RALEIGH, N.C. (May 26) – What a terrible tragedy it is for family and friends of Peter Zezel to confront the grave situation he finds himself in today. The former National Hockey League centre-man, and a key member of the good Maple Leafs teams under Pat Burns in the early-‘90s, is on life-support in a Toronto hospital after suffering an apparent brain hemorrhage following surgery to remove his spleen. It is believed that family members are faced with the gut-wrenching decision of whether or not to disconnect the device that is keeping him alive.
Zezel, 44, had valiantly thwarted a rare and serious blood disorder known as hemolytic anemia since he emerged from a critical phase in 2001. Massive doses of the corticosteroid Prednisone helped manage the tricky and volatile condition until recently, when Zezel’s platelet count plummeted to a dangerous level. That’s when doctors apparently decided to perform the splenectomy, and the life-threatening complication occurred as a result of that procedure.
Though Peter clearly understood that every day battling his disease was a precious day, he maintained an up-beat attitude, along with the friendly, unpretentious demeanor familiar to everyone in his circle of friends and acquaintances. I last saw Peter on Mar. 12, the day after my post-game verbal exchange at the Air Canada Center with Leafs’ coach Ron Wilson. Zezel and I were panelists on Michael Lansberg’s TSN show Off The Record and we had a great chat afterward… mainly about his tenure as a tenacious checking forward on the Doug Gilmour-led Maple Leaf teams that advanced to the conference finals in 1993 and 1994.
The line of Zezel, Bill Berg and Mark Osborne was a critical component of those clubs, killing penalties, and matching up against the best players on the opposition. It was a terrific time to be a fan of the Maple Leafs, and to follow the team as a reporter – which was my good fortune at an early stage of my career. I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions that the 1993 Campbell Conference final between the Leafs and Los Angeles Kings – ultimately decided by a brilliant performance from Wayne Gretzky in Game 7 at Maple Leaf Gardens – is still the most memorable playoff round I have attended in almost 21 years at THE FAN-590. Particularly Game 6 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., made famous by Gretzky’s unintentional high-stick on Gilmour in overtime that all three officials either missed, or didn’t have the guts to call.
By rule, Gretzky should have been banished from the match for cutting Gilmour, which means he wouldn’t have been around to score the game-winner seconds later. Had the Leafs won that night, they’d have advanced to the Stanley Cup final against their storied rival, the Montreal Canadiens.
Zezel was also part of the Toronto club that began 1993-94 with the longest win streak in NHL history from the start of a season – a 10-gamer. The Leafs, memorably, broke the old mark of eight games set by Buffalo 18 years earlier on Oct. 23, 1993 in Tampa, roughly an hour before Joe Carter hit the legendary walk-off home-run that gave the Toronto Blue Jays their second consecutive World Series title. As a result of the baseball game, one of the Leafs’ most magnificent achievements was relegated to the back pages of local newspaper sports sections.
Among the best face-off men in NHL annals, Zezel was lauded today here in Raleigh by former teammate Greg Millen of Hockey Night in Canada. Zezel and Millen played together in St. Louis in the late-‘80s and the ex-goalie spoke with me while the Pittsburgh Penguins were going through their morning paces at the RBC Center.
“He was an excellent guy to have as a teammate and very reliable for a goaltender because he was so responsible defensively,” Millen said. “My memories on the ice of Peter are those faceoffs. He was so great on the draw; so intense going into the circle, and he loved Bobby Clarke. So, he always used to do the elbow-pad thing that Clarke did in his career while taking faceoffs and he’d use his feet really well. I can still picture him with his lower-body strength winning many draws.
“Otherwise, I know Peter as a great teammate, a terrific person, and somebody that has really influenced kids in a positive way since he retired with his camps and [coaching] minor hockey. It’s such a sad thing to hear about.”
I happened to inform Carolina veteran Rod Brind’Amour about Zezel’s condition. They were teammates with the Blues in 1989-90. “Jeez, I lived with Peter when I was a rookie in the NHL,” Brind’Amour remembered. “What an awful thing to happen to such a young guy.”
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