Lazarus "Larry The Rock" Zeidel (June 1, 1928 – June 17, 2014) was a Canadian professional

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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

, most notably for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

of 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 ...

, for whom he played nine seasons, and 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

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

during a career that lasted from 1947 to 1969. He is considered one of the most violent players in NHL history.

Biography

Zeidel was Jewish, and was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.Larry Zeidel Stats , Hockey-Reference.com
/ref> His

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n grandparents were burned to death in Nazi

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s. Zeidel played for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

and

in the early 1950s, and concluded his career with the

in the late 1960s. In between, he played for numerous teams in the

Western Hockey League (minor pro) The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ho ...

and the

. He played most of his career for the

, a team later affiliated with the National Hockey League’s

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

but that was independent at the time, located in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey. The community is lo ...

. In 1959–60, his 293 penalty minutes set an AHL league record. Zeidel won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

with the

. He won the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

with the

Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

. Zeidel promoted himself to all 1967 expansion franchises using a self-made promotion kit and resume, subsequently drawing the interest of the Philadelphia Flyers who signed him to a contract at age 39.Flyers mourn the loss of Larry Zeidel , NHL.com
/ref> While playing for the Philadelphia Flyers he was involved in a violent stick-swinging duel with Boston's

Eddie Shack Edward Steven Phillip Shack (February 11, 1937July 25, 2020), also known by his nicknames "the Entertainer" and "the Nose", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent who played for six National Hockey League (NHL) teams ...

, which left both men bleeding. Boston Bruins players yelled at him with anti-Semitic comments throughout the season after the incident. After he retired from hockey, Zeidel worked as a

marketing consultant Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

for an investment house. Zeidel died on June 17, 2014, at 86 years of age of complications from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, kidney problems, and

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

. He was diagnosed after death by Boston University researchers who were studying brains of deceased hockey players.Former players are suing the NHL over concussions, but remain loyal to hockey – The Washington Post
/ref> A panel of neurologists, neuropsychologists, and researchers reached the clinical consensus diagnoses that he suffered from

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

, a

neurodegenerative A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

disease found in people who have had multiple head injuries. The report concluded that he had likely had more than 100 concussions, and lost consciousness over 10 times. By the time he had retired, he had suffered debilitating headaches, acute temper, odd behavior, and had made uncharacteristically rash financial decisions.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeidel, Larry 1928 births 2014 deaths Barrie Flyers players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent Chicago Blackhawks players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Montreal Indianapolis Capitals players Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish ice hockey players Philadelphia Flyers announcers Philadelphia Flyers players Quebec Aces (QSHL) players Seattle Totems (WHL) players Stanley Cup champions

Biography

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

See also

References

External links