Although many of his offensive records have now been left in the dust by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, former Boston Bruins/New York Rangers center Phil Esposito is still regarded by hockey experts as one of the greatest players in NHL history. He's forever enshrined in hockey's hall of fame along with brother, goaltender Tony Esposito.
Esposito was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and his prodigious hockey talent quickly became apparent. He was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as a teenager, and made his NHL debut in 1964 quickly earning a spot on the teams top line between Bobby Hull and Marcel Dionne. In 1967, Esposito was traded to the Boston Bruins along with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield. Within a few years Hodge and Stanfield blossomed into All Stars, while Esposito quickly took his place alongside his former teammate Hull as the best scorer in the league. Suffice to say that Boston fans were of the opinion that theyd gotten the best of the deal.
It wasnt long before Esposito started to destroy long standing NHL records. In 1969, he became the first NHL player to top the 100 point mark (combined goals and assists) for the season"he obliterated the record with 126 points, which would be the first of six times that hed top the century mark. He topped 100 points in five straight seasons between 1971 and 1975, missing a sixth straight season by a single point with 99 in 1970. Bruins fans were fond of displaying car bumper stickers that read Jesus Saves; Esposito scores on the rebound.
Esposito's greatest single season was in 1970-71, when he destroyed the NHL's single season goal scoring mark with 76. That record stood until Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers broke it in 1981-82. Even now, only four other players including Gretzky have scored more than 150 points in a season and only five others have scored more than 76 goals in a season. Perhaps the most amazing element of Espositos game was the frequency with which he put the puck on net"Espo had 550 shots on goal in 1970-71. No one has since come close.
In 1975, Esposito was traded with Brad Park to the New York Rangers for Brad Park, Joe Zanussi and Jean Ratelle. He had slowed somewhat, but was still enough of a valuable player and team leader that he was named the Rangers' captain. He remained a very dangerous scoring threat until the end of his career.
After his retirement in 1975, he remained active in hockey. He served as the GM of the Rangers before helping secure an expansion team for Tampa, Florida in 1992. Esposito served as the President and GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning until 1998. After stepping away from formal duties, he's remained a very visible member of the hockey media. He hosts a daily hockey radio show on XM Radio, and has even done some acting appearing in a recurring role as a fire chief on the TV series Rescue Me.
Author Resource:
Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on professional hockey history and NHL hockey betting . He's a published expert on handicapping theory, as well as financial investment strategy. He contributes to a number of websites providing insight on how to bet on NFL football , basketball and boxing.
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