Jesus saves – but Espo puts in the rebound in this raucous, ribald memoir

At a party marking the end of his third season with the Blackhawks, Phil Esposito told coach Billy Reay and GM Tommy Ivan that they had a great team, maybe even a dynasty, but that the two of them would screw it up.

It was a classic Espo moment (and may have had something to do with his being traded to the Bruins): the big centre from the Soo who became one of hockey’s all-time leading scorers, has never been reluctant to speak his mind. In this rollicking hockey memoir, he reveals what it was like to play with other Hall of Famers like Howe and Hull and Orr. He recalls his acrimonious encounters with Allan Eagleson, the incredible intensity of the 1972 Canada-Russia series, the fabulous ride with the great Bruins teams of the early 1970s, and the tough years that followed with the New York Rangers.

From being a player, Esposito went on to be a commentator, a coach, a general manager, and then founder and part-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He saw it all: the booze, the drugs, the women, the wheeling and dealing, the good times and the camaraderie, the bad times and the back-stabbing. In telling what it was really like, Esposito takes readers into the boardrooms, back rooms – and even the bedrooms – of the men who make their lives in the NHL. “Colourful characters and crazy capers spill out of the pages – totally uncensored. The drinking, the skirt chasing and profanity remain.”
–Canadian Press (Vancouver Province, Kingston Whig-Standard, Ottawa Sun, Windsor Star, and more)


“Thunder and Lightning, written with sports author Peter Golenbock, better portrays Esposito’s warts and his lust for life, revealing an R-rated, quick-witted, fiercely loyal competitor, a longshoreman on skates who packed his lunch pail with an unquenchable will to win.

“Esposito’s candour and storytelling are terrific.…”
–Montreal Gazette, October 11, 2003


“Just like Esposito, the book is opinionated and to the point. This is the way he sees it and if that offends you, then too bad.”
–The Windsor Star, November 11, 2003


“Funny and rollicking. Honest.”
–Toronto Star, October 5, 2003


“Above all else, Espo is a talker. That makes for a good read.

“This is just a bunch of stories strung together that tell the story of a famous life – stories you’d love to sit around and listen to and laugh to, along with a cigar, a beverage, and big ol’ Espo himself.”
–Edmonton Sun, October 29, 2003


“Its saltiness makes this one of the more honest sporting memoirs.”
–Victoria Times-Colonist, December 14, 2003


“Esposito, noted for the intensity of his emotions as well as his ability to score from the slot, delivers what publishers like to call a ‘rollicking’ good read.”
–Toronto Star, November 20, 2003