Esposito’s loyalties with Lightning against Rangers in conference final

The Lightning, a team Esposito co-founded in 1990, was hours from beginning the Eastern Conference Final with a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 1. 

Esposito was the Rangers general manager from July 1986 through May 1989, after having played for New York from 1975-81. 

The 1984 Hockey Hall of Famer’s loyalties are not divided.

“Here’s the way I’ve always looked at it,” Esposito said. “If the Lightning weren’t in it and Boston or New York or even Chicago were, I’d probably cheer for them. But if the Lightning are in it, I cheer for them. Period.”

It was with the Chicago Black Hawks that Esposito began his 18-season, 1,282-game NHL career, playing four years from 1964-67. He was most famous for his eight seasons and change with Boston from 1967-75, highly decorated as one of the NHL’s greatest goal-scorers during the era of the two-time Stanley Cup-winning Big Bad Bruins.

Esposito played his final 422 games for the Rangers, over nearly six full seasons from 1975-81, arriving in New York with defenseman Carol Vadnais on Nov. 7, 1975 in a blockbuster trade that saw the Bruins receive center Jean Ratelle and defensemen Brad Park and Joe Zanussi in return.

The earliest days of the Lightning, who began play in the 1992-93 season, saw Esposito serve as the fledgling team’s fundraiser, president, general manager, chief marketer, a sponsorship salesman, ticket vendor and its most boisterous cheerleader. 

He has been in Tampa Bay’s broadcast booth for its Stanley Cup championships in 2004, 2020 and 2021 and makes no apologies for his cheering allegiance today.

Now, Esposito considers the Lightning’s focus on a third consecutive title, something that hasn’t been done since the New York Islanders did so from 1980-82 before adding a fourth straight in 1983.

“I’m flabbergasted that we’re even here because it’s very, very difficult,” he said of the Lightning. “We keep forgetting, at least the media does, that these guys played a lot of hockey in a very short period of…