1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 150 Tony Esposito Hockey Card (Front)
1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 150 Tony Esposito Hockey Card (Back)
1980-81 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
The Black Hawks received their NHL franchise 9-25-26.
En Français
Les Black Hawks furent acceptés dans la LNH le 25-9-26.
Details
The Chicago Blackhawks began play in the National Hockey League for the 1926-27 season and it actually wasn’t an expansion disaster. Led by Dick Irvin and Babe Dye, the team qualified for the post season by finishing third in the five team American Division. The Hawks fell to the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs.
Babe Dye finished tied for second in the league with Howie Morenz, both with 25 goals. Dick Irvin was one point away from the overall scoring title with 36 points compared to Bill Cook’s 37. The team was coached by Pete Muldoon and Hugh Lehman was the sole goaltender between the pipes.
Tony Esposito
In 1980-81, Tony Esposito was still playing the bulk of games for the Blackhawks. However, the “O” in “Tony-O” was no longer valid. The man who had 15 shutouts in 1969-70 and 73 career shutouts when this card was published would get zero blanks in 1980-81 and just three more over the next three years, the final three years of his career.
Esposito played 886 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1968-69 and 1983-84 with the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. His time with Montreal was limited to just 13 games in 1968-69. He was picked up on waivers by Chicago and a Hockey Hall of Fame career began.
Tony split time with Ken Dryden during the 1972 Summit Series. Each goalie played four games for Team Canada in the showdown with the Soviet Union. Esposito came out with the better numbers.