Tony Esposito (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #67)
Adjusted Stats
1968-1969 Mtl* 14 GP, 5-4-4, .538 win%, 805 min, 38 GA, 2.82 GAA (no Stanley Cup ring for Esposito)
1969-1970 Chi 68 GP, 41-18-9, .669 win%, 4060 min, 155 GA, 2.30 GAA
1970-1971 Chi 60 GP, 37-15-6, .690 win%, 3496 min, 131 GA, 2.24 GAA
1971-1972 Chi 50 GP, 33-11-6, .720 win%, 2923 min, 86 GA, 1.78 GAA
1972-1973 Chi 59 GP, 34-18-7, .636 win%, 3511 min, 138 GA, 2.36 GAA
1973-1974 Chi 74 GP, 36-15-22, .644 win%, 4355 min, 143 GA, 1.97 GAA
1974-1975 Chi 73 GP, 35-31-7, .527 win%, 4324 min, 178 GA, 2.46 GAA
1975-1976 Chi 70 GP, 31-24-13, .551 win%, 4103 min, 183 GA, 2.68 GAA
1976-1977 Chi 71 GP, 26-37-8, .423 win%, 4169 min, 222 GA, 3.20 GAA
1977-1978 Chi 66 GP, 29-23-14, .545 win%, 3936 min, 161 GA, 2.45 GAA
1978-1979 Chi 65 GP, 25-29-11, .469 win%, 3875 min, 186 GA, 2.87 GAA
1979-1980 Chi 71 GP, 32-23-16, .563 win%, 4244 min, 184 GA, 2.60 GAA
1980-1981 Chi 68 GP, 30-24-14, .544 win%, 4033 min, 202 GA, 3.00 GAA
1981-1982 Chi 53 GP, 19-26-8, .434 win%, 3146 min, 181 GA, 3.46 GAA
1982-1983 Chi 40 GP, 24-11-5, .663 win%, 2399 min, 110 GA, 2.75 GAA
1983-1984 Chi 18 GP, 5-10-3, .361 win%, 1122 min, 70 GA, 3.76 GAA
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1969-1970 Chi 8 GP, 4-4, .500 win%, 480 min, 25 GA, 3.13 GAA
1970-1971 Chi 18 GP, 11-7, .611 win%, 1151 min, 39 GA, 2.01 GAA
1971-1972 Chi 5 GP, 2-3, .400 win%, 300 min, 15 GA, 2.98 GAA
1972-1973 Chi 15 GP, 10-5, .667 win%, 895 min, 41 GA, 2.73 GAA
1973-1974 Chi 10 GP, 6-4, .600 win%, 584 min, 27 GA, 2.81 GAA
1974-1975 Chi 8 GP, 3-5, .375 win%, 472 min, 31 GA, 3.96 GAA
1975-1976 Chi 4 GP, 0-4, .000 win%, 240 min, 13 GA, 3.15 GAA
1976-1977 Chi 2 GP, 0-2, .000 win%, 120 min, 5 GA, 2.64 GAA
1977-1978 Chi 4 GP, 0-4, .000 win%, 252 min, 18 GA, 4.40 GAA
1978-1979 Chi 4 GP, 0-4, .000 win%, 243 min, 13 GA, 3.14 GAA
1979-1980 Chi 6 GP, 3-3, .500 win%, 373 min, 12 GA, 1.92 GAA
1980-1981 Chi 3 GP, 0-3, .000 win%, 215 min, 11 GA, 2.96 GAA
1981-1982 Chi 7 GP, 3-3, .500 win%, 381 min, 12 GA, 1.96 GAA
1982-1983 Chi 5 GP, 3-2, .600 win%, 311 min, 14 GA, 2.71 GAA
Career - 920 GP, 442-319-153, .567 win%, 54501 min, 2368 GA, 2.61 GAA
Career-Highs - 74 GP (73-74); 41 wins (69-70); .720 win% (71-72); 4355 min (73-74); 1.78 GAA (71-72)
Avg. (15 seasons) - 60 GP, 29-21-10, .567 win%, 3580 min, 155 GA, 2.61 GAA
Peak Avg. (69-77) - 66 GP, 34-21-10, .600 win%, 3868 min, 155 GA, 2.40 GAA, 0 Cups
Playoff Career - 99 GP, 45-53, .459 win%, 6017 min, 276 GA, 2.75 GAA
Playoff-Highs - 11 wins (70-71); .667 win% (72-73); 1.92 GAA (79-80)
Accolades - 3 Vezina Trophies, Calder
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team, 2-time 2nd-team
Never Won Stanley Cup
Tony Esposito was to goaltenders what Marcel Dionne was to centers: a great regular-season player throughout the 1970s who, for whatever reason, wasn't ever able to achieve the ultimate in team success and win a Stanley Cup. In Dionne's case, while it hurts his legacy a little, it shouldn't completely tarnish it...a forward plays only 20-25 minutes a game and is dependent on the rest of their team. While a goaltender certainly stands or falls with the rest of their team, like a pitcher in baseball or a quarterback in football, they shoulder the eventual responsibility of leading their team to victory. Goalies are the last line of defence...if they stand on their head, they can nearly singlehandedly lift a team to victory (see Roy in 1993). Esposito was never able to accomplish this.
Consider: after Esposito's first season, in which he had a cup of coffee with the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, he reeled off five straight years to start his career in which his winning percentage in the regular season was never lower than .636, and his adjusted GAA was never higher than 2.36. Those are fantastic numbers, especially when one throws in the 15 shutouts Esposito had in his stellar rookie year (still a modern-day record). Esposito's playoff record during that period was 33-23 (for a still respectable .589 win%), but in only one of those playoff runs (1971) did Esposito have an adjusted-GAA lower than 2.73...a far cry from the numbers he was putting up in the regular season.
The two Stanley Cup finals Esposito appeared in tell the story of how he fell short of the standard set by Ken Dryden. In 1971, Dryden, who had all of six regular season games to his resume, completely stoned a heavily-favoured Boston Bruins team in the semifinals and then faced off against Esposito and the Blackhawks in the finals. Chicago had finished 10 points better than Montreal in the regular season, and indeed managed to take a 3-2 series lead. But Montreal won Game 6 4-3 and Game 7 3-2. These were one-goal games in which key saves made the difference...Dryden made his, Esposito didn't. A few bounces the other way and Esposito is twenty spots higher on the Pyramid and remembered as a champion. His 2.01 GAA during the 1971 run was certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but Espo and the Blackhawks couldn't close the deal when it mattered.
Things were worse in the 1973 finals. Chicago was facing a Montreal team that was certainly rounding into dynasty form (they had 120 points in the regular season), so losing wasn't exactly a choke job. But Montreal scored 33 goals in six games against Chicago, and in the deciding Game 6, beat them 6-4. Once again, Esposito came up short on the biggest stage.
So why is he even this high on the Pyramid, when his career is somewhat similar to Curtis Joseph, who didn't even crack my list? (Very good regular season goalie, bit of a postseason choker). Well, unlike Joseph, Esposito did make the Cup finals. But more to the point, he also won three Vezina trophies and was a 3-time 1st-team all-star and 2-time 2nd-teamer. Joseph never enjoyed such honours. Esposito, like his brother Phil at center, was one of the dominant players at his position through the early 1970s. If he had enjoyed a magical run like Bernie Parent, or multiple ones like Dryden, we'd remember him as more than what we do now...the starting goalie on the Best to Never Win all-star team.
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