Legends of Hockey – Tony Esposito
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Anthony James Esposito (born April 23, 1943 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender, who played in the National Hockey League. He is considered one of the pioneers of the now popular butterfly style.
definatly ONE of the best of all time, his style is a huge reason for todays game…GO HAWKS!!!
Esposito is scum
I never said Dryden was a bad goalie, just that Tretiak and Tony O played better than him in the ‘72 series. As a Canadiens fan, Dryden’s one of my favourite goalies of all time, and definitely one of the reasons why I like Brodeur so much.
But as a kid in Detriot, 70, 71, 72, Tony O was my hero. I still have my CCM Goalie stick with Tony Espisito written in crayon on it.
Ken Dryden was a great goalie, don’t kid yourself. He was getting nailed by Chicago in 1971.
I agree. It’s so weird, but for some reason, Dryden couldn’t play very well in that series.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying Dryden “choked” (he won game 8, after all), but Esposito was certainly the better goalie throughout the series. Well, him and Tretiak.
TONY O!!!
He was the first Goalie to wear the number 35. It was given to him in the Blackhawks ‘69 training camp,and he got a shutout in an exibition game. They wanted to switch him to the number 30, but he wanted to keep 35…and so, to this day, many wear that great number…Tony-O…the original number 35!
My dad tells me all the time about how Tony O got drilled in the face with a slap-shot, was down for like 20 minutes, and was able to keep playing in that game…..the goalies back then……….
Too bad they didn’t interview Hull on this, would have been nice to hear from him
Loved Tony O
“See a lot of guys would get the lead. A 3 or 4 goal lead. Well we got a nice lead, We’re gonna win. I didn’t think like that. I WANT THE SHUTOUT! I don’t wanna win 5-3. I wannt win 5-NOTHING!” Fucking A Tony. Fucking A.
love how goalies would come outta the net back then and be like the 3rd D man.
TO NEE TO NEE TO NEE!!!
Great goalie, nicest jerseys in the league.
How could you use Pang in this vid he only played one game and he sucked as a goalie. Guess that’s why his last name is Pang cuz that’s the sound the puck would make when it hit the back of the net.
Strange as it sounds Bobby Hull was the one that got me into playin tween the pipes. Espo had an odd style. I went to school with his son Jason back in the 80’s. I fix my own equipent too gets you in tune with yer game. Like him I take every loss personally.
this is the guy that got me started playing net…
my cousin played forward. and i was in net.. playing in the basement… then i got to meet them man while i played jr a… he was the real deal
i am not a black hawk fans.. but i still watch hockey.. i have to be a fan of the minnesota north stars.. then drafted me
this man is the reason I became a hockey fan, and a blackhawks fan
Dryden has even said he had trouble with the Russian style of game. He never played well against them even when it was the Montreal Canadiens against the various Russian teams.
Against the Russians Espo’s style was much more effective. Espo had an .882 save rate versus Dryden’s .838
coaches need to leave goalies alone, if a style of play is working for him and he is stopping pucks, then leave him alone, every goalie knows wat style works for him and if one style doesnt work then he will try something else, so COACHES LEAVE US ALONE
people are thumbing down this guys comment but I have to say when I bought the complete 72 Russian series on dvd a couple years ago I was shocked to see how much better Espo played than Dryden. I mean no disrespect to Dryden but its looked pretty obvious who the better goalie was when the same caliber team was in front of them.
Tony-O —best goalie that ever lived.
He beat the russians in 72. Dryden choked and Tony ruled.
hes so intense!