Dean DeFazio (born April 16, 1963) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. During the

1983–84 NHL season The 1983–84 NHL season was the 67th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers de-throned the four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders four games to one in the Cup finals. League business Not since World War ...

he played 22 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1975

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from South

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. DeFazio began his junior career playing in the

OMJHL In 1970, the Junior A level was divided into two more levels, Tier I (Major Junior A) and Tier II (Minor Junior A). In 1974, the "Major Junior A" division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) and began to operate indepe ...

playing for the

Brantford Alexanders The Brantford Alexanders were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League from 1978 to 1984. The team was based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. History The Hamilton Fincups were relocated in 1978 be ...

. Following his one season with Brantford, in which he accumulated 104 PIMs in 60 games, he was drafted by the

. the Penguins drafted DeFazio in the 9th round, 175th overall, in the

1981 NHL Entry Draft Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Fr ...

. DeFazio played the next two years in

Juniors Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

splitting time between the Alexanders,

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

, and

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

, all of the

OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

. Following his last season in Juniors, Pittsburgh assigned him to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) to play for the

Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Skipjacks originated in 1979, and played as the Baltimore Clippers in the Eastern Hockey League for two seasons. The team was ...

during the 1983-84 season. In December the Penguins called up DeFazio. He made his NHL debut on December 21, 1983 versus the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. He played 22 games for the Penguins during the season totaling 2 assists, it would be the only NHL games he would play. DeFazio continued to play with the Skipjacks for two more years before moving on to play for the Newmarket Saints during the 1986-87 season. DeFazio returned to Baltimore the following season splitting time between the Skipjacks and the International Hockey League's Flint Spirits. He played one more season in the AHL this time for the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...

, before going to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to play his final professional season for

Straubing EHC The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. P ...

in 1988.

Personal information

After his retirement DeFazio became a firefighter. He also runs the DeFazio Hockey camp in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

. His son, Brandon DeFazio, had a two-way contract playing professional hockey with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

of the

after moving on from the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Defazio, Dean 1963 births Living people Canadian people of Italian descent Baltimore Skipjacks players Brantford Alexanders players Canadian ice hockey forwards Flint Spirits players Ice hockey people from Ottawa Sudbury Wolves players Newmarket Saints players New Haven Nighthawks players Oshawa Generals players Pittsburgh Penguins players Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks