Phil Esposito | |||
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Hockey Hall of Fame, 1984 | |||
Phil Esposito in February 2012
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Born |
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada |
February 20, 1942 ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
Position | Centre | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
Chicago Black Hawks Boston Bruins New York Rangers |
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National team | Canada | ||
Playing career | 1963–1981 |
Philip Anthony "Phil" Esposito, OC (born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian broadcaster, and former professional ice hockey executive, coach and player. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is considered one of the best to have ever played in the NHL, and is the older brother of fellow Hall-of-Famer Tony Esposito, a goaltender.
After retiring as a player, Esposito served as head coach and general manager of the New York Rangers before co-founding the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was the principal studio analyst for the NHL on Fox 1995–1998. He now serves as Tampa Bay's radio color commentator. On January 27, 2017, in a ceremony during the All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, Esposito was part of the second group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Esposito signed with the Chicago Black Hawks as a teenager and was assigned to the Sarnia Legionnaires Jr. 'B' hockey team for the 1960–61 season. In just 32 games with the Legionnaires, he scored 47 goals and 61 assists, for 108 points. It was a scoring pace of 3.3 points per game. In a playoff game, he scored 12 points in one game as the Legionnaires advanced to the Western Ontario final before being eliminated. After a sparkling junior season with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1962, Esposito spent two seasons with Chicago's minor league affiliate, the St. Louis Braves, scoring 90 points in his first season and 80 points in only 46 games in his second.