Peter Zezel dies
Former Flyer Peter Zezel died today at the age of 44.
Peter Zezel dies
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Terrible news out of Toronto: Former Flyer Peter Zezel has died in a hospital as a result of a rare blood disorder.
Multiple reports indicate that Zezel had fought the disorder, hemolytic anemia, for the last decade, but that he was thought to be coping well in recent years. His family made the decision to turn off life support this afternoon.
Zezel was drafted by the Flyers in 1983 and was a very popular player, especially among the females in the stands, when he played here from 1984 to 1989. In that time, he and his young teammates made two trips to the Stanley Cup finals under coach Mike Keenan. He was one of the faces of that popular young group that never was quite able to knock down the door.
The end of Zezel's career told you something about the man. He was in Vancouver and requested a deadline trade to the East so that he could be near a young niece who was dying of cancer. Instead, he was traded to Anaheim and promptly retired.
Now, this. Zezel was only 44 years old.
god bless Peter
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- May God watch over you Peter, my prayers are with you.— losteagle
That group from the 80s is still my favorite group, being in HS at the time. They took the great Edmonton dynasty as far as they could twice. Zezel is also known for being in the Rob Lowe hockey movie "Youngblood". He's the center who comes off the ice on the last scene so Lowe can take his place and fight the Dave Schultz looking guy. The movie was filmed using Zezel's junior league team as extras.— burholme- Now this is sad stuff #25 was a great guy.— EnoughAlready
- Never heard of him.— Drew777
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- Very sad to read this. I remember reading about his retirement to be near his niece. Good player / Great person.— Flyers37
- don't give up Peter! Loved you as Flyer, loved you in "YOUNGBLOOD", and I pray you pull through.— mebphila
Great Guy. He gave me an autograph as a kid that I still have framed. Hope he pulls through. We are pulling for you, Peter. Godspeed.- Comment removed.
- Wow ForeverFlyer....your mom must be so proud of you, having a lowlife loser like you for a son. What are your great accomplishments in life...getting to the highest level of a video game while sitting in mommy's basement?— flyersgal
- Hang in there Pete you were da bomb here in Philly— MoBayYankee
- ForeverFlyer16 is a product of bad DNA, why would you say something like that, you are truely sub human— MoBayYankee
