National Hockey League legend Phil Esposito doesn’t care who wins the Stanley Cup, even though he spent a combined 13 seasons playing for the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks.
“You want to know the truth? This series doesn’t mean s— to me,” Esposito told the Toronto Sun.
“I have no feeling for these teams. There’s nothing emotional about it. They both got rid of me, traded me. So screw them.”
Esposito spent his first four NHL seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Bruins. He then spent over eight seasons in Boston before being traded to the New York Rangers.
The 71-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer ranks fifth in all-time goals scored with 717 and 10th in points with 1,590.
“I didn’t choose to leave Chicago. I didn’t choose to leave Boston. I signed a contract in Boston for less money than I could have gotten from going to the WHA. I could have made millions doing that. And you know how they repaid me? Three weeks later, they traded me. …
“The Blackhawks traded me. They didn’t want me. That’s not my fault that I was in the most one-sided trade in history. They were the stupid ones. They made the deal.”
Despite not caring much about who wins this year’s edition of the Cup, he admits he cares about the franchises in certain ways.
“These are the two teams I care about the most after the Lightning. But I care about them more in a hockey sense than a personal sense,” added Esposito, who founded the Tampa Bay franchise in the ‘90s.
Esposito believes the Blackhawks will be the ones to hoist the Cup unless the Bruins can make it quick.
“If the Bruins are going to win, they’re going to have to do it quick, like in five or less games,” Esposito said. “If it goes six or seven, I think Chicago wins. I think they’ll outlast Boston. (Zdeno) Chara can take care of (Jonathan) Toews and (Marian) Hossa but what about (Patrick) Kane and (Patrick) Sharp.
“He can do two, but he can’t do four. And Chara is the only player in the league who can stand on the goal line and pokecheck someone at the blueline. His stick is that long.”
