at age 25. He was only the third American college player selected by an NHL team. Esposito made his NHL debut against the Oakland Seals, playing 26 minutes in relief of Rogie Vachon. His first NHL start was against the Boston Bruins, then led by his brother Phil. The game ended in a 2–2 tie, in which Phil scored both goals for Boston and Tony made 33 saves. Esposito played thirteen regular-season games, due to both Gump Worsley and Vachon being injured. However, Esposito returned to the minor leagues when they both returned from their injuries. Worsley was injured again during the playoffs, so Esposito was called again. He served as backup to Vachon, dressing for all four games in the Finals as Montreal won the Stanley Cup, with Esposito having his name engraved on there as a winning member. As the Canadiens club was deep in goaltenders at that time, with Worsley, Vachon, and other prospects in the system, Esposito was left unprotected by the Canadiens in 1969. Rise to fame For the 1969–70 season, the Chicago Black Hawks claimed him from Montreal on waivers, known at the time as the "intra-league draft". Esposito had a spectacular season with Chicago, posting a 2.17 GAA and setting a modern-day NHL record with fifteen shutouts, for which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie. He also took the Vezina Trophy (then awarded to the goalies for the team which allowed the fewest goals during the regular seasons) and was named to the First All-Star team at season's end. He also was runner-up for league MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy). It was during this record-setting season that he earned the nickname "Tony O" for his shutout abilities, with the big letter O looking like the big zero that he kept holding opponents to. In 1970–71, he again proved to be one of the league's top goalies and helped Chicago finish first in the NHL's West division. The Black Hawks made it to the Stanley Cup Final, but lost in seven games to Montreal. The following season he posted the lowest GAA of his career (1.77) and shared the Vezina with backup Gary Smith. He was again selected to the NHL's First All-Star team. Esposito was named to Team Canada for the Summit Series of September 1972. He was the first goalie to earn a win against the Soviets, splitting