[5][7] A three-year hockey varsity letter winner, Esposito was a three-time first-team All-America selection.

[9] Esposito made his NHL debut against the Oakland Seals, playing 26 minutes in relief of Rogie Vachon.

[5] The game ended in a 2–2 tie, in which Phil scored both goals for Boston and Tony made 33 saves.

[1] Esposito played thirteen regular-season games, due to both Gump Worsley and Vachon being injured.

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.

[1] For the 1969–70 season, the Chicago Black Hawks claimed him from Montreal on waivers, known at the time as the "intra-league draft".

[1] 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.

[5] 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 following season he posted the lowest GAA of his career (1.77) and shared the Vezina with backup Gary Smith.

He was the first goalie to earn a win against the Soviets, splitting Canada's goaltending duties with Montreal's Ken Dryden.

Despite the loss of Bobby Hull, Esposito and the Hawks led their division in 1972–73, but lost the Stanley Cup in six games to Montreal.

Esposito won his third Vezina, sharing it with the Philadelphia Flyers' Bernie Parent, and was again named a Second Team All-Star.

The Black Hawks declined over the next few seasons although Esposito remained among the top netminders in the NHL.

[10]Esposito is one 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).

[5] 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.

Minnesota North Star goaltender Fern Rivard was the first to wear 35 during the 1968-69 NHL season.

During his tenure, Esposito selected Mark Recchi at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft and traded for goaltender Tom Barrasso.

[13] In 1991, when his brother helped found the Tampa Bay Lightning, Phil hired Tony as chief scout.