Sunday, October 20, 2002
Five Questions with Phil Esposito
Cincinnati Cyclones owner/director Phil Esposito is in his 40th season of professional hockey. He was a Hall of Fame center with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Esposito also coached and was the general manager in New York before helping start up the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.
Esposito and his partners acquired the Cyclones in July 2001. He now lives in Tampa, where he is an announcer and promotions employee for the Lightning. Recently, Esposito took time out of his schedule to answer five questions from Enquirer sports reporter Ryan Ernst.
Question: Looking down your resume, it seems like you've done every job that has to do with hockey. How does owner rank on the scale of difficulty?
Answer: I've done everything but be a trainer. And I think the world's worst job is being a trainer; it's something I'd never want to do. The second worst is being an owner. You have no say in the team unless you're Mario (Lemieux) or Wayne (Gretzky). They're involved day-to-day. The third worst is general manager. I found that you can't please the players; you can't please the fans; you can't please the media; you can't please the owner. You can't please anybody. So you please yourself... That's the only way to survive being a general manager.
Q: Have you ever had a job that didn't have anything to do with hockey?
A: Sure. I drove bulldozers and heavy-duty equipment every summer until the time I was 30 to make ends meet. We didn't make the kind of money back then that they make now, so I'd come home from Chicago or Boston and work. I had a family to support.
Q: You've won two Stanley Cups. What did you do when it was your day with the Cup?
A: We didn't have that in those days. I was lucky to get to touch it in the dressing room. We did try to steal it though and bring it into the bar. But we got caught.
Q: You're a Hall of Famer; you won two MVPs; you were the NHL's leading scorer five times and you set a record with 76 goals in 78 games. Other than the Stanley Cups, which achievements stick out in your mind?
A: I'll tell you the truth, two things that stick out for me. One is having my number retired (No.7) in Boston Garden. That just sticks out so much in my mind. The second is getting the franchise (in Tampa Bay). It was my dream and my baby. Those things I really enjoyed.
Q: What brought you to the Cyclones?
A: Dave LeFevre and I put the thing together to get the team in Tampa. When we got out of Tampa Bay, we decided the ECHL was the league. David did all the work. I just made some phone calls and met some people, and we ended up getting the franchise. Cincinnati is just an absolute great spot, and we knew it can be a good hockey town. It's a beautiful city and it deserves all the accolades it gets. And I'm not just saying that because you're from a Cincinnati paper.
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Five Questions with Phil Esposito
