The Phil Esposito Statue is a commemorative bronze work created in honor of NHL Hall-of-Famer,

Phil Esposito Philip Anthony Esposito ( , ; born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive, and current broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in t ...

, for his role in co-founding the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

franchise. It was unveiled on December 31, 2011, at the

Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...

in Tampa, FL.Associated Press

"Lightning unveil Phil Esposito statue",

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, 31 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013.Fennelly, Martin
"Esposito's statue is 'icing on cake'"

The Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...

, Tampa, 31 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013.Kaufman, Ira
"Lightning to honor Esposito with statue."

, Tampa, 20 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013.Schieber, Dave
"Q & A with NHL legend Phil Esposito."
30 December 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013 The statue portrays Esposito dressed in a business suit, allegedly at his request, because he came into co-founding the Tampa Bay Lightning as a business man, and not a player (Stuart, 2012). Esposito holds a hockey stick, adorns each hand with his two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

rings, and wears a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning logo.

Origin

The original idea for the statue derived from Tampa attorney and avid Tampa Bay Lightning fan, Stephen K. Stuart, who felt that Esposito deserved to be commemorated for his role in getting Tampa a hockey team. Stuart reported, “What impressed me was how he fought to get this franchise, and I don't think anyone else could have gotten it here if it wasn't for his hockey pedigree." With the help of private donors, Stuart raised $60,000 to create the statue.

Creation

Production of the statue began in 2009, and it took nearly 3 years to complete, (Stuart, 2012). Stuart commissioned sculptor, Steven Dickey, of Dickey Studios in Tampa, to produce the statue. Dickey utilized a process known as the

lost wax casting Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) i ...

to cast the statue, (Stuart, 2012). Richard Frignoca of Bronzart Foundry, Inc. in

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

, bronzed the statue. Additionally, Jeff Downing of Downing Design in Tampa, created the hockey puck on which the statue rests, (Stuart, 2012).

References

*Stuart, Jessica. irector (2012). "Making the Phil Esposito Statue". ocumentary United States. Available from Tasteful Gifts Productions, Portland, OR 97213. {{Coord, 27, 56, 33.8, N, 82, 27, 9.9, W, region:US-FL, display=title Tampa Bay Lightning 2011 establishments in Florida Statues in Florida