hawks won the 1961 Stanley Cup, they went through the traditional handshake line with the runner-up Detroit Red Wings, received the greatest trophy in team sports, and then paid Hall the ultimate compliment--lifting him to their shoulders and carrying him off the ice. Mr. Goalie had allowed just 12 goals in the last eight games of the playoffs. 

 

     Hall did not win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1961 because the award was not introduced until 1965. (He did win it in 1968 as a member of the St. Louis Blues, even though the Blues were swept in the Stanley Cup Final series by the Montreal Canadiens.) He won the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goalie three times, was a first-team All-Star seven times, and finished in the top ten for the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP eight times. 

      Throughout his career, Hall was entirely fearless in doing whatever it took to stop the puck. He pioneered the “butterfly” style of goaltending, in which the goalie drops to his knees with his shin pads splayed out in either direction. This practice tended to put his face directly in range not only of the puck, which was more or less a given, but of swinging sticks as well. Hall nonetheless disdained the protective masks that other goalies had taken to wearing. 

     A year and a half after leading the Hawks to the Stanley Cup, Hall was forced to leave a game against the Boston Bruins because of a back injury. Denis DeJordy replaced him. It was November 7, 1962, and the date was noteworthy because it marked the first time since the start of the 1955-56 season that Hall had been off the ice during a regular-season or playoff game. He had played—without a mask and without a break—for 552 consecutive games, or more than seven full seasons (the first two were for Detroit, the rest for the Hawks).

“Hall had played the most demanding position in sports,” George Vass wrote in his 1970 history of the Blackhawks, “for 31,195 minutes and 33 seconds. He had played despite severe injuries, despite the constant tension that kept his stomach in turmoil and brought him to the bench on occasion to throw up. He explained his unbelievable tenacity as a case of simply doing his job. ‘Sure, there have been times in the last seven years when perhaps I wasn’t in condition to play,’ Hall said, ‘but making that decision is not my job. My job is to stop the puck.’”

 

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