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Hats Off For Esposito

Photo courtesy of the Boston Bruins (1972)

Esposito led the league in goals for six consecutive seasons, beginning in 1969-70.

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By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 28, 2009

TAMPA - In the proud history of Boston Garden, this was a night to remember.

Phil Esposito can still close his eyes and see all those hats come hurtling out of the stands.

Beanies, berets, porkpies, Panamas ... you name it, they threw it.

The future Hall of Fame center had just become the first player in NHL history to post 100 points in a season, beating Pittsburgh goaltender Joe Daley on a 20-foot wrist shot 17 seconds into the third period to trigger a raucous celebration on March 2, 1969.

Forty years later, Esposito's feat may seem like old hat.

But for the 14,659 fans on hand for Boston's 4-0 triumph, Esposito's 39th goal of the year represented an historic occasion in an historic building.

"What I remember most was the crowd," said the Lightning founder, who now serves as a radio analyst for home games. "It was unbelievable the way they chanted, 'Espo, Espo,' for 15 minutes that night. It still gives me goose bumps."

Daley, who operates a sports memorabilia business in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has an amusing way to keep the memory alive.

"That's a trivia question I pop on my customers all the time," Daley said. "I ask them if they can name who was in goal when Phil Esposito became the first player to get 100 points? When Phil scored that goal, people littered the ice with hats. The only mistake I made was I should have grabbed the puck out of the net and stuck it in my pants."

While arena workers swept up the debris from the ice, one nervy soul reached down and crowned Daley.

"After they started firing hats, a cleaning guy grabbed one and put in on my head," said Daley, still laughing at the image of that battered fedora perched atop his noggin. "I played without a mask or a helmet in those days and I figured, what the heck, so I kept the hat on for a while."

Esposito, who finished the season with 126 points, showed his appreciation for Daley's sense of humor by registering a short-handed goal six minutes later to cap the scoring.

Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe also topped the 100-point plateau that season, but Esposito was the first to reach the century mark.

Although it has now been attained 261 times overall by 102 different players, a 100-point season remains a powerful standard of hockey excellence.

"That was a huge night for Phil and the National Hockey League," said former Bruins teammate Wayne Cashman, now living in Ocala. "There were years before that when guys were winning scoring championships with 85 points. That 1968-69 season was a definite sign of the game turning in a new direction."

Brian Bradley was a 4-year-old tyke when those hats rained down in Boston. In the 1992-93 season, Bradley scored 86 points for an expansion Lightning franchise run by Phil Esposito.

"Getting 100 points or 50 goals are big milestones for any hockey player, especially guys who played 40 years ago," Bradley said. "With the rules used in today's game, Phil might have scored 150 points that season. He had a great shot, he had size and his hockey smarts were unbelievable. He paid the price all those years for setting up in front of the net."

When the 67-year-old sniper recalls that historic season, he thinks of the one that got away.

"I remember I had a $10,000 bonus for 50 goals that year and I got it, but they disallowed the 50th goal and the Bruins never gave me the money," said Esposito. "And back then, that was a lot of money."

Esposito, 67, led the league in goals for six consecutive seasons, beginning in 1969-70, but he'll never forget that initial chase for 100 points.

"The night before, against the Rangers, I got two points and the guys were feeding me like crazy because they wanted me to get the third point to reach 100," said Esposito, who fired 14 shots against New York. "It didn't happen in that game, but it wasn't long before the hats came out."

Tribune researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report.

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