Meet the Most VIOLENT Player in Hockey History

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Larry The Rock Zydel was called the dirtiest

player

in

hockey

. A cruel, heartless maniac who instigated some of the

most

violent

stick attacks in

hockey

history

. His final act of chaos on the ice. A gory bloodbath with the Boston Bruins. Ford Eddie Shack. It will be the event for which Zeidel is

most

remembered, but it was not his most egregious offense, in fact, it was not even his most brutal fight with Shaq, but Larry Zeidel's story is more complicated than just a

history

of the reckless attacks of he. villain or victim what fueled the burning rage the relentless hatred zeidel unleashed on bloodied and maimed opponents in a wild 20-year professional hockey career he was an animal I'm telling you larry zeidel was born in montreal quebec in 1928 and raised in the sand park extension neighborhood a blue collar district home to many immigrants his was the only jewish family in this neighborhood zydell faced antisemitism as soon as he started school as he was often attacked by gangs simply because he was jewish he learned the only way to stop the torment was beating the bullies.

The six-foot, 190-pound Zydell adopted his combative approach through minor hockey and advanced to the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League, where he established himself as a solid, hard-hitting defenseman in three seasons, according to Zeidel. his day in quebec which shaped his belligerent style of play for the next two decades said zeidel in quebec we could play well and win, but the fans would rather get us into a real fight and lose the game, there were a lot of tough guys in the league at that time time too so maybe it was a matter of survival in 1950 zydell and his equally testy defense partner bill heinl senior were lured away from quebec by the saskatoon quakers of the western senior hockey league after one year in saskatoon and 43 games from ahl in indianapolis zydell made his nhl debut during 1951 52 seasons with the detroit red wings his start couldn't have been better immediately won a stanley cup with detroit that year larry also played a couple of games with detroit the following season before Being reassigned to the Edmonton Flyers for the remainder of the 1952-53 campaign, it was during this period in Edmonton that Zeidel's pension for bellicose behavior began to easily escalate.

His most notorious act of violence occurred on January 30, 1953 at the Edmonton Gardens at a game in our Saskatoon. Five minutes into the contest, Saskatoon's Zydell and Jack Evans engaged in a horrific stick fight that was described in This way, the two did it like medieval gladiators, first they broke their sticks by hitting each other's heads and then they cut each other with the jagged stumps covered in blood They began to exchange blows finally they fought each other to the ice, exhausted , then Zaidel remembered as they were carrying us off the ice, I noticed he was bleeding more than Evans, so I grabbed a loose stick. and I hit him on the head with something funny, but I remember holding back a little while he hit him, if he hadn't held back he would be dead.

The rivalry between Edmonton and Saskatoon resulted in more ugliness when, in a later game, Zydell was mocked. With anti-Semitic slurs hurled by Saskatoon fans, Zeidel was sold to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953 and played one full season in the NHL in 1953-54 before being traded back to Detroit, who again assigned him to Edmonton for the 1954 season. 55, Seidel now embarking on a minor league odyssey that would last 13 consecutive seasons Zydell was apparently not thrilled with his demotion to Edmonton it has been said that even his own teammates feared him Edmondson's team was filled with young future members of the hall of fame like johnny busick norm ullman and glenn hall, but zeidel was in no mood for a learning curve, he supposedly said that you punks are playing with my playoff money and you will answer to me, owner of the edmonton team, while bill hunter recalled that it was during these days that zeidel was often encountered.

Screaming, crying and tearing out his hair after a loss, Zydell's wild temper was fully manifested in the 1955 game in Vancouver when he punched Phil Moloney in the penalty box and was ejected from the game, Zydell went crazy refusing to leave the ice and defying the entire Vancouver team fought before being restrained by eight police officers. The Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League acquired Zydell in 1955 and he provided the Bears with a smart, physical defense for eight seasons, winning two Calder Cups and, of course, collecting a multitude of fines, suspensions and even arrests. Along the way, Don Cherry was Zeidel's defense partner as a roommate for two seasons at Hershey, he was the most

violent

person, I think out of sight of Connie Mad Dog Madigan.

I remember one time I was playing, I was playing defense with him, I was his roommate. Great guy, but on the ice and I was sitting in the penalty box and he just took down a guy named Gordy Hannigan who didn't have, I don't know what the word is, but he would take you down as soon as he looked at you. he never did anything to anyone that didn't do something to him or his teammates, he never just went out and did it to keep the game going and I remember it tore him to pieces, I couldn't believe it, me and Gordy wouldn't do it. go on the ice, that's how it was in those days and I remember again a guy named bo alec beau alec was a guy like a smart addict a little bit for cleveland and he came to the blue line and now we're we were playing in Hershey and he threw the puck and He said, go get it, Larry, go get it, Larry, and then you come back and pick it up, so I went to one of his

player

s and said, look, tell Bo not to waste his time on this. boy, this guy is going to tear him apart if he keeps this up, he's sure to come, the red line throws him, go get him, larry, take the stick, stick it in his face, the guy falls in a pool of blood, now everyone the boys come.

They all come and look at his team looking like this and he's skating around, you think someone would have done something with him, they were so terrified of him, he's skating on the outside you're going to chase him and you shoot, you're going to chase him October 2nd, 1958. zydell and the bears faced the new york rangers in an exhibition game in niagara falls, ontario in the first period zydell and rookie eddie shack engaged in a stick battle that left zeidel with 10 points, Both players were ejected from the game unfazed, Zydell then charged that shack into the stands sparking a full-scale riot involving fans and authorities.

Zydell Shaq and another player were arrested and Zeidel faced charges of assaulting a police officer and creating a riot. It was more of the same in 1963 when Zydell returned west as a Seattle totem. The lowlights of his two-year stay in Seattle included a fine for spitting at an umpire and nearly being kicked out of the league after a nasty stick fight with Blades forward William's career was coming to an end, so Larry had become bitter. His fate as a minor leaguer called his eight years in Hershey a dead end because the Bears were not affiliated with any NHL club.

Zydell returned to the AHL with the Cleveland Barons for two seasons at the end of the 6667 season. Zeidel sent the career brochure and resume to all 12 teams in the newly expanded NHL, former Edmonton Flyers teammates Bud Poyle and Keith Allen, had taken the reins of the expansion Philadelphia Flyers and took an incredible risk on Zeidel, now 39, after 13 long seasons in the minors Larry Zeidel was back in the bigs and delivered with a plus 17 rating plus minus In 6768, equally important, he became a mentor to his young defensive teammate Joe Watson and helped calm his roommate's nerves. Young goalkeeper Bernie Parrant Zydell was determined to reform his bad boy image by commenting that he was playing like a choir boy.

But not everyone was convinced that Zeidel could continue to crush his predatory nature. Veteran hockey columnist Dick Bedos hailed Zydell's attempted rehabilitation in this way. Mr. Zeidel is an excessively intense member of Philadelphia. The Flyers have transformed from an ogre without education to an illiterate werewolf still eager to drink the enemy's blood, preferably at room temperature. Betos was proven right, the werewolf would return and this time it was personal on March 7, 1968, the Flyers were playing a neutral site game at home. in Toronto when the roof of the Philadelphia Spectrum was damaged by a storm, it was here, on the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens, that Seidel and Boston's Eddie Shack would renew and dangerously escalate their 10-year rivalry moments after Zydell leveled Shaq with a cross check of both players.

They engaged in an ugly stick fight that left both men bloodied and bruised, reminiscent of the 1958 incident with Shaq Zydel, and then attempted to rip the Boston locker room door off its hinges after both were ejected. nhl president clarence campbell suspended shaq for three games at zeidel for four clearly, zydell's attack wasn't just about settling grudges on the ice, but what caused him to become so unhinged? According to Zeidel's quote, almost the entire Boston team tried to intimidate me for being the only Jewish player in the league. They said they would not be satisfied until they put me in the gas chamber, however, Clarence Campbell denied reports that Zeidel had been subjected to anti-Semitic insults before the double cabin and the owner of the leaflets, Ed Snyder, agreed. and said shaq had nothing to do with any of the vicious insults in the competitive harassment reports were exaggerated.

Zydell also admitted that Eddie Shack did not make anti-Semitic comments. The Bruins also vehemently denied the charges. In fact, a Bruins player accused by Zeidel Ford Tommy Williams wasn't even dressed for the game or sitting anywhere near the bench area, Bruin center Phyllis Posito commented that just before Shag Zeidel's altercation he and Zydel had bumped into each other had verbal exchanges, i dropped my stick and said a couple of things to zydell, i remembered esposito but i didn't refer to him being jewish, but i will say this, he certainly referred to my italian nationality and finally two fans who attended That night they stated that Bruins players made offensive comments to Zeidel only after the altercation with Shaq and now Zeidel returned to the midfielders for the 68-69 season, but was demoted after nine games when veteran blueliner Alan Stanley was acquired.

From Toronto Rock's 20-year reign of terror ended While riding buses and staying in cheap hotels for 20 mostly minor league seasons, Zydel saved and invested his money wisely and in retirement would embark on a successful career. as a stockbroker, but his story does not have a happy ending. Larry Zeidel disappeared in a fog of incessant headaches and angry tremors for decades after his tough hockey career Larry Zeidel spiraled into bizarre behavior into erratic actions, his marriage fell apart and his family became increasingly distant. Later in his life he was sometimes homeless and often refused help Larry Zeidel passed away on June 17, 2014 at the age of 86, but his hockey story still lingers One more important chapter upon his passing Larry's family donated his brain to the boston university cte medical research center it was determined that zeidel's brain showed clear evidence of significant cte he probably suffered over 100 concussions according to the bu clinical report and lost consciousness more than 10 times larry Zeidel died proud of the fierce way he played hockey because it was all he knew, but Zydell died ignorant of the costs his reckless aggression would ultimately have on himself and likely his many victims.

Stanley Cup Champion Right 52 Detroit Undefeated Defenseman Undefeated great, five goals in eight games, four shutouts, that's great man, don't talk to them, you're playing, we hope you enjoyed this look back at the incredible life and career of larry the rock zeidel, click on the videos on your screen and subscribe. for more classic hockey stories