FEATURE: The Story of Tony Esposito and His Historic Blackhawks Career

A special to Blackhawks.com by former Public Address Announcer with more than 65 years of Blackhawks hockey coverage.

As the Blackhawks celebrate 100 years of hockey, long-time fans have been blessed in seeing two of the greatest NHL goalies of all time: Glenn Hall and Tony Esposito, both in the Hockey Hall of Fame and their jerseys hanging in the rafters at the United Center. Not only are they among the all-time winning goalies in NHL history, they are credited with developing the “butterfly” style of goaltending, a technique that guards the lower part of the net by dropping to the knees with spread goal pads and hands resembling butterfly wings.

While Hall first started it at a time when the norm was a stand-up style, Esposito enhanced it and popularized the stance – and the mask – that paved the way for today’s goaltenders.

In 1969, the Blackhawks claimed rookie goaltender Tony Esposito for $25,000 on waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. Perhaps it was a combination of an overconfident Montreal general manager Sam Pollock plus the astute eye of Blackhawks GM Tommy Ivan that landed the Blackhawks what would become one of the best deals of the century.

The Canadiens had the best overall record two years in a row, swept the finals over the St. Louis Blues for the Stanley Cup and had established an NHL mark of making the playoffs 21 straight seasons. On the other hand, the Blackhawks had missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years and finished last in the East Division despite a winning record going into the 1969-70 season.

Teams were only allowed to protect two goalies going into the 1969 draft, and while Esposito had played in 13 games for Montreal, filling in during injuries and performing well, the successful Canadiens decided to stick with their veterans: Gump Worsley and Rogie Vachon, leaving Esposito open for the Blackhawks taking under GM Ivan’s keen eye.

The season started poorly for the Blackhawks with five losses and a tie heading into a matching facing Montreal in the seventh game. Unhappy with the play of the Blackhawks' goalies, including Esposito, to open the season, head coach Billy Reay decided to give Esposito one more shot and started him against his former team. Esposito responded in the Forum with his first Blackhawks shutout, 5-0, and solidified himself as the starting goalie. 

"Nothing special," a humble Esposito downplayed after the game. "I just tried to work hard, and I guess whenever you get a shutout, your team worked hard too."

Two weeks later, “Tony O” registered his second shutout against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which would become a theme for his season.

Montreal, seeking revenge, came to Chicago on Nov. 16 with the Blackhawks riding a five-game win streak – and again, Esposito shut out the defending champions 1-0. He would go on to record 15 shutouts in a single season – setting a modern-day NHL record that hasn’t been matched since, and helping his team become the only NHL squad to go from last place the year before to first.

That season, Esposito won the Calder Trophy for top rookie honors, the Vezina Trophy for best NHL goaltender, was named first-team All-Star and finished second in voting for MVP honors.

Tony O’s heroics continued by being named Team Canada's starter to face Russia in the Summit Series in 1972, which was an eight-game series between the two countries. He played in four of the games and posted a 2-1-1 record.

After helping Canada's 4-3 win in Game 7, Esposito said: "Man, I never felt so much pressure — more than in the Stanley Cup (series). I’m still nervous an hour after the game!"

In the 1975 playoffs against Bobby Orr in Boston, the Bruins embarrassed Esposito in an 8-2 game to start the series.

Back at the Chicago Stadium for Game 2, the Blackhawks rallied in overtime, 4-3, to tie the series. With the deciding game in the best-of-three back in Boston, the Bruins fired 56 shots at Esposito, but with help from seldom-scoring Keith Magnuson, the Blackhawks won 6-4 to eliminate Boston from the playoffs, a year after the Bruins knocked out the Blackhawks in the semi-finals.

“Tony Esposito used everything he had,” the Boston Globe’s Fran Rosa wrote in 1974 after one of the games where Tony O stood on his head against Boston in the playoffs. "His stick, his pads, his body, his skates, even his head once, and of course, his glove. Oh my, that glove. It grew bigger and bigger as the game progressed.”

Orr, a Hall of Famer who twice led the NHL in scoring, said he remembered every goal he scored against Esposito. That's because there weren't very many.

“Son of a buck, I can’t score on him,” Orr once said. “I’ve got two goals on him in my whole career.”

Tony O retired in 1984 at the age of 40 and said his only regret as a Blackhawk was not winning a Stanley Cup for the Chicago fans. But his honors continued post-playing career. As part of the NHL's 100-year anniversary in 2017, Esposito was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in league history. A decade earlier in 2008, perhaps just as meaningful, he was named a Blackhawks ambassador, reuniting with an organization that always felt like home to him.

“It's a great feeling to be on this ice again," Esposito said in a pregame ceremony as the crowd chanted "Tony! Tony!" "Really miss it, I’ll tell you that. It's a pleasure and an honor to be back with the Hawks."

Esposito also shaped the next generation of goaltenders. One of them was the Blackhawks’ own Ed Belfour, who grew up idolizing Tony O.

"My favorite team was the Chicago Blackhawks," Belfour said. "Goes back to when I was probably 5, 6 years old and watching Hockey Night in Canada with mom and dad and my sister every Saturday night around the TV. Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito were my favorite players. Of course Tony, amazing goalie, my favorite goalie at the time. That was my dream to play for the Blackhawks. One of my favorite moments being at Chicago Stadium ... I got to watch their jerseys hung in the rafters and I was on the bench in tears."

Esposito passed away at the age of 78 on Aug. 10, 2021, just three years and three days after the all-time Blackhawks great Stan Mikita.

"The National Hockey League, the Chicago Blackhawks and the city of Chicago lost a beloved member of the hockey family with the passing of Tony Esposito,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement on the day of Tony O's passing. "From his arrival in the Windy City in the late 1960s through an illustrious playing career and decades as a franchise icon, Tony left an indelible mark – both on the ice and in the community – over the next 52 years. 

"Beyond the individual awards – and there were many, including a Calder Trophy, numerous All-Star and Vezina Trophy recognitions, and ultimately election to the Hockey Hall of Fame – it was Esposito’s style, charisma and heart that endeared him most to hockey fans not only in Chicago but across the NHL. ‘Tony O’ was a fierce competitor who also took great pride in being an entertainer, whether it was with his pioneering butterfly style during his playing days or interacting with fans across the League as one of this game’s great ambassadors. The hockey world will miss him greatly."

In his 15-year Blackhawks career, the team made the playoffs every season, and he holds the Blackhawks goalie records for most wins (418) and shutouts (74). Esposito’s impact, both on and off the ice, is still felt to this day, with his name in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and his jersey no. 35 hanging in the United Center rafters.

On the 100-year anniversary of the Blackhawks franchise, few players have left a greater imprint on the organization, and on the game of hockey, than Tony O.