Zellio Toppazzini
Zellio Louis Peter Toppazzini (January 5, 1930 – April 1, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 123 games in the National Hockey League. In the NHL, he played with the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the brother of Jerry Toppazzini, who played 11 seasons in the NHL, and the great-uncle of current NHL player Justin Williams.
| Zellio Toppazzini | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
January 5, 1930 Copper Cliff, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Died |
April 1, 2001 (aged 71) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
Boston Bruins New York Rangers Hershey Bears Providence Reds | ||
| Playing career | 1947–1964 | ||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
|---|---|
| 1964–1968 | Providence |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 31–60–1 (.342) |
Toppazzini spent most of his career with the American Hockey League's Providence Reds. Nicknamed "Topper", Toppazzini is the all-time leading scorer in Reds history. During his 12 years with the Reds, from 1951 to 1964, he amassed 279 goals, 448 assists and 727 points in 650 regular season games, and another 16–28–44 in playoff action. All are team records.
In 1955–56 the line of Toppazzini, Paul Larivee and Camille Henry spearheaded the Reds to both regular season and Calder Cup championships. Toppazzini earned career highs of 42 goals, 71 assists and 113 points in leading the AHL in scoring and in the playoffs he also added 7–13–20.
In 2000, The Rhode Island Reds Heritage Society named Toppazzini its "Player of the Century"; it presents an annual award in his honor. In 2012, Zellio was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame.
Toppazzini coached the Providence College hockey team for four seasons from 1964–65 through 1967–68 compiling a 31–60–1 (0.342) record. His best and only winning season behind the PC bench was his first year (1964–65) when the Friars went 14–11–1 (0.558). Toppazzini was replaced by Lou Lamoriello.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Friars (ECAC Hockey) (1964–1968) | |||||||||
| 1964–65 | Providence | 14–11–1 | 7–9–1 | 8th | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1965–66 | Providence | 7–14–0 | 2–12–0 | 14th | |||||
| 1966–67 | Providence | 3–17–0 | 2–13–0 | 14th | |||||
| 1967–68 | Providence | 7–18–0 | 3–13–0 | 15th | |||||
| Providence: | 31–60–1 | 14–47–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 31–60–1 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database