of eight goalies to have won the Vezina catching the puck right-handed (that is, he was left-handed, using his dominant left hand for his stick and blocker). The other seven are fellow Black Hawks' legend Charlie Gardiner (in 1932 and 1934), the New York Rangers' Davey Kerr (1940), ambidextrous Montreal goalie Bill Durnan (1944–1947, 1949 and 1950), the New York Rangers' Gilles Villemure (1971), Tom Barrasso of the Buffalo Sabres (1984), Edmonton Oilers' Grant Fuhr (1988), and José Théodore of the Montreal Canadiens in 2002. Esposito was the second NHL player to wear the number 35, after goaltender Fern Rivard wore 35 for the Minnesota North Stars in 1968-69, a common number now worn by many goaltenders. It was assigned to him during training camp prior to Chicago's 1969–70 season because the standard goalie numbers 1 and 30 were already assigned. After posting a shutout in his first exhibition game for the team, he chose to keep wearing the number. His number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks on November 20, 1988. Esposito was noted as being superstitious, becoming upset by crossed hockey sticks, and regularly lining up his hockey sticks in a particular way. Esposito also has the record for most Consecutive Stanley Cup playoff losses at 16 Esposito wore contact lenses throughout his career. Retirement He retired from professional play in 1984 and was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. His number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks on November 20, 1988. Esposito later became General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. During his tenure, Esposito selected Mark Recchi at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft and traded for goaltender Tom Barrasso. In 1991, when his brother helped found the Tampa Bay Lightning, Phil hired Tony as chief scout. Both Espositos were fired in 1998 after the team was sold. In 1998, he was ranked number 79 on [[List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News|The Hockey News''' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players]], 61 places behind his brother Phil, who ranked number 18. In 2007, Tony was inducted, alongside his brother Phil, into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame. On March 19, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks honoured Esposito with "Tony Esposito Night", where he was formally introduced as an Ambassador for the Blackhawks organization. Then-Blackhawk goaltenders Patrick Lalime and Nikolai Khabibulin both wore Esposito's #35 on their jerseys in the pre-game warmups,