Tony Esposito: The quiet trailblazer

The Black Hawks' Hall of Fame goaltender, who died Tuesday afternoon at the age of 78, Tony 'O' revolutionized the game and wasn't afraid to take the path less travelled

Tony Esposito didn’t invent the butterfly technique of goaltending, but he perfected it.

Bob Murray didn’t even know his former teammate was sick. Doug Wilson just found out about it the other day. Steve Larmer learned the tragic news when his wife saw something on Twitter. Yes, Tony Esposito died quietly on Tuesday afternoon after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, because that’s the way Tony Esposito did things. Quietly, not like his larger-than-life big brother. And while there has definitely been shock at the turn of events, those who played with and knew Esposito well were not surprised that he kept the news of his illness hidden.

“That was Tony,” said Murray, the Anaheim Ducks GM who was Esposito’s teammate for nine years with the Chicago Black Hawks. “He wasn’t going to drag anybody else into this.”

Tony Esposito was 78 years old when he died. What is so shocking about it is that, even going back to his playing days, he kept himself in such good shape. While many of his contemporaries were content to while away their retirement years with a well-earned sedentary lifestyle and the weight gain that accompanied it, Esposito became a long-distance runner. When others zigged, Esposito zagged. It was always that way, from the time he came out of the U.S. college ranks in 1967, through his NHL career when he popularized the butterfly style of goaltending, right to the tail end of his career when he decided to play for Team USA in the 1981 Canada Cup, nine years after being instrumental in Canada winning the Summit Series against the Soviet Union.

Even though Glenn Hall is the actual pioneer of the butterfly style, Esposito perfected and brought it into the mainstream. In fact, his butterfly style evolved from watching Hall play when his brother, Phil, was with the Black Hawks. A style that had the goalie’s head below the crossbars was not readily accepted by the NHL establishment, which partly explains why Esposito didn’t become an NHL regular until he was 26, but it was one that was emulated by thousands of better-equipped goalies who grew up in the 1970s and ’80s. “Whenever you played in net in ball hockey,” said Larmer, a teammate for two seasons, “you were always Tony Esposito playing the butterfly. I mean, he changed the way goalies played, totally changed that position.”

And he changed the way many of his teammates played. Murray remembered joining the Black Hawks in 1975 after one season in the minors and how, like many young players even today, was basically clueless about what it took to be an NHL player. It did not take long for Esposito to indoctrinate the young defenseman into the intricacies of preparing to play in the best league in the world. “He took me under his wing and brought me along,” Murray said. “I learned so much from him. I just went out and played, and it’s not that simple unless you’re great. He taught me how to prepare and he helped change my career.”

As affable as Esposito was off the ice, he was as intense on it. On game days, from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he was totally consumed with that night’s game. His family even knew to keep their distance. And he could be just as prickly with teammates who might have unknowingly disrupted his game-day routine. “He was tough on some guys because he was so competitive,” Murray said. “He was so charismatic when he wasn’t in game mode. There was the Tony Esposito who was getting ready to play and win, and there was the Tony Esposito who was so charismatic away from the game and just so much fun. I got to live both sides with him and I was a lucky one that got to know him both ways. A kid would come to the team and not quite get it. And it was hysterical watching those guys try to figure Tony out.”

By the time Darren Pang broke in with the Blackhawks in 1987 – they changed their moniker from two words to one in 1986 – he had heard the legendary stories from Esposito’s former backup Murray Bannerman, who would regale him on how Esposito would cover himself seemingly from head-to-toe with the hottest linament possible. And how proud Esposito was that, for most of his 15-year career in Chicago, he never gave up the net. In fact, even in his final season of 1983-84, when he played only 18 games, Esposito refused to yield the net to Bannerman. Esposito was around the Blackhawks a lot when Pang became a full-time NHLer. Pang remembers early in his career, he had a penchant for giving up an early goal every game, and Esposito noticed and pulled him aside one night. “I remember him telling me, and I can imitate his (gravelly) voice, he’d say, ‘Darren, you’ve got to break it down into smaller segments,’ ” Pang said. “ ‘Just look at the clock and go to the first five minutes. That’s it. And complete the five minutes and go to the next five minutes.’ It’s actually great advice that I’ve passed on to a lot of goalies myself.”

Esposito shocked the hockey world in 1981 when he suited up for Team USA in the Canada Cup, nine years after he helped Canada win the Summit Series.

When it comes to his legacy, there’s a good chance Esposito has been shortchanged. For example, there are a lot of hockey fans who think Esposito never won a Stanley Cup. Wrong. His name is on the Cup with the 1968-69 Montreal Canadiens by virtue of the fact he backed up Rogie Vachon in the Cup final after Gump Worsley was injured. (Incidentally, it’s the only time in NHL history a team has had three Hall of Fame goalies’ names etched on the trophy in the same season.) After going to Chicago in the intra-league draft the next season, Esposito registered 15 shutouts in his rookie season, which is the high-water mark for first-year players and the second-highest total of all-time for one season among all goalies. In his 15 years in Chicago, he was considered either the best or second-best goalie in the NHL five times – as evidenced by his three first-team and two second-team all-star selections. In addition to his Calder Trophy and his three Vezinas, he finished top 10 in Hart Trophy voting seven times, including his rookie season when he was runner-up to Bobby Orr and 1979-80, when he finished third in MVP voting behind Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne. Even though Esposito was supposed to be Ken Dryden’s backup for the Summit Series, he played Games 2, 3, 5 and 7, winning two and tying one of those games.

“I don’t think he gets the recognition as an innovator as he should,” said hockey historian and goaltending expert Bob Duff. “People argue that Glenn Hall was the original butterfly goalie, but Tony Esposito was the first guy who played it all the time. I’m sure there were hockey people who said, ‘This kid will never make it.’ And you talk about the size of goalies these days, he was the first guy who stuffed his equipment. (Former NHL linesman) Matt Pavelich told me that when he would come out on the ice, he couldn’t get both legs through the door and he’d have to go one leg at a time because his pads were so big.”

Whenever Esposito’s pads would be measured, however, they would also pass muster. Duff said that was because Esposito had a hidden zipper in his pads and whenever he knew his equipment was being measured, he would remove the extra padding. He would also put fishing lines between his pant legs, which went undetected because it was so thin.

After his career, Esposito served as GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1988 to 1990. While he didn’t experience a lot of success there, he did help set the team for its future championships in 1991 and ’92. In 1988, the Penguins drafted Mark Recchi in the fourth round, just months before Esposito acquired goalie Tom Barrasso and a third-round pick from the Buffalo Sabres for Doug Bodger and Darrin Shannon. He was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s chief scout from 1992-93 until early in the ’98-99 season. In his last draft, Esposito was part of the staff that took Brad Richards in the third round.

Those who knew him best, however, will remember him most fondly as an outstanding goaltender and a quality human being. “He was a fabulous person,” Larmer said. “For a young kid coming in, I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor. He was a great player and a great friend.”