Hall of Fame goalie Tony Esposito dead at 78

Tony Esposito, a Hall of Fame goaltender who starred for the Chicago Blackhawks for 15 seasons, died Tuesday, the team said. He was 78.

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Esposito died of pancreatic cancer, the Blackhawks said in a statement.

“Tony was one of the most important and popular figures in the history of the franchise as we near its 100th anniversary,” Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz said in a statement. “Four generations of our family -- my grandfather Arthur, my father Bill, my son Danny and I -- were blessed by his work ethic as a Hall of Fame goalie, but more importantly, by his mere presence and spirit.”

Esposito began his career with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1968-69 season but was left unprotected and was taken by Chicago in the interleague draft, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“I was behind two veterans in Montreal, Rogie Vachon and Gump Worsley,” Esposito told NHL.com in 2017. “So I was anxious to go to a place where I might have a chance to play more. Plus, I had played a game against the Blackhawks the previous season. Even though they were struggling a bit, they had a lot of talent. I thought they had a strong upside, good possibilities.”

Esposito blossomed in Chicago, winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1970 and also won the Vezina Trophy, given to the league’s top goaltender.

Esposito also won the Vezina Trophy in 1972 and 1974.

Esposito won 418 games for the Blackhawks, making him the winningest goalie in franchise history, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. He recorded 74 shutouts -- also a franchise record -- and was a six-time All-Star.

“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,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Beyond the individual awards...it was Esposito’s style, charisma and heart that endeared him most to hockey fans, not only in Chicago but across the NHL.”

Esposito was one of the pioneers of the butterfly style of goalkeeping and won 30 or more games eight times, the Tribune reported.

“Tony and his wife, Marilyn, invited me to their house once for dinner and I saw Tony’s pads by the back door,” Wirtz told the newspaper. “The league would measure them and then he’d take them home and he had a big needle and he would restuff his pads and then would sew them back up.”

Esposito was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

Along with his older brother, Phil Esposito, a fellow Hall of Famer who starred for the Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers from 1963 to 1981, Tony Esposito was a member of the Canadian national team that played in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, the Tribune reported.

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