Esposito recalls favorite NHL All-Star Game moments

It caused a bit of a commotion 50 years ago, so imagine how it would play in today's social media age.

Phil Esposito
strolled into Madison Square Garden with
Ken Hodge
near noon on Jan. 30, 1973, the morning of the NHL's 26th All-Star Game. The Boston Bruins teammates were 20 minutes late for an East team photo, everyone cooling their heels pending the pair's arrival.
East coach Tom Johnson, who also coached Esposito and Hodge with the Bruins, was less than pleased. As Hodge pulled a jersey over his shirt and tie, shuffling into the back row, Esposito dawdled. It was about then that Johnson flipped out, bellowing at his legendary center.
"I don't need to take this [abuse]," Esposito hollered back, turning indignantly on his heel and storming out of the arena.

West center Stan Mikita takes a face-off against East center Phil Esposito during the 1973 NHL All-Star Game. Paul Bereswill/Hockey Hall of Fame
A half-century later, the event is reconstructed for the 10-time NHL All-Star and he's asked how he remembers the uproar that made headlines.
"I honestly don't," Esposito said with a laugh from his home in Tampa. "I missed the team photo? I don't remember any of it, or even playing in the game. Ten All-Star Games, you say? I recall very little about any of them."
But then, two things from 1973 slowly come into focus, and Esposito loves them both.
"I recall
Bobby Orr
being introduced to the fans, which right away in New York wasn't going to be very popular," he said of the Bruins' all-universe defenseman. "And then Bobby just wiped out, the same way I had in Moscow in 1972 when I stepped on a flower petal before the first game in Russia (Game 5 of the historic Summit Series)."

East defenseman Bobby Orr is in deep against West goalie Tony Esposito, West defenseman Bill White at left, during the 1973 NHL All-Star Game. Getty Images
With the Garden roaring its approval, every player on the ice enjoying the moment, Esposito skated over to Orr, who'd had knee surgery the previous summer.
"Bobby just laughed to me, 'Holy [heck] ...' "
Later, to reporters, Orr said: "I just tripped over myself. I fell on my (behind) because I've got two left feet."
As if.
"And I remember seeing Leo Monahan the night before the game stuck in a revolving door at the Waldorf-Astoria," Esposito said of the legendary Boston sportswriter. "People were trying to get into the hotel and there was Leo at like 2:30 in the morning, hopelessly stuck."
Pause.
"Don't say I was breaking curfew because there was none. The All-Star Game was a fun time. You tried to play as well as you could, but most of the time it was a big party."

East goalie Eddie Giacomin and West goalie Rogie Vachon in action during the 1973 NHL All-Star Game. Paul Bereswill/Hockey Hall of Fame; Getty Images
Any morning argument was forgotten by the time Esposito returned to the Garden for the 7:30 p.m. game. He and Hodge assisted on
Paul Henderson
's second-period goal, scored on West goalie
Rogie Vachon
, in what would be a 5-4 victory for the East before 16,986 fans.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward
Greg Polis
had a unique hat trick: his wife gave birth to the couple's first child the day before the game, Polis rushed back to New York to score twice for the West, then he was awarded a 1973 Dodge Charger as the game's most valuable player.
His first goal, scored 55 seconds into the second period, came against Phil Esposito's brother, Tony, who played brilliantly through the first 20 minutes, the West outshot 16-8. Vachon surrendered the East's next four in the game's second half.
The Rangers'
Gilles Villemure
(one goal allowed) and teammate
Eddie Giacomin
(three), replacing the injured Montreal Canadiens'
Ken Dryden
, were in goal for the East, whose players pocketed $500 each for the victory, twice the purse of the losers.

Greg Polis, here in action with the Pittsburgh Penguins against Toronto's Ron Ellis during a 1971 game at Maple Leaf Gardens, scored twice and was named MVP of the 1973 NHL All-Star Game. Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame
Some of the best action was off the ice.
Chicago Black Hawks star
Stan Mikita
, on coach Billy Reay's West squad, recalled giving his wife $500 to go shopping in midtown Manhattan, plus $1 for the taxi to get there. Mikita grumbled that he lost $251 - $250 to the high-end store, plus a dollar for the cab.
The $100-a-plate dinner the night before the game resembled an explosion in a Crayola factory. Emcee Tim Ryan awarded his three stars to Toronto Maple Leafs'
Dave Keon
(red paisley jacket); St. Louis Blues'
Barclay Plager
(blue paisley); and Mikita (brilliant yellow shirt with a grey/black jacket).
It was Phil Esposito's fifth of 10 All-Star Game appearances, his record 5-4-1 with three goals and two assists. He had the game-winning goal against
Gump Worsley
in 1972 at Minnesota; one against
Gary Smith
in Montreal in 1975, a 4-1 victory; and one against Dryden, his old nemesis, in Vancouver in 1977, a 4-3 loss.
Following a 3-3 Montreal Forum tie in his first All-Star Game in 1969, Esposito won four straight from 1970-73. Then a loss, a win and three losses to end his career on a three-game losing streak.

East defenseman Serge Savard falls to block a shot in front of goalie Gilles Villemure during the 1973 NHL All-Star Game. Getty Images
"Ask me. C'mon, ask me," Esposito implored brightly.
"Does your won-loss record keep you awake at night?" he was dutifully asked.
"I couldn't care less!" came the reply, with gales of laughter.
In conversation, Esposito's failed memory eventually recovers a few special moments along his all-star road.
"My last game was in 1980, which also was my brother Tony's last,
Gordie Howe
's last and
Wayne Gretzky
's first. Gordie was a coach's choice in Detroit," he said, Mr. Hockey lifting the roof off Joe Louis Arena when he skated into his NHL-record 23rd All-Star Game, chosen to the Wales Conference roster by Scotty Bowman.
Esposito was in his penultimate NHL season, added to the Campbell Conference roster by coach Al Arbour of the New York Islanders. That didn't sit well with Fred Shero, GM and coach of Esposito's Rangers.

Brothers Tony (left) and Phil Esposito with their father, Pat, before the 1971 All-Star Game in Boston. Tony Esposito collection
"I remember Mike Nykoluk (a Rangers assistant coach) telling me on the bus that Al Arbour had chosen me," he said. "I had a $10,000 bonus in my contract if I went to the All-Star Game and Freddy wasn't happy. I sent Al a great bottle of wine."
Esposito would play against Howe in a 6-3 losing effort, each earning third-period assists, their final All-Star points. It reminded him of his first and second games in Montreal and St. Louis, deployed by coaches Toe Blake and Claude Ruel on a line with Howe and
Bobby Hull
on his wings.
"I remember this: a face-off to the left of the goaltender, 1969 or 1970," he said. "Gordie skates over to me and says, 'Where do you want me, kid?' and I say, 'What do you mean?'
"Gordie says, 'Well, you're the centerman, where do you want me?'
"I look at him and say, 'How about on the bench?'
"Gordie just blinks. 'What?'
"I just say, 'I'm just joking, Mr. Howe!' "
Esposito can remember that story any time he looks at himself in a 1980 All-Star Game team photo, even if he needs a good imagination for 1973.
Top photos: Boston Bruins superstar Phil Esposito reacts to the crowd's cool welcome before the 1973 NHL All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in New York; cover of the game program. Paul Bereswill/Hockey Hall of Fame