This is, indeed, the great Tony Esposito, who was briefly a Hab before they cut him loose to the Hawks where he went on to have a few amazing seasons, pioneering the butterfly style that hockey authorities were too slow to embrace. \ The Habs chose to play Gump Worsley and Rogatien Vachon over Tony O, which was probably a mistake as Worsley was old and Vachon, while good, never made the Hall of Fame even after some pretty solid work in LA. Toronto rock promoter Dan Burke recently insisted to me that Montreal should open up a bar called Gump pi Rogie. I guess he liked the sound of it.
I don't really know why there is a statuette of Espo as a Hab, but I assume it was based on something that was sold at the time.
Easy one.
ReplyDeleteTony O.
Tony Esposito.
Tony Esposito
ReplyDeletehard to say - the mask and number look like it could be gump worsley, but the northwoods stick is wrong. hmm...
ReplyDeleteGiven the old-fashioned mask I'm guessing Jacques Plante.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought it was Jacques Plante but then I noticed that the goalie is catching with the right hand and therefore my guess is Tony Esposito
ReplyDeleteI would say Plante, too, as Espo was briefly with the Habs, and was mainly with Chicago. So why put him in a Habs outfit? That's like putting out an Orr statue with him in a Chicago jersey, where he played only briefly.
ReplyDeleteDanny Burke of Hingston Ave. To see Dan in action check this out
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKzg4Z0jws8