Meet the Most VIOLENT Player in Hockey History

philadelphia flyers defenseman larry the rock zydel was called the dirtiest player in hockey a vicious soulless maniac who instigated some of the most violent stick-swinging attacks in hockey history his final act of on-ice mayhem a gory bloodbath with boston bruins ford eddie shack may be the event for which zeidel is most remembered but it was hardly his most egregious offense in fact it wasn't even his most brutal bout with shaq but the larry zeidel story is more complicated than just a rap sheet of his reckless assaults was idel a villain or a victim what fueled the burning rage the unrelenting hatred that zeidel unleashed on bloodied and maimed opponents in a savage 20-year professional hockey career he was an animal i tell you larry zeidel was born in montreal quebec in 1928 and raised in the gritty park extension neighborhood a blue-collar district home to many immigrants his was the only jewish family in this neighborhood zydell faced anti-semitism as soon as he began school as he was often assaulted by gangs simply because he was jewish he learned the only way to stop the torment was to beat up the bullies the six foot 190 pound zydell took 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 defender in three seasons according to zeidel it was his day in quebec that 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 have us involved in a real brawl and lose the game there were a lot of rugged guys in the league at that time too so maybe it was a matter of survival in 1950 zydell and his equally ornery defense mate bill heinl's senior were lured away from quebec by the saskatoon quakers of the western senior hockey league after a year in saskatoon and 43 ahl games in indianapolis zydell made his nhl debut during the 1951 52 seasons with the detroit red wings his start couldn't have been better he immediately won a stanley cup with detroit that year larry also played a couple of games with detroit the next season before being reassigned to the edmonton flyers for the remainder of the 1952-53 campaign it was during this stint in edmonton that zeidel's pension for bellicose behavior began to escalate easily his most notorious act of violence occurred on january 30 1953 at the edmonton gardens in a game of our saskatoon five minutes into the contest zydell and saskatoon's jack evans engaged in a horrific stick fight that was described this way quote the two of them went at it like medieval gladiators first they broke their sticks by banging them on each other's heads then they carved at each other with the jagged stumps covered with blood that began to trade punches finally they wrestled each other to the ice exhausted later zaidel recalled as we were being led from the ice i noticed i was bleeding more than evans so i grabbed a loose stick and hit him over the head with it funny but i remember holding back just a little bit as i hit him if i hadn't restrained myself he'd be dead the edmonton saskatoon rivalry resulted in more ugliness when in a later game zydell was taunted with anti-semitic slurs hurled by saskatoon fans zeidel was sold to the chicago blackhawks in 1953 and played one full nhl season in 1953-54 before he was traded back to detroit who again assigned him to edmonton for the 1954-55 season seidel would now embark 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 the edmondson team was loaded with young future hall of famers like johnny busick norm ullman and glenn hall but zeidel wasn't in the mood for a learning curve he reportedly said you punks are playing with my playoff money and you'll answer to me edmonton team owner while bill hunter recalled it was in these days that zeidel would often be found screaming crying and pulling his hair out after a loss zydell's wild temper was on full display in 1955 game in vancouver when he sucker punched phil moloney in the penalty box and was ejected from the game zydell went berserk refusing to leave the ice and challenging the entire vancouver team to fight before being restrained by eight police officers the american hockey league's hershey bears acquired zydell in 1955 and he provided the bears with savvy and physical defense over eight seasons earning 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 in roommate for two seasons in 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 on defense with him i was his roommate too great guy but on the ice and i was sitting in the penalty box and he just carved up a guy named gordy hannigan he had no i don't know what the word is but he'd carve you up as soon as look at you he never did anything to anybody that didn't do something to him or his teammates he never just went out and did it to get the game going and i remember he carved him up very he couldn't believe it i and gordy wouldn't go on the ice that's the way it was back in those days and i remember another time a guy named bo alec beau alec was a a guy kind of a smart addict a little bit for cleveland and he come to the blue line and now we're we're playing in hershey and he dumped the puck in he say go get it larry go get it larry and there you go back and get it so i went to one of their players and i said look tell bo not to fool around with this guy this guy's going to carve him up if he keeps it up sure enough he comes the red line dumps it in go get it larry he takes the stick jams it in his face guy goes down a pool of bloods around now all the guys come on everybody comes on and they're looking their team's looking like that and he skates around you think somebody would have done something with they were so terrified of him he's skating around the outside that you go chase and pull you go chase it on october 2nd 1958 zydell and the bears faced the new york rangers in an exhibition match in niagara falls ontario in the first period zydell and rookie eddie shack engaged in a stick-swinging battle that left zeidel with 10 stitches both players were ejected from the game undeterred zydell later charged that shack in the stands setting off a full-scale riot involving fans and law enforcement zydell shaq and another player were all arrested with zeidel facing charges of assaulting a police officer and creating a disturbance it was more the same in 1963 when zydell returned west as a seattle totem the low lights of his two-year stay in seattle was a fine for spitting at a referee and he was nearly banned from the league after a nasty stick fight with la blades forward william his career nearing its end larry had become bitter about his fate as a career minor leaguer he labeled his eight years in hershey as a dead end street because the bears were not affiliated with an nhl club zydell returned to the ahl with the cleveland barons for two seasons at the conclusion 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 reigns of the expansion philadelphia flyers and they took a chance on the now 39 year old zeidel incredibly after 13 long seasons in the minors larry zeidel was back in the bigs and he delivered with a plus 17 plus minus rating in 6768 just as important he became a mentor to his young defensive partner joe watson and helped calm the nerves of his roommate young netminder bernie parrant zydell was intent on reforming his bad boy image commenting that he was playing like a choir boy [Music] but not everyone was convinced zeidel could continue to squelch his predatory nature veteran hockey columnist dick bedos greeted zydell's attempt at rehabilitation this way mr zeidel is an excessively intense member of the philadelphia flyers he has altered from an unschooled ogre to illiterate werewolf still anxious to drink the enemy's blood preferably at room temperature betos proved to be right the werewolf would return and this time it was personal [Music] on march 7 1968 the flyers were playing a neutral site home game in toronto as the roof of the philadelphia spectrum was damaged in a storm it was here on maple leaf gardens ice 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 both players squared off in an ugly stick-swinging brawl that left both men bloodied and bruised reminiscent of the 1958 incident with shaq zydel then attempted to rip the boston dressing room door off its hinges after both were ejected nhl president clarence campbell suspended shaq for three games in zeidel for four clearly zydell's attack wasn't just about settling past on ice grudges but what was it that caused him to become so unhinged according to zeidel quote nearly the whole boston team tried to intimidate me about being the only jewish player in the league they said they wouldn't be satisfied until they put me in the gas chamber however clarence campbell denied reports that zeidel had been subjected to anti-semitic slurs prior to the dual shack and flyers owner ed snyder agreed stating quote shaq had nothing to do with any vicious name-calling in reports of competitive baiting were blown far out of proportion zydell also conceded that eddie shack made no anti-semitic remarks the bruins also vehemently denied the charges in fact one bruins player accused by zeidel ford tommy williams was not even dressed for the game or sitting anywhere near the bench area bruin center phyllis posito commented that just before the shag zeidel altercation he and zydel had bumped in had verbal exchanges i dropped my stick and said a couple of things to zydell recalled esposito but i didn't refer to his being jewish but i'll say this he certainly referred to my italian nationality and finally two fans in attendance that evening stated that bruins players made offensive comments to zeidel only after the stick swinging altercation with shaq now zeidel returned to the flyers for the 68-69 season but was demoted after nine games when veteran blue liner alan stanley was acquired from toronto the rock's 20-year reign of terror was over while riding the buses and staying in cheap hotels for 20 mostly minor league seasons zydel saved and wisely invested his money and in retirement he'd embark on a successful career as a stockbroker but his story does not have a happy ending larry zeidel vanished in a fog of unceasing headaches and tremors of rage for decades after his tough guy hockey career larry zeidel fell into a spiral of bizarre behavior in erratic actions his marriage crumbled and his family grew more and more distant later in life he was at times homeless and frequently refused help larry zeidel passed away on june 17 2014 at the age of 86 but his hockey story still had one more important chapter upon his passing larry's family donated his brain to the boston university cte center for medical research it was determined that zeidel's brain showed clear evidence of significant cte he likely suffered more than 100 concussions according to the bu clinical report and lost consciousness more than 10 times larry zeidel died proud of the ferocious way he played hockey because it was all he ever knew but zydell died ignorant of the costs his reckless aggression would ultimately have on himself and likely his many victims stanley cup champ right 52 detroit undefeated defense undefeated cool about five goals in eight games four shutouts that's cool man you don't talk to them you're playing we hope you enjoyed this look back at the amazing life and career of larry the rock zeidel click on the videos on your screen and subscribe for more classic hockey stories

Channel: Pro Hockey Alumni

Views: 425,107

Rating: 4.8551688 out of 5

Keywords: Mark Willand, World Hockey Association, NHL Alumni, Hockey Podcasts, Hockey Podcast, Pro Hockey Alumni

Id: hBtgZUyZFts

Length: 15min 36sec (936 seconds)

Published: Wed May 26 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/gottapoop]

Jesus. Proper psychopath on skates. What a wild time

[u/rockyrococo999]

What an incredible story. I had never heard of him.

Not that long ago but, a radically different time and mindset.

I couldn't imagine a guy like that lasting a season let alone 20 years in the minors and NHL nowadays.

[u/ChuckFeathers]

Tortured soul with a massive chip on his shoulder... Evidence of over 100 concussions, wow.

[u/Speed_Bump]

Punched a guy in the penalty box causing a cut and concussion. Fined $35 and that was probably because he refused to leave the ice.

[u/TheSewallSyrum]

So it wasn’t Ogie Oglethorpe?

[u/relapsze]

Wild that he was Cherry's D partner lol. Also crazy to believe this stuff just happened 50 years ago... wonder what the world will be like when I'm Cherrys age and current day is "back in the day"

[u/Skate_19]

Obviously whacking somebody with a stick is pretty messed up, but if they were saying antisemetic stuff to him, then they kind of deserve to get fucked up

[u/YoureAverageUsername]

Damn, put that in 4K would be terrorizing

[u/nashfrostedtips]

George Parros has entered the chat