Jeff Lazaro

Jeffrey Adam Lazaro (born March 21, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators from 1990 to 1993. The rest of his professional career was spent in the minor leagues in North America and Europe. Internationally, he competed for the United States at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Biography Amateur As a youth, Lazaro played in the 1981 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Boston Braves minor ice hockey team. He played his final year of junior hockey Waltham High School in Waltham, Massachusetts. He then joined the University of New Hampshire's Wildcats program for the 1986–87 season. He played three seasons with the Wildcats as a defenseman, however, his small stature and his best skill, his speed, was not showcased often when defending. While attending a private hockey camp, he was convinced to change his position to winger in order to take advantage of his abilities and his tenacity chasing the puck. He played his final season with the Wildcats as a left winger and earned the teams' unsung hero award after scoring a career-high 16 goals.

Professional Boston Bruins Lazaro went undrafted by National Hockey League (NHL) teams. After impressing the Bruins during training camp, Lazaro was signed as a free agent. In 26 games with Maine, he scored eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points. He was recalled on December 10 after the severity of forward Bob Carpenter's knee injury was revealed to require surgery. He made his NHL debut for the Bruins on December 12 against the Hartford Whalers in a 5–1 victory, playing on a line with Dave Poulin and Dave Christian. He scored his first NHL goal against goaltender Daryl Reaugh in the third period of the following game on December 13, an 8–2 victory over the Whalers. By January 1991, he was featuring on the top penalty kill unit alongside Bob Sweeney. He registered his first multi-point game on January 31 when he registered two assists, assisting on Ken Hodge Jr.'s opening goal and later Cam Neely's third period goal in a 5–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He played in 49 games with the Bruins, scoring five goals and 13 assists for 18 points. He added another goal in the series, which the Bruins won in six games. In the final game, he suffered a hyperextended left knee that took him out of the game for ten minutes. In the next round versus the Montreal Canadiens, Lazaro scored his only goal of the series in game six on Patrick Roy, taking the lead in the game. Ultimately, the Bruins lost the game in overtime, 3–2, but won the series in seven games. The penalty kill, of which Lazaro was a lead part, was lauded in The Boston Globe as a key to their victory. In the third round, Boston faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, to whom they lost in six games. In 19 playoff games, he scored three goals and five points. On November 2, in a game against the Detroit Red Wings where an altercation with Detroit defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov at the end of the game quickly amplified into a brawl that left him at the bottom of a pile and nearly unconscious, claiming he had been choked by a Red Wings player. He was helped off the ice by officials. After a loss against the Islanders on November 4, Lazaro was one of four Bruins players assigned to the AHL. He was recalled on December 26 along with forward Wes Walz. In a game against the Montreal Canadiens on January 23, 1992, he suffered a twisted knee attempting to hit Denis Savard that kept him out of the lineup. He missed fourteen games before returning to the lineup on March 5 in a game against the Vancouver Canucks. He aggravated his knee injury after getting tangled up with Pat LaFontaine in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on March 11. He returned to the lineup on April 13 replacing Dave Poulin in the lineup in a 6–3 victory over the Hartford Whalers. He finished the regular season having played in 27 games with the Bruins, scoring three goals and nine points. In 21 games with Maine, he scored eight goals and 12 points. He played nine of the Bruins' playoff games, registering just one assist in the second round series against Montreal on Jim Wiemer's game-winning goal in game 3.

Ottawa Senators In the 1992 off season, the NHL expanded by two teams, the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lazaro was among the players left unprotected by Boston. He was selected by Ottawa in the 1992 NHL expansion draft with their tenth forward selection. He had off-season shoulder surgery and began the 1992–93 season with Ottawa's AHL affiliate, the New Haven Senators, to recover. On November 12, Lazaro and defenseman Dominic Lavoie were called up to join Ottawa. However, Lazaro was still recovering and did not have full range of motion in his shoulder. Coach Rick Bowness, caught off guard with the additions, thought neither of them could play on an NHL roster at that time. Lazaro made his Senators debut on November 13 in a 1–0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the following game on November 15, he scored his first goal with the Senators on Dominic Roussel in a 7–2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. In a 3–2 win over the San Jose Sharks on January 10, 1993, Lazaro struck the end boards, his right leg crumpled, and required help to get off the ice. He returned from the injury on February 13 in a match against the Montreal Canadiens having missed 14 games and was then assigned to New Haven on February 18. He was recalled one more time by Ottawa on March 7, and played his final game in the NHL against the Chicago Blackhawks that night, replacing Doug Smail. He was returned to New Haven on March 9. He appeared in 26 games with Ottawa, scoring six goals and ten points and 27 games with New Haven, scoring 12 goals and 25 points. Having played on a termination contract in the previous season, Lazaro was effectively an unrestricted free agent. He played in 16 games with Providence, scoring three goals and seven points. He appeared in 70 games for the Brass, scoring 37 goals and 101 points. Lazaro was named to the 1997–98 ECHL All-Star Team at season's end. He also briefly played for the joint Canadiens/Oilers AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, playing in two games, scoring two goals. The Brass made the 1998 ECHL playoffs and Lazaro appeared in four games, registering four assists. He played in 16 games with Adirondack to start the 1998–99 season, scoring two goals and ten points. He finished the season in New Orleans playing in 52 games, scoring 26 goals and 70 points. He spent the next three seasons with New Orleans, ending his career after the 2001–02 season. He was added to Team USA for the 1994 Winter Olympics. He rejoined Team USA for the 1994 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1985–86 Waltham High School HS-MA — — — — — — — — — — 1986–87 University of New Hampshire HE 38 7 14 21 38 — — — — — 1987–88 University of New Hampshire HE 30 4 13 17 48 — — — — — 1988–89 University of New Hampshire HE 31 8 14 22 38 — — — — — 1989–90 University of New Hampshire HE 39 16 19 35 34 — — — — — 1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL 49 5 13 18 67 19 3 2 5 30 1990–91 Maine Mariners AHL 26 8 11 19 18 — — — — — 1991–92 Boston Bruins NHL 27 3 6 9 31 9 0 1 1 2 1991–92 Maine Mariners AHL 21 8 4 12 32 — — — — — 1992–93 Ottawa Senators NHL 26 6 4 10 16 — — — — — 1992–93 New Haven Senators AHL 27 12 13 25 49 — — — — — 1993–94 United States National Team Intl 43 18 25 43 57 — — — — — 1993–94 Providence Bruins AHL 16 3 4 7 26 — — — — — 1994–95 EC Graz AUT 43 18 25 43 57 — — — — — 1995–96 EC Ratingen DEL 49 29 42 71 85 — — — — — 1996–97 EC Ratingen DEL 46 15 23 38 75 — — — — — 1997–98 New Orleans Brass ECHL 70 37 64 101 151 4 0 4 4 8 1997–98 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 2 2 0 2 0 8 2 3 5 2 1998–99 New Orleans Brass ECHL 52 26 44 70 81 11 9 7 16 14 1998–99 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 16 2 8 10 10 — — — — — 1999–00 New Orleans Brass ECHL 70 24 56 80 109 3 1 0 1 4 2000–01 New Orleans Brass ECHL 58 21 27 48 103 4 2 1 3 2 2001–02 New Orleans Brass ECHL 11 4 4 8 8 — — — — — ECHL totals 261 112 195 307 452 22 12 12 24 28 NHL totals 102 14 23 37 114 28 3 3 6 32

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1993 United States WC 4 2 0 2 2 1994 United States OLY 8 2 2 4 4 1994 United States WC 8 0 0 0 10 Senior totals 12 4 2 6 16