Hall of Fame induction ‘very, very special’ for Phil Esposito
TAMPA — For Phil Esposito, watching the Tampa Bay Lightning grow from his pipe dream to a standard for NHL franchises over their three decades of existence is like watching his child grow up.
The Lightning founder spent years drumming up local support and funding, and selling to the NHL the idea that hockey could be successful in Florida. Even when the franchise played its first game in 1992 at Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds — a year before the expansion Florida Panthers began play — the work had just begun.
Esposito helped the franchise navigate through its first seasons by trying to build a competitive team despite serious financial constraints.
“It’s like my baby,” Esposito, who turned 81 on Monday, said Thursday. “There were a lot of people that really helped me, but there’s no denying it was my idea.”
Esposito is an inaugural member of the Lightning’s new Hall of Fame, to be inducted with Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier— who both have their numbers retired by the team — on March 17 at Amalie Arena. He also will be celebrated the next night, before a home game against St. Louis’ Canadiens.
Esposito, a Hockey Hall of Fame member for his playing career, was fitted Thursday for his Lightning Hall of Fame jacket, which will be the same shade of blue as the team’s jerseys.
“For me, to be the first is very, very special,” said Esposito, who was picked for the class by a 10-member committee consisting of team personnel, broadcasters and media members close to the team.
“Vinny and Marty got their numbers retired. It’s terrific. I love to see the players’ numbers retired. I have mine retired in Boston.
“But this, it feels like my kids have graduated college, they’ve gone on. You know, I’m a great-grandfather now. And I’m like, ‘Holy cripe, you know, this is something.’ And now, to start this Hall of Fame, it took a while.
“You have to set some sort of tradition first before you can go on and do the things that you really think are the right things to do. This is the right thing to do to start a Hall of Fame here, without a doubt.”
The Lightning have won three Stanley Cups, including two in the past three seasons, and are seen as a model franchise on and off the ice. Meanwhile, owner Jeff Vinik’s Water Street project is turning the area around the arena into an urban hub that was unthinkable when Esposito first eyed a barren plot of land off the water across from Harbour Island years ago.
“After 30 years I think the tradition and three Stanley Cups and going to the [Cup] finals, it’s incredible,” Esposito said. “And when I talk about it I get little goose bumps. Because for me, the 2004 [team] when they won that [first] Stanley Cup, it was like my kid has graduated and they’ve moved on, thank God.
“But this is special for me. It really is. I make small of things — it’s just my way — but it’s special.”