For the HOF committee, Esposito was an obvious choice for the 2023 class

Phil Esposito was the first player in NHL history to record 100 points in a single season. Among all skaters in NHL history, he ranks seventh in goals with 717 and 10th in points with 1,590.
As a player, he won the Maurice Richard Trophy six times, the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Ted Lindsay Award two times, the Hart Memorial Trophy twice, the Lester Patrick Trophy once, and, of course, the Stanley Cup twice.
Esposito is one of the greatest hockey players to ever lace up a pair of skates. But beyond all of his accomplishments on the ice, he left a permanent mark on the National Hockey League when he founded the first professional hockey team in Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And even with all the goals, points and trophies as a player, for Esposito, nothing will top founding the franchise he brought to the Sunshine State.
"Without a doubt, this is the greatest thing I've ever done in hockey."
Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of talking with Esposito will tell you the same thing. The franchise is like his baby. Nothing in hockey could mean more to him.
"I think he summed it up best when he talked about everything that he's accomplished in the game of hockey," said Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com. "The one thing he's most proud of is bringing this franchise to Tampa Bay. You can feel the passion.
"I remember in 2011 when the Lightning faced the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final. A lot of people asked him, 'Well, Phil, don't you have any loyalty to the Bruins?'
"He said, 'Not one iota! This is my baby. This is the one that I brought into the league. Why would I want the Bruins to win this? Why would I have any loyalty to the Bruins?'
"His passion for this franchise and this team, you can hear it on the air. You can hear how much he cares on the radio broadcast.
"Any time you bring up the topic with Phil, this is it for him. He loves everything Tampa Bay Lightning and I think that comes across any time he talks about the franchise in any capacity."
Along with Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, Esposito will be inducted into the Lightning Hall of Fame March 17 at AMALIE Arena. With Lecavalier and St. Louis automatically being inducted as the only two players to have their jersey numbers retired with the organization, Esposito was selected to join the inaugural class by the 10-person official selection committee, along with the Hall of Fame Fan Vote, which served as the 11th committee member.
The 10 members of the official selection committee are listed below, in alphabetical order.
Speaking with members of the committee, Esposito was the obvious choice to be part of the inaugural Hall of Fame class.
"It's Phil," said Erlendsson. "He did everything to get this franchise here. We're talking about 30 years of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey because of Phil and the efforts that he put in.
"You hear the stories from him and the tribulations he had to secure the franchise and make sure that hockey came to this market. To me, it was a no-brainer. He was my first thought when this came out.
"You can't have a Lightning Hall of Fame without Phil Esposito."
Without Esposito, there is no Lightning. There aren't any Stanley Cups. There aren't any boat parades.
But even beyond the hockey team, there's a very strong chance that the Tampa Bay community wouldn't look the way it does today if it weren't for Esposito.
"Name another figure if you can, in any sport, that was a Hall of Fame, extraordinary player and created a franchise that's won three championships and meant so much to our community," said Paul Kennedy of Bally Sports. "Can you imagine Tampa and the Bay Area without Jeff Vinik and the Lightning today?
"It all comes from Phil. He had the vision.
"When it was over in New York and he was no longer the General Manager of the Rangers, he sat down with his yellow IBM pad and said, 'What am I going to do? Let's make a list. What are my options? What do I do?' And the thought came to him - a hockey team in Florida.
"At the time, there was no Major League Baseball in Florida. There was no National Basketball Association in Florida. There was no National Hockey League in Florida. It was two National Football League franchises. That was it.
"Phil truly started what I call the golden age of Florida sport. Charlie Ward had not won his Heisman Trophy or Bobby Bowden his National Championship. Steve Spurrier had not won a National Championship and Danny Wuerffel had not won his Heisman Trophy. You think about the rise of the University of Miami. This all happened in this golden era when he had the vision."
Esposito's exuberant personality and illustrious career, both as a player and an executive, helped him in his pursuit of bringing hockey to Florida when he had to prove that the sport could thrive in the south.
"Our television network was helping them televise barnstorming games in Florida, as he worked to convince the owners of the league that you could have the success that the LA Kings were experiencing in the renaissance of Wayne Gretzky," said Kennedy. "He hosted games in Orlando, Tampa and Miami. This was all Phil putting it together.
"Bruce McNall and the Kings, with Wayne, flew in on their black jet. They came in and played the Boston Bruins. We had the New York Rangers here.
"There were all of these established teams that were willing to come here and help him do this. That was a perfect example of the profound strength of his personality as he placed his reputation on the line."
In his quest to get the Lightning franchise off the ground, Esposito saw what others didn't. And he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal, even if it meant emptying out his own pockets.
"So much had to happen for this to exist," Kennedy explained. "It was on a butterfly's wings. It was so thin and fragile, but it happened.
"Phil was going to make it happen by any means necessary. That's how much this means to him. This is his life.
"He went from paying bills out of his own pocket to going to the playoffs and playing in front of 28,000 fans in the Thunderdome.
"You had people sarcastically saying, 'Oh yeah, hockey in Florida.' The first time that the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning played, it was the largest crowd in the history of the league. Think about that. It was the team's second season and it was the largest crowd anyone had ever seen. Every win was a validation of Phil Esposito.
"I think back to Manon Rheaume. When he had the vision to do that, he changed women's hockey. Phil was the only one in the room that said yes.
"Everyone else in the room seriously doubted him. He said, 'No, we're going to do this.' And it was a landmark evening."
If you need any more validation that the Lightning are Esposito's proudest accomplishment in the game of hockey, just look up to the radio booth during a game at AMALIE Arena. At 81 years old, Esposito is still in the booth alongside Dave Mishkin for nearly every home game.
Phil Esposito is Lightning hockey.
"He's still here," Kennedy said. "Three decades later, he's still here, through all the ebbs and flows. It means so much to him that you hear his passion on the air almost every night. He's still here for all he did. He adores this franchise and what he created. To him, his greatest achievement is this.
"Often, when I walk across Thunder Alley, I fist bump the statue coming into the building. And have you noticed the ring he's wearing? It's not a Bruins ring.
"It's the 2004 Stanley Cup ring on that statue."