Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under the organization of Taylor Haase, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
___________________
Name: Zarley Zalapski
Number: 33
Position: Defenseman
Born: April 22, 1968, in Edmonton, Alberta
Seasons with Penguins: 1988-91
Statistics with Penguins: 190 games, 33 goals, 102 assists in regular season; 11 games, one goal, eight assists in playoffs.
WHY ZALAPSKI?
Obviously, the name always stuck out. From Rob Zamuner to Harry Zolnierczyk, there have only been 53 NHL players whose last name has started with the letter 'Z'. But there's only been one who's initials are Z.Z. That, of course, would be Zarley Zalapski. ZZ Tops.
Named Zarley in honor of a former golfer (his father was a big fan of Kermit Zarley), Zalapski also stood out on a hockey rink.
Playing in an era when it wasn't uncommon for players to smoke cigarettes or stuff their overcoats with six-packs before boarding the team bus, Zalapski was way ahead of his time. Former teammate Phil Bourque recalls that the young defenseman was a physical specimen, one of the most finely-conditioned athletes he'd come across.
“He was a bit of a phenomenon with his build, how strong he was,” the Penguins' radio color man told DKPittsburghSports.com last season. “He had these over-developed thighs that made him an incredible skater.”
Zalapski was the fourth overall pick in the 1986 draft, selected behind only Joe Murphy (Detroit), Jimmy Carson (Los Angeles) and Neil Brady (New Jersey). He was the first defenseman off the board, taken five spots ahead of the Rangers' Brian Leetch.
After playing for Team Canada at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games, he came to the Penguins as a 19-year-old and made an immediate impact, registering 11 points (three goals) in 15 games. In just his seventh game, Zalapski had a four-point game — his first career goal and three assists — against Philadelphia:
The Penguins were a team on the rise in 1988-89 and Zalapski was a big part of it. He was a mobile offensive defenseman with a big shot. That season, Zalapski scored 45 points in 58 games and then 31 points in 51 games the following season.
But during his relatively short time in Pittsburgh, he also played in the sizable shadow cast by Paul Coffey and, later, Larry Murphy. When Murphy was acquired from Minnesota in December of 1990, Zalapski became expendable:
As the Penguins were cruising to a playoff berth but likely little more than that, GM Craig Patrick pulled the trigger on what is simply known as "The Trade," a deal that would transform the organization for decades.
As Zalapski was enjoying the best season of his career with 12 goals and 48 points in 66 games, he was dealt to Hartford along with John Cullen and Jeff Parker for Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings on March 4, 1991. Ultimately the move pushed the Penguins from contender to champions in 1991, and again in '92.
But for Zalapski and Cullen, who had been a part of the rise of the Penguins in the late '80s, it was a missed opportunity to win the Stanley Cup.
“We talk about what we got back in those deals but if it wasn’t for those guys being such good players, No. 1, and playing so well at that time, and had their stock raised which allowed us to get back what we got,” said Bourque. “There’s a group that went on to win Cups without them, but you have to salute them and thank them for being such good players. They helped us get what we really needed.”
Zalapski went on to enjoy a good but hardly great career. He played eight more seasons in the NHL for the Whalers, Flames, Canadiens and Flyers but never advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs. Zalapski enjoyed his best statistical season in 1991-92 with Hartford when he recorded 20 goals and 37 assists for 57 points.
Zalapski spent the final nine years of his playing career in various European leagues and retired after the 2009-10 season at age 42.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Zalapski died on Dec. 10, 2017, in Calgary. He had been admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit two months earlier with a viral infection and was released later that month after extensive treatment. Due to complications from the infection, Zalapski died in his sleep. He was 49 years old. He left behind two sons, aged 17 and 12.
IT WAS SPOKEN
“'Z' was 210 pounds. He was fit before fitness was the thing. I rented Pierre Larouche’s house with Zarley for a year in Pittsburgh. He was a helluva player. He could really skate and, boy, he could shoot. He had it all.” -- Paul Coffey, on Zalapski.
“At the time, we thought Zarley was better than Leetch. Dave King was the Canadian national team coach back then and he loved Zarley. I talked to Dave an awful lot before we drafted him. I mean, he was 17 years old playing on our national team. Not many kids could do that." -- Bruce Haralson, Penguins amateur scout in 1986, who persuaded Eddie Johnston to take Zalapski.
HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 33
Ziggy Palffy
Dan Lacouture
ANY DEBATE?
No, zero. Although Palffy came to the Penguins with great expectations, he, like the 2005-06 team failed miserably to live up to them. He returned to his native Slovakia after one season and 11 goals. Lacouture may have been most famous for getting hit in the face with a souvenir puck thrown from the stands. There's no debate here.
Tomorrow: Taylor Haase has No. 34.
Yesterday: Dick Tarnstrom
