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Phil Esposito has never had an internal editor or filter.

He has always been known for saying exactly what’s on the very tip of his tongue. Now 74 years of age, that’s not about to change.

He’s slated to be part of the ’72 Summit Series Tour, a hot-stove discussion with players and management of that famed Team Canada victory. Their Sept. 8 stop in Vancouver coincides with the 44th anniversary of the Soviets winning Game 4 of the eight-game set by a 5-3 count at the Pacific Coliseum, and Esposito’s iconic post-game TV interview, where he blasted Canadian fans for not supporting the team.

Tour visits to Montreal (Sept. 2), Winnipeg (Sept. 6) and Toronto (Sept. 10) also link up with anniversaries of Summit games there.

“I had somebody call me the other day and ask ‘How do you feel with the fact that, if the greatest speech in the history of Britain was Winston Churchill’s Never Surrender and the greatest speech in the history of the U.S. was Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, we in Canada have you, a hockey player?” Esposito said, laughing all the while.

There’s that ranking of the rant from Esposito. You also frequently see Paul Henderson’s series-winning goal listed as one of the top-10 defining moments in Canadian history.

Oddly enough, Esposito admits that he wondered aloud in the days leading up to the first game if his squad shouldn’t have been named Team NHL. Bobby Hull and Gerry Cheevers, among others, had jumped to the rival World Hockey Association and would have likely been among the top players in this country at that point. Their departure from the NHL lead to them being ignored by organizers when the team was assembled.