Peter Zezel, RIP

I remember him his first few seasons with the Flyers and in that Lowe-Swayze movie Youngblood.

At 44 from anemia.

http://www.fanhouse.com/news/nhl/peter-zezel-dies/500481?icid=main|main|dl5|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanhouse.com%2Fnews%2Fnhl%2Fpeter-zezel-dies%2F500481

 

Very sad news.

I watched him during his run with the Blues twenty years ago. Guy seemed like a never lost a face-off. Ever.

44 and a former top-flight athlete. Yikes.

 

Never expected to see this when I logged on this morning.

Loved him as a Blue.

 

Peter was a huge hit here in Toronto, both during and after his playing days.

He ran a series of hockey camps north of the city and he, Dougie Gilmour and Nick Kypreos were all coaches for (I believe) the Don Mills Flyers, a AAA organization where people like Zezel, Kris Draper and Manny Legace played their minor hockey

Kypreos was saying on the FAN this morning that parents and players would look at the three of them like "we had the Da Vinci Code" and Zezel would just tell 'em, "Go out and have fun. That's the key to success".

Nice story by Paul Hunter in the Star the other day.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/641002

 

Lots of good stuff on philly.com, from both papers, the past few days. Very shocking down here, I don't think most of us even knew he'd been battling this blood thing. Very affable, friendly man.

 

Peter's death was noted in two hockey threads but I'm very glad someone decided to post it on its own, because it deserves to be noted by as many people as possible. Thanks, Simon.

Here's Peter (centre) as a Hamilton Mustang in the Rob Lowe-Patrick Swayze hockey film "Youngblood."

 

It seemed he took every defensive zone faceoff for the Leafs in the 93 playoffs. A grew to be a fan of his just watching him for that brief time in that unbelievable Leafs run to Game 7 of the conference finals.

 

Former Leafs Mark Osborne and Steve Thomas were among Zezel's pallbearers today.

Thomas and Zezel never played together with the Leafs - they were briefly teammates in New Jersey - but they played junior together with the Toronto Marlboros and were both extras in "Youngblood."

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/642644