Peter Zezel

Peter Zezel (April 22, 1965 – May 26, 2009) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 1999.

Early life Zezel was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. Zezel was an alumnus of Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute. His father Peter Zezel Sr. immigrated from Srb (near Gračac), Croatia, Yugoslavia in 1947. When Zezel Sr. arrived in Canada, he anglicized his family name from Žeželj. Zezel requested the team donate his salary to the Canucks for Kids Foundation but Burke paid the remainder of Zezel's contract ($110,000 ) to him and made a charitable donation in the same amount, and appeared as striker in three exhibition games for them in 1982. He never appeared in an official NASL game. In 1984, he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Italia.

In May 2010, the Soccer Hall of Fame & Museum Board of Governors selected Zezel as the first recipient of the Brian Budd Award.

Personal life Hollywood used Zezel’s hockey skills in a small role in the 1986 film Youngblood. In retirement, he coached minor hockey teams in the Toronto area, and also operated a sports camp in Markham, Ontario that focused on improving the hockey and soccer skills of young players while having fun. Zezel underwent chemotherapy and had his spleen removed as part of his treatment.

Shortly after his splenectomy, Zezel began complaining of serious headaches. Roughly twelve hours later, he once again underwent surgery, during which time surgeons had found hemorrhaging in his brain. He slowly lapsed into a coma, and was placed on life-support once his organs began to fail. As Zezel wanted to donate his organs, his family made the decision to remove him from life support so that the organs might be preserved. Zezel died on May 26, 2009, with the service taking place at the All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church in Mississauga.

Zezel was laid to rest in Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough.

In July 2014, a street in a new development in Scarborough was named Zezel Way to honour Zezel.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1981–82 Don Mills Flyers AAA Midget 40 43 51 94 36 — — — — — 1982–83 Toronto Marlboros OHL 66 35 39 74 28 4 2 4 6 0 1983–84 Toronto Marlboros OHL 68 47 86 133 31 9 7 5 12 4 1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 65 15 46 61 26 19 1 8 9 28 1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 17 37 54 76 5 3 1 4 4 1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 33 39 72 71 25 3 10 13 10 1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 69 22 35 57 42 7 3 2 5 7 1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 26 4 13 17 15 — — — — — 1988–89 St. Louis Blues NHL 52 17 36 53 27 10 6 6 12 4 1989–90 St. Louis Blues NHL 73 25 47 72 30 12 1 7 8 4 1990–91 Washington Capitals NHL 20 7 5 12 10 — — — — — 1990–91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 32 14 14 28 4 — — — — — 1991–92 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 64 16 33 49 26 — — — — — 1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 70 12 23 35 24 20 2 1 3 6 1993–94 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 41 8 8 16 19 18 2 4 6 8 1994–95 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1994–95 Dallas Stars NHL 30 6 5 11 19 3 1 0 1 0 1995–96 St. Louis Blues NHL 57 8 13 21 12 10 3 0 3 2 1996–97 St. Louis Blues NHL 35 4 9 13 12 — — — — — 1996–97 New Jersey Devils NHL 18 0 3 3 4 2 0 0 0 10 1997–98 Albany River Rats AHL 35 13 37 50 18 — — — — — 1997–98 New Jersey Devils NHL 5 0 3 3 0 — — — — — 1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 25 5 12 17 2 — — — — — 1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 6 8 14 16 — — — — — 2002–03 Cambridge Hornets OHASr 8 5 4 9 0 — — — — — 2003–04 Cambridge Hornets OHASr 18 7 17 24 16 — — — — — 2004–05 Cambridge Hornets MLH 4 0 6 6 2 — — — — — NHL totals 873 219 389 608 435 131 25 39 64 83