Proud papa
The Tampa Bay Lightning's founding father, Phil Esposito, finally gets his first day with Lord Stanley's Cup.
By DAVE SCHEIBER
Published July 1, 2004
TAMPA - It was another packed house for the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday, with an excited crowd on hand to catch a glimpse of hockey history.
But the raucous venue wasn't the St. Pete Times Forum, site of the Lightning's recent Stanley Cup championship.
This full house was Phil's.
Inside his bustling, lavish home in South Tampa, the man responsible for bringing the National Hockey League to Tampa Bay 12 years ago, Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, spent the afternoon basking in the company of an old friend, the Stanley Cup.
For hours, family members, close friends and wide-eyed neighbors streamed in the front door, sharing a rare and joyous moment with the Lightning's founder and first general manager.
Since 1995, members of the winning team have gotten to spend a day with the Cup. So as a gesture of appreciation, Lightning brass made sure the trophy began its official victory tour with Esposito, even though he was fired in 1998 by then-owner Art Williams and now does commentary for Lightning games on radio.
He beamed non-stop with the shiny silver holy grail of hockey. "I love it," he said. "I was just saying, 100 years from now, it might be in Johannesburg. It might be in Moscow. But right now, it's in Tampa Bay, Florida."
Esposito's name is inscribed on the Cup in tiny lettering in two places, as a member of the 1970 and 1972 championship teams he helped lead for the Boston Bruins. But until Wednesday, he never had a chance to get this close to the object of NHL desire.
"As players, we weren't allowed to take it - though we tried to steal it and sneak it into a bar, but we didn't get it there," he said with a grin. "But I'm gonna take this to a couple of bars tonight."
For the moment, it rested on a table in his living room, fittingly next to a large photo of Esposito and Boston teammates Derek Sanderson and Bobby Orr from their 1970 Stanley Cup title, and beneath the hockey stick Esposito used to score his 700th goal in 1978, then as a member of the New York Rangers.
A group of young children gathered around the Cup as Esposito pointed to a spot where the Lightning names will be etched and explained how the first names were etched a century ago. All the while, he posed for countless photos.
In a corner of the jammed living room, Walter Neubrand of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the man responsible for delivering the Cup to everyone on the victory list, watched with a smile. He grew up in Toronto idolizing Esposito and enjoyed bringing it to Esposito's home around 1 p.m.
Only Esposito wasn't home. He was out buying champagne in preparation for the festivities, according to wife Bridget.
"This is such an incredible moment for Phil," she said. "I didn't know what it would be like, that all this would happen. When you have all these people coming over, he can get nervous or all grumpy. That's how I thought he'd be. But he's so happy."
The party was highlighted when his daughters, Laurie Esposito and Carrie Selivanov - married to former Lightning player Alex Selivanov - arrived with their children (Carrie and Alex's sons Roco, almost 2, Niko, 4 and Dylan 10, and Laurie's son Dakoda, 9). All of them got a firsthand tour of the trophy from a proud grandpa - and proud papa of Tampa Bay hockey.
Plans for the evening called for a special trip with the Cup for drinks at Malio's restaurant in Tampa, where Esposito says he made his decision to pursue an NHL expansion club. After that, he and Bridget and a dozen family members and close friends planned dinner at the Palm restaurant at WestShore Plaza, then some bar-hopping.
Neubrand says the only stipulations are that Stanley can't visit any adult establishments or casinos and must be treated with respect. Before taking the Cup to Esposito's home, he accompanied Brad Richards and Chris Dingman with the Cup to New York for a spot on MTV. Neubrand said Richards ate lobster bisque, salad and dessert from it as well.
Of course, sake might have been a fitting drink for Esposito to sip from the Cup Wednesday - that's the drink Japanese investors thought he mentioned, when he first approached them about hockey.
"Yeah, they thought I meant sake, but no, I won't be drinking that. I tell you what, I'm going to put a couple of bottles of champagne in there tonight, and I'm going to have my wife sip from it, and all the people, probably 14 of us, sip from it, and we'll celebrate with proper respect."
Lightning president Ron Campbell said giving Esposito his day was a no-brainer: "Hockey would not be in Tampa Bay if it wasn't for him. He's one of the greatest players of all time. He's not the general manager anymore, but he certainly deserves to share in the celebration."
Esposito said the fact that he's no longer GM didn't dampen the moment for him: "I'm past that."
Amid all the hoopla, he looked over at the Cup.
"It means a lot to me to be able to have it after all these years," he said. "I wish I could take it to all my teammates from '70 and '72. Because to be together and have it is one thing, but to take it home and be with it and let people see it, it's an incredible feeling."