May 15, 1967: The Chicago Black Hawks Trade Phil Esposito

To someone like me, only old enough

to remember him as a New York Ranger,

I don't know what looks stranger on him:

A Black Hawks jersey, or short hair.

May 15, 1967: For the 1st time, Phil Esposito is involved in a controversial hockey trade. It would not be the last time.

A 25-year-old native of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada, Esposito had made his NHL debut in 1964, and had played 3 solid seasons as a center for the Chicago Black Hawks: Playing on a line with superstar left wing Bobby Hull and right wing Chico Maki, he had missed just 2 regular-season games, and had scored 71 goals with 98 assists. 

But the Hawks, who had finished 1st overall in the NHL in the 1966-67 season, the 1st time they'd done so in their 1st 41 seasons, had lost the Stanley Cup Semifinals to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Esposito had neither a goal nor an assist in the 6 games.

Tommy Ivan blamed Esposito for the loss. Ivan had plenty of NHL cred: He was the general manager of the Hawks' 1961 Stanley Cup win, and the GM for 4 Cup wins for the Detroit Red Wings and head coach for 3 of those. He thought Esposito had the wrong personality, and was missing the needed drive, to lead a team to Playoff success. Ivan thought he was too slow and too soft, and lacked finish around the net.

So the trade was made. To the Boston Bruins: Esposito, right wing Ken Hodge and center Fred Stanfield. To the Hawks: Goaltender Jack Norris, defenseman Gilles Marotte, and center Hubert "Pit" Martin.

It's not as though the Hawks got nothing: Marotte and Martin would join with Hull, his brother Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita, and a pretty good goaltender that the Hawks got from the Montreal Canadiens in 1969: Phil's brother, Tony Esposito. The Hawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1971. Despite losing Bobby Hull to the World Hockey Association, they made the Finals again in 1973. But they lost both, to the Canadiens, who were sparked by Ken Dryden, the goalie they had coming up, and had so much faith in that they were willing to let 2 future Hall-of-Famers go: Tony Esposito and eventual Los Angeles Kings star Rogie Vachon.

Keeping Phil Esposito might have meant 2 Stanley Cups for the Hawks. Instead, Phil went to Boston, and he, Hodge and Stanfield joined Bobby Orr, Gerry Cheevers, John McKenzie, Derek Sanderson, and plenty of strong role players, building a team that won the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972, and reached the Finals in 1974.

Part of that was Espo becoming a scoring machine. He led the NHL in assists in 1968, '69 and '73. He led in points in 1969, '71, '72, '73 and '74. He led in goals in 1970, '71, '72, '73, '74 and '75. He led in power-play goals in 1970, '71, '72, '75 and '76. He led in game-winning goals in 1971, '72 and '73. He led in shots on goal in 1971, '72, '73 and '74.

In 1968-69, he scored 49 goals, and set new seasonal records with 77 assists and 126 points. In 1970-71, he had 76 goals, breaking Bobby Hull's record of 54 set in 1965-66, and 76 assists, for a new record of 152 points.

And during the 1972 "Summit Series," Phil's interview after Game 4 convinced Canadian fans to stop booing their team, and get behind them, and put Canada on a path to turn the series around and beat the Soviet Union. So Ivan was wrong about Phil not having enough personality and drive.

Early in the 1975-76 season, only 33 years old, and arguably still the best offensive player in the NHL -- Orr being the best defensive player -- Espo was involved in another controversial trade: The Bruins sent him and defenseman Carol Vadnais to the New York Rangers for center Jean Ratelle and defensemen Brad Park and Joe Zanussi. None of those players had wanted to be traded. Asked in 2008 how long it took him to get over his anger at the Rangers, Park said, "I'm still ticked!"

The Bruins made the Finals in 1977 and '78, the Rangers in '79. The Canadiens won all 3 of those Finals. If the trade hadn't been made? It might not have mattered: Those Canadiens might have been the best team ever: Guy Lafleur surpassed Espo as the NHL's best attacking player, and Larry Robinson succeeded the injury-ravaged Orr as the best defenseman.

Esposito retired in 1981, with 717 career goals, 2nd all-time behind Gordie Howe at that point. The Rangers moved him into their front office, where he was general manager from 1986 to 1989, including 2 stints as interim head coach. He helped found the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning, and was their 1st general manager, from 1992 to 1998. With both the Broadway Blueshirts and the Bolts, he made some questionable deals, though none as questionable as the 2 trades he was involved in as a player, of which he had no control.

The Bruins have retired his Number 7, the Lightning erected a statue of him outside their arena, and he was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players. He could have done all of that with the Blackhawks, but, because Tommy Ivan judged him too soon and too harshly, it didn't happen.

(In 1986, while looking through the team's archives, someone found the Chicago franchise's original NHL charter, and discovered that the team's name had been officially registered as "Blackhawks," one word; not "Black Hawks," two words. The NHL was contacted, and, ever since, they have written the team's name as "Blackhawks.")

UPDATE: In 2023, the Blackhawks announced that their Number 7 would be retired -- not for Phil Esposito, but for defenseman Chris Chelios, who played for them from 1990 to 1999.

*

May 15, 1967 was a Monday. John Smoltz, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, and now an analyst for Fox Sports' baseball coverage, was born on this day.

And there were 4 baseball games were played:

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Roberto Clemente hit a home run in the top of the 9th inning to give the Pirates a 7-5 lead. But Lee May tied it with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th, and Tony Pérez doubled Pete Rose home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Aspromonte tripled home 2 runs in the top of the 10th.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Lee Thomas hit home runs for the Cubs. For the Giants, Willie Mays went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.