Legendary Chicago Blackhawks ambassadors at a 2012 game at United Center. From left: Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Denis Savard, Tony Esposito.
There was Tony's breathtaking home office in south Florida, a personal museum assembled and curated by his wife, Marilyn -- dozens of priceless photos, a collection of historic game-worn equipment, all sorts of memorabilia and dozens of Sharpie markers of different colors in a desk drawer for the fan mail that was still arriving 35 years after his final game.
Tony's repair-stitched leather pads and unraveling chest protector and uniquely extended Cooper GM12 gloves weren't talking, but what tales they could tell, its owner having bent, tweaked, threaded and stretched various pieces probably well beyond the rules, but remaining always one step ahead of the equipment police.
I will remember each of these things, as I'll never forget Tony standing a few Northland goalie stick-lengths outside his office, in front of his late-1950s Seeburg Stereophonic Model 222 jukebox. Fittingly, it was modified -- by Tony or someone else -- to play without coins.
This vintage machine contained about 60 records, by Tony's guess, 120 songs in all. But on a May afternoon in 2018, he had just one that he wanted to play before he and Marilyn and I headed out to dinner.