1965-66 Topps 116 Phil Esposito Hockey Card (Front)
1965-66 Topps 116 Phil Esposito Hockey Card (Back)
Card Notes
In soph season last year, rangy Phil got off winging as Bobby Hull’s center. Big, good-natured guy, Hawks wishes he was more ornery on ice.
Phil and wing mate Chico Maki are home-town buddies. Where?
En Français
La saison derniere Phil a merite de faire partie de la ligne de centre de Bobby Hull. Gros, ayant bon caractére, les Hawks aimerait qu’il soit plus spectaculaire.
Details
As for the trivia snippet, both Phil Esposito and Chico Maki were born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
For Esposito, the 27 games played in his “rookie” season, 1963-64, made him ineligible for Calder Trophy honours in his first full National Hockey League season, 1964-65. If he had been, he would definitely been a contender for the award with numbers nearly equal to Ron Ellis of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ellis finished second in voting behind Detroit Red Wings goaltender Roger Crozier.
A well documented part of NHL history, Esposito didn’t see his true potential on the ice until Chicago traded him to the Boston Bruins on May 15, 1967 with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield for Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris. This was one of two Phil Esposito trades that rocked the hockey world.
Still, in that 1964-65 NHL season shown on the back of this 1965-66 Topps Phil Esposito rookie card, Espo did his fair share to help the Black Hawks reach the Stanley Cup final. Chicago stretched the Montreal Canadiens to the seventh game before the Habs took the championship. In the full seven game set, the home team won each game. Phil had six points over 13 playoff games for Chicago.
Phil Esposito would go on to play 1,282 regular season and 130 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1963-64 and 1980-81 with the Blackhawks, Bruins and New York Rangers. He played a major role in Team Canada winning the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Phil was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.