Corridor of Fame goaltender Tony Esposito, who was a fixture for the Chicago Blackhawks, has died on the age of 78.
Blackhawks proprietor Rocky Wirtz mentioned in a press release that Esposito had a quick battle with pancreatic most cancers.
Chicago claimed Esposito from the Montreal Canadiens in what was then an intra-league draft in 1969. And he grew to become a Blackhawks establishment. In his first full season, he was an All-Star, gained the Calder Trophy as rookie of the yr and the Vezina Trophy because the league’s finest goaltender.
He performed years in Chicago, successful the Vezina twice extra and making 4 extra All-Star groups.
“The Nationwide Hockey League, the Chicago Blackhawks and the town of Chicago misplaced a beloved member of the hockey household earlier immediately with the passing of Tony Esposito,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman mentioned in a press release. “From his arrival within the Windy Metropolis within the late Sixties via an illustrious enjoying profession and a long time as a franchise icon, Tony left an indelible mark — each on the ice and locally — over the following 52 years.
“It was Esposito’s type, charisma and coronary heart that endeared him most to hockey followers not solely in Chicago however throughout the NHL. ‘Tony O’ was a fierce competitor who additionally took nice delight in being an entertainer, whether or not it was together with his pioneering butterfly type throughout his enjoying days or interacting with followers throughout the League as one in all this recreation’s nice ambassadors. The hockey world will miss him tremendously.”
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