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Since leaving as Lightning GM, Phil Esposito has done color commentary for Fox Sports Net the past two seasons, and spent last season as the Bruins' TV analyst.
By SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2000
This is,Phil Esposito says, the way he always has wanted it.
He never planned to be a general manager forever. No, he was going to give it up eventually, probably get back into television. Stay with the game he loves but take a hands-off approach.
Two games into the 1998-99 season, former Lightning owner Art Williams moved up the timetable by firing Esposito, the team's GM since 1992.
Two years later, Esposito is back, hired by team president Ron Campbell to do color commentary for 34 home games on WDAE-AM 620 this season.
It was a unique move, one Campbell said wasn't difficult to make. Esposito, 58, came highly recommended by current GM Rick Dudley, and any concerns about awkwardness were pushed aside by Espo's enthusiasm, knowledge and star power.
"What we want, ultimately, is to build a hockey tradition here, and have ties to the past," Campbell said.
"You get a sense in the community that things didn't work out, but everybody still really thought the world of Phil. I thought about it -- even last year -- of a way to get him involved. We needed a little time. Last year would have been too quick, for sure."
Esposito said he is satisfied just being an observer. He will have no influence on personnel decisions, other than the kind he can wield with a microphone. But he said he has no interest in that kind of power play; he's already gone down that road.
When Esposito retired from the Rangers in 1981 after a legendary playing career (717 goals in 18 years), he became the team's color commentator for television broadcasts. Five years later, he was bumped up to general manager. If he has any regrets in hockey, he said, it was leaving that TV job.
"I wasn't the kind that said what kind of underwear a guy is wearing, but I was the type of guy that would dissect the play and show you why," Esposito said.
Of course, had he not left television to become the Rangers GM -- a job he was fired from in 1989 -- he figures he and brother Tony never would have persuaded the NHL to bring hockey to Tampa.
Esposito never really left Tampa after being fired from the Lightning, but recently purchased a home and has put down firmer roots. He has done color commentary for Fox Sports Net the past two seasons, and spent last season as the Bruins' TV analyst.
He will do at least the Stanley Cup finals and some special assignment work for Fox Sports Net, but Lightning games will make up the bulk of his schedule. Working radio is somewhat of an adjustment: "(Fans are) just listening," he said. "I've got to make sure I describe the play entirely."
He describes his style as no-nonsense and tell-it-like-it-is, but said he will be careful to temper his criticism.
"If (coach Steve Ludzik) putsVinny Lecavalier in the power play and I don't agree with it, should I say I don't agree with it? That's none of my damn business," Esposito said. "That will be the biggest challenge for me -- trying not to second-guess the coach."
Campbell said he doesn't worry about potential strife between Esposito and the team. Sure, he said, "if we wanted to be conservative and make sure we didn't have any issues," he could have found someone else. But Esposito was too good to pass up.
"He is charismatic," Campbell said. "He is opinionated. He is a lot of fun, and he is hockey. He's the guy who brought hockey here.
"We think he's going to be a great addition to our broadcast. Hopefully he'll be a member of the team for years to come."
BOLTS ON SUNSHINE: Seventy games, 10 more than last season, will be shown on local cable. Fifty will be shown on the Sunshine Network and 20 games will be offered to cable systems in the Tampa Bay area to air on a channel of their choice.
As in previous seasons, games televised on Sunshine will be available to viewers in the NHL-designated Lightning home television territory only. The NHL considers the southern half of the state Panthers territory.