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NHL trade rumors: Phil Esposito bleepin' trashes Marty St. Louis-Ryan Callahan report

Phil Esposito made a lot of trades when he was GM of the Rangers and, later, the Lightning. He knows how that game is played.

He also knows that tabloid media like to stir the pot with trade rumors, especially when the deadline is approaching (this year's is March 5 ... hey, next week).

Martin St. Louis (AP Photo)

All of that provides context for Espo's classic rant Thursday on the "Next Sports Star" studio show (via He was commenting on a New York Post report that the Rangers have tried to acquire Martin St. Louis from the Bolts for captain Ryan Callahan.

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"What a bunch of (crap)," Esposito said. (Inside info alert: Espo is a radio commentator for the Lightning, the franchise he helped found more than 20 years ago.)

Anyway, we continue:

"Some (a-hole) in New York that writes for the New York Post, and we all know who he is (longtime hockey writer Larry Brooks), decided, 'Let me put something out there so maybe we can start some controversy.' It's a bunch of (crap). It's been going on for as long as I've been in the game of hockey (that would be more than 50 years) ..."

Asked further about Brooks' reporting, Esposito beautifully one-timed the feed.

"Don't give me this (crap) you're going to trade Marty St. Louis, who has a no-movement clause, he doesn't want to leave, for Callahan, who's a kid, I like him, he's a heart-and-souler, but he couldn't score more  than 25 or 30 goals in his f---ing lifetime, and he doesn't play all the time because he gets hurt, because he plays like he's 6-foot-5."

(Callahan is listed at 5-11.)

Esposito went on to explain how such a rumor might have gotten started, again with more than a pinch of salty language. If you dare to listen, the whole spot is NSFW, with a capital NSFW.

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