Daughter of NHL great Phil Esposito dies of unknown illness at age 43

TAMPA, Fla. - The daughter of former NHL superstar Phil Esposito has died.

Carrie Selivanov, 43, died Monday in Germany of an unknown illness. She had been living in the German city of Krefeld with husband, former NHL player Alex Selivanov.

Selivanov had been most recently playing and coaching in the Netherlands.

"On behalf of Alex Selivanov, Carrie's sisters Laurie and Cherise, and my wife Bridget, I'd like to thank everyone in the Tampa Bay community and in the hockey fraternity for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes as we grieve Carrie's passing yesterday," Esposito said Tuesday in a statement.

"We are shocked and saddened with her death but we will remember her for the energy and vigour that she brought to each day of her life. Our focus will now centre on her sons Dylan, Nikko and Rocco."

Private funeral services will be held later this week in Germany.

Esposito had 717 goals and 873 assists in 1,282 games in his Hall-of-Fame career with Chicago, Boston and the New York Rangers.

He also played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and was a co-founder of the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly said Esposito played for the New York Islanders instead of the Rangers.