Phil Esposito and his 1972 Speech

Rory Boylen at The Hockey News recently caught up with Phil Esposito to talk about his famous speech at the 1972 Summit Series. Here's a snippet:

“I was embarrassed,” Esposito said. “I came as close as you can come to swearing on the air and caught myself. Which is unusual because I was in the kind of mood where I could have said anything. The truth is, I had nothing to lose. I was playing in the States. If we lost that series when I got up to Montreal or Toronto they might have booed a little bit, but I got booed anyway.

“What right do I have to say something like that?” Esposito continued. “Then I realized after, the best way to make a speech is emotionally if you want to get your point across. Unfortunately, that’s why politicians are f----ing losers.”

Good ol' Phil. He was never one to mince his words. You can read the whole Rory Boylen article at The Hockey News.

You can watch video of the speech below, as well as some previous reflection by Espo as well as interviewer Johnny Esau.