Agile Hall of Fame Goalkeeper Tony Esposito, known as Tony O, has died at the age of 78.

[ad_1]

He wanted to be a hockey player,”as long as i can remember” and after school and on the weekends, two brothers – Phil 14 months older – would come to the track with their gear loaded on a sled.

Esposito attended Michigan Technological UniversityIt’s where he was named to the three-time All-America team for the first time and helped the team win the 1964-65 NCAA championship. Esposito reached the NHL at a time when playing in college was not generally seen as the path to professional hockey.

With a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, he tried his luck as a professional hockey player. “I’ll give it three years and see what I can do,” he recalled. interview For the Hockey Hall of Fame.

After spending two seasons in the minor leagues with Vancouver and Houston, he started his first NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens against his brother’s Boston Bruins. The match ended in a 2-2 draw and Phil Esposito scored both goals. His mother accused him of trying to ruin his brother’s career before it even started, but Phil reassured him that his brother was doing well.

The following season, Tony Esposito was requested on waiver by Chicago.

In his years commanding the Blackhawks’ network, playing behind future Hall of Famers like Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Denis Savard, he won more than 400 games with a single team. He is one of three goalkeepers with this distinction, in addition to Martin Brodeur of the Devils and Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers.

After retiring as a player in 1984, Esposito became general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1988. In his first year with the Penguins, Esposito led the team to the Stanley Cup playoffs, ending a six-year postseason drought.

In addition to his brother, the survivors include his wife Marilyn; sons Mark and Jason; and grandchildren Lauren and Kamryn, According to the Blackhawks’ statement.

[ad_2]

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *