The date was December 14th, 1980. The stage was the old Chicago Stadium. 11.000 fans unknowingly watched Phil Esposito facehis goaltending brother and fellow Hall of Famer Tony Esposito for the last time.
The Esposito's were different and still are. How many brothers get to fire shots and make sprawling saves on each other, no less in the NHL and for over 10 years ?
The Mouth with a few monkey wrench whacks to the Ranger Crisis Time Machine delivers to us the video of this noteworthy game, a contest that certainly was not noteworthy at the time.
Nobody knew that Phil was going to retire after playing only 41 games in that 1980-81 season.
The game itself was a game where the Rangers couldn't get anything going until it was too late, which as we all know is still a frustrating trend that continues with this team thirty years later.
Besides the Espo and Tony O. final dance, there maybe even a more noteworthy gem captured in this clip.
The Crisis fan is treated to a rare viewing of an Ed Hospodar offensive foray that leads to him actually netting a goal.
Its such a big contrast for me to watch these old clips, Im really only familiar with the newer form of NHL. Those New York jerseys are great, and even though Espo really made his name in Boston I like watching his clips after reading his book. Thanks eddie, Cant wait for the next video.
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