Meet the Most VIOLENT Player in Hockey History 

I give the guy props for playing hockey instead of becoming a serial killer.

Happy Gilmore holds the league record for being the only guy to ever take off his skate and try to stab a guy with it

Larry had the classic signs of late onset CTE from too many concussions and blows to the skull. Most people think you can only get it in your 40’s but often it doesn’t exhibit symptoms, aggression being the major one, until the 60’s and 70’s. It can only be determined post mortem.

Larry actually lived in my neighborhood in Philly towards the later years of his life, a family took him in. He would show up occasionally to the bar me and friends went to during Flyer’s playoff games with a suit on. I ended up sitting next to him and introduced myself not really knowing his background except he was a former original Flyer. He immediately made a fist and put it near my face, he was just kidding though, he shook my hand (his hands were huge even for an old guy). We then had an awesome conversation about the Flyers of the 90’s, he was a really awesome guy.

Dear Lord, 100 concussions. No helmets, getting hit over the head with sticks.....I was born in 68', so by the time I got into hockey it was much more civilized. These guys were really warriors. As someone else mentioned, Gretzky wouldn't of finished one game in this era, just brutal. Thank you for this video.

This is why there is a rule that anyone who breaks their stick has to drop it immediately for the officials to pick it up, otherwise they’re penalized for carrying a weapon

Great video, met Larry on the bus while playing Junior with his son Jay. Larry joined us and graciously shared stories and knowledge about the game and his career. A real treat and the memory still fresh! Thanks for this, excellent job.

I had the opportunity to speak with many Cleveland Barons 1950s & 60s alumni, and to a one, they cited Larry Zeidel as an opponent to be feared, wary of, hated, or respected. Also, admired. They understood the long toil in the AHL hoping for a shot at the NHL, and with expansion came the chance for many who could hold on that long. Zeidel did just that- not scoring goals, but giving and taking punishment. They respected his tenacity.

What Im really getting is that in the 50s there were a hell of a lot of stick fights

Half way through the video, I knew he suffered from undiagnosed concussions. He had all the classic symptoms. Wonderfully researched video, thank you.

"... still anxious to drink the enemy's blood, preferrably at room temperature" Sports writers sure don't turn a phrase like *that* anymore.

Outstanding production, incredible research and vintage materials.

The accusations of on ice anti-Semitism are disputed as you mentioned, it should be noted that his Grandparents did die in the Holocaust. A lot of people who come from traumatic backgrounds (i.e Natives and Residential Schools, the Irish and the Famine, Jews and the Holocaust, etc) gain that confrontational attitude from that generational trauma and take it out on people. I'm not condoning his behavior, obviously, but there's too many idiots out there that lack any psychological conscientiousness and think that some people are just born screwed up when that is obviously not the case 99% of the time. Larry was human like everybody else, it's just a shame that in his time mental health wasn't taken seriously. If anything, his brain being donated is a silver lining for future research on what we can do to move forward and help others to avoid a similar life to his by breaking the cycle.

As much as you wanna hate and despise Larry Zeidel for being a "goon" it was what hockey was to have at least one "enforcer" on a team But you can't take away the fact he was on a Stanley Cup winning team and his name will always be in the Cup RIP Larry Zeidel

Larry helped at a summer hockey camp for a couple of weeks. He was a nice guy and great with the kids. The famous stick fight with Eddie Shack started when Shack

Larry was my partner and Great friend at JMS where we worked together for I guess about 20years. Many great memories and unreal stories , many of which you covered very accurately! Knew his family who he cared about immensely fairly well. We miss him!

Probably because he was from Montreal, Zeidel was all wound up when he played the Habs. During one game at the Forum, he doled out a half-dozen big hits, including one on the Rocket. My father told me that there was an article in the Montreal Star following the game, discussing his big hits. When the two teams played in Chicago, Zeidel body-checked a Canadiens player near the Montreal bench. The Habs' Bert Olmstead, who was seated on the bench, pulled Zeidel's stick out of his hands. Zeidel dropped his gloves and began fighting several players who were seated on the Montreal bench.

It was a different era, a time when grit was an absolute necessity. He was just more vicious than most.

I grew up in the 70s and remember very well the way the NHL used to be. I don't know much about Zeidel,but I'm not surprised he ended up the way he did.

Larry had "likely suffered more than 100 concussions". OH. MY. GOODNESS.

My father and I attended that stick swinging game in the 67-68 season. I believe Bob Probert also donated his brain to science for the same reason.

My uncle played with Zeidel on the Blackhawks. I once asked him about Zeidel and all he did was shake his head.

I'm a rural southern Appalachian mountains born and raised hockey fan, I love the game even thou everyone else around here is all about football, I never have cared for football and don't know the first thing about it. My love and loyalty lie with hockey, because it's a thrilling, skillful and beautiful game. To this day I'm surprised going back into history that the old timers that played in the days before helmets, and keep in mind for the longest time even goalies weren't given helmets; I'm surprised any of them survived except that perhaps aside from a few guys like Larry that most of the game was more civilized and they didn't go out of their way to injure other players. I don't even think Larry went out of his way, he simply put the tough guys giving his team or himself a hard time in their place. Still it's amazing to me that more weren't killed or injured in the days before helmets for all players including goalies by the flying pucks (those things are hard solid rubber and while with wood sticks didn't travel as fast still got up there in speed), sharp skate blades or by sticks.

Enjoyed learning about the history of The Original "Rock". I played briefly against him after he retired at Radnor Rink (long gone) around 1969-70. He was a washed up defensemen, recently cut from the Flyers. He was a perfect gentlemen on the ice, but who, in their right mind, was going to challenge him. People just don't realize how skilled he was. I thought that I was a decent player that first evening, but a professional hockey player, even a retired old defensemen, really opened my eyes! RIP Larry

Well, he overcame adversity, played for my Cleveland Barons, and lived a long ass life even with cte destroying his brain. All I got to say is Rest in Peace ya old Rock

Very cool...I've seen alot of these players from my hockey card collections, but they were 10 years ahead of my time. Keep the stories coming, great job!

Larry Zeidel was like a father to me..........he taught me how to play hockey......he was like a father.....>I loved him and he had a heart of gold...........RIP Larry we love you

This channel is pure hockey gold. Thank you for this story.

I knew Larry until the end through my dad, being only 20 now I was quite young. He almost left his Stanley Cup ring in our car once, when we were going to a Flyers game with him. He was always a great guy in his later years. Miss him and his wit.

Thank God the stick fights are extremely rare these days. Excellent video, thanks very much. I grew up watching the new Haven Blades, and new Haven Nighthawks of the AHL. Brawls on the ice and in the stands. Police involvement and blood everywhere. You could hear the players and coaches and referees on the ice ,what they said and yelled. A different era.

The guy was a complete and total nut job. He took out his frustration playing hockey. I’m a 70 year old German, born there. My parents and I emigrated to Canada in 1957 when I was 4. I got teased and ridiculed relentlessly because WWII was still so fresh in people’s minds and of course that I am German triggered it, but I didn’t grow up with spite and hatred. Zeitel was a maniac, period. I remember so well the Ted Green-Wayne Maki travesty which left Green brain damaged. Todd Bertuzzi slamming Steve Moore’s head into the ice, resulting in brain damage and ending his career as well. I’m so happy the days of “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out” are over. People like a Zeidrel, Maki, Bertuzzi and let’s not forget the loose canon “Broadstreet Bullies” Philadelphia Flyers have no place in hockey, in any sport or occupation.

1:10 Love that '73 Pontiac Le Mans.

Excellent quality in bringing history to life with your storytelling.

Thanx for the post I thoroughly enjoyed that! Well done 👍

You did a great job with this video. I loved it all and it was clear thst a lot of work went into making it. Thank you. I enjoyed it very much. ❤

Thanks for sharing. I have followed the NHL for over 50 years and now learn about Larry Zeidel.

Nice to see one of the photos I had taken some years back in Park Ex , looking down Querbes street from Ogilvy

this is honestly kind of sad. he clearly had some mental health situations that were not addressed early in his life/career and the concussions made them abundantly worse as he went along

Made it to 86 with cte, that's impressive.

Excellent production, kudos to Pro Hockey Alumni!

Thanks PHA. Always great content. One of those rare Australian 🇦🇺 hockey folks here checking in

This was once again a great video man! Love your work!

Former hockey fan. I went to many games in Montreal in the 70's. I love tough hockey. I said tough, not armed. Fighting with a hockey stick is not fighting in my opinion. Anyway, the way I see it is, he was definately a loose canon. Some of the cleanest fights I saw was Montreal vs Philadelphia or Boston. For me, fights are part of hockey. Clean fights that is. Goon against goons only. That is why I didn't watch a single minute of hockey since 30 years. Players I scared to injure their hands and not being able to sign their contracts!!! Great video by the way! Cheers

To be English, to be Jewish in Parc extension in Montreal he had to learn how to fight. He was a nasty piece of work.

Zeidel is a player I've never heard of? With a rep like that Its amazing. Great research. Thank you...

Fantastic video -- very enlightening. I'd never heard of the guy but what a great story

Man would love to see more story's of the old days

Wow... great series... thanks, cheers from Vancouver!!

Kudos Mark Willand, this is an exceptionally good video. Well written and presented.

Very well done video. Subscribed and looking forward to watching more.

Great vid and story! I rarely stick around for the whole thing but this was superb.

Makes ol’ #8 Shultz of the flyers seem like a kindergarten teacher!🤣

I played for the Hershey Junior Bears as a teenager, Hershey has a lot of hockey history for a small town. Bob Hartley was the bears coach before being promoted to head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, where he won a cup in 2001 (this was Ray Bourque's final season and his first and only cup win). During the summer Hartley still held a hockey camp for youth players in Hershey and brought the cup to camp that summer, which meant a lot for a small town kid. *In a note completely unrelated to hockey but sports related, Hersheypark arena was once the venue for a historic NBA game. The NBA used to hold regular season games in smaller towns to bring more attraction to the still growing league, and the then Philadelphia Warriors would play 3 games in Hershey during the 1962 season. In their third game in Hershey that season Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 pts against the New York Knicks for a record that still stands to this day and is one of the most iconic of all sports records. This was prior television deals and most games were only broadcast on the radio, and as was standard practice at the time the original radio recordings were eventually recorded over by the broadcasters. It wasn't until 1990 that someone discovered a full recording of the 4th quarter and postgame show, which the owner had made during a 3AM re-broadcast while they were a college student at UMASS, otherwise there wouldn't be anything but a wide variety of accounts about how the game ended from different players interviewed over the years. It is now part of the national recording registry.

@Pro Hockey Alumni, Wow! You did an excellent job researching, organizing, writing and narrating this remarkable biography. Cheers!

Excellent research was done for this video. Nice job.

6:08 just as I was wonder if Don Cherry had any stories about him! Great job Pro Hockey Alumni.

Met the Rock when I was a kid at a Flyers carnival. Dudes hands were like oven mits! Great guy in my book.

And now.....from mile 41 Saskatchewan.. ..... I was a young cop pulling overtime at a new Mexico scorpions game. They started fighting..... someone in the crowd turned to me and said. "Shouldnt you be arresting them right now"? You got a point there... but I grew up playing hockey in Massachusetts....so I'll let em go.

I just discovered your channel and I'm binge-watching, subscribed, and thumbs upping every video! If you ever cast about for a video idea I would love to see you do something on the brief Colorado Rockies franchise. I played youth hockey as a kid and we used to stuff envelopes beneath the stands for the Rockies to advertise season ticket packages and box seats in exchange for tickets to that night's game. One of the games was the first Boston Bruins matchup with Don Cherry coaching the rockies. They stopped the game with 2 minutes left on the clock because there were so many ejections due to the pandemonium and fights that neither side could field enough players for a 3 on 3 finish. It's a little known and totally crazy little piece of NHL history. Although the Rockies stint in Colorado was a short one, it was a very cool story, and having it all happen in my backyard as a young 12-year-old player.. I was on cloud nine!

I got to see Larry play in a game in Philly where the Flyers were playing the Leafs in 1968. The Leafs were Stanley cup champions. Larry was a blue liner and had a shoulder shrug as he stood on the blue line. You couldn't miss it. I played a lot of hockey in the Philly area and Larry actually reffed a game I played in. The shoulder shrug was gone and he was so relaxed on the ice. Old time hockey.

I have a copy of Pro Hockey magazine from 68/69. Complete round up of all 12 Teams!! 60 Cents. The cover features Hull shooting on Gumper with the caption 'Will Bobby Hull Hang Up his Skates. There is an epic feature covering the stick swinging fight and more called 'Blood on the Ice' and an article showing a dying Bill Masterson calling for helmets. Amazing time piece.

Did he ever have a confrontation with one Gordon (elbows) Howe. Howe made mincemeat of Eddie (clear the track) Shack. The uncontrolled urge to win was out of control with hockey's less elite players. I scored a goal on Turk Broda in an oldtimers game and he was so pissed off he nearly took my head off with his goal stick. Great video production - thanks.

Love your stuff man always learn something new👊

Did anyone ever try just giving him a hug?

Quakers is one of the the most ironic team names ever heard for a Goon, I love it.

Wow! What a good production! Congraulation.

"Belicose behavior"....love it👍🏼

screaming and crying after a loss, but also willing to almost kill a player during a game. what a wild hypocritical man.

That the NHL condoned attempted manslaughter is shameful. That said, John Ferguson of the Canadiens was the scariest player I've ever seen. No one was safe. You'd have to be nuts to swing a stick at him.

Made it to 86 with severe CTE. Amazing.

12:08 Single flashing frame reads: "The Rock" "Larry Zeidel" "The RAGE That" "Fueled Hockey's" "Most Violent" "Stickman" I have no idea if it's in the description or if someone has already commented it. But if you wanted to know like me and is scowering the comments, here it is :) (Edit: It's the bloody picture as well)

To quote Mr. Cherry from another broadcast, "Boy, hockey was great back in those days!" I didn't know that he and Shack had an earlier incident; it's too bad video doesn't exist of either. According to newspaper accounts of the 1968 duel, Eddie the Entertainer was the one who was booed by the fans, which sounds surprising. The Bruins won the game 2-1.

and my partner was Larry Zeidel, we called him the rock, you never knew what was going to happen next! - Keep your head up kid the don cherry story

That was an awesome video, I remember reading about that famous Brutal stick fight ,and seeing the pictures of him ,& the Boston opponent bloodied up!!

Thanks for the knowledge!

I find the whole thing sad. Bullied as a kid, then over does the getting even and carries it into the NHL. Head injury after injury, CTE, his family dysfunctional because of it. Makes the saying "turn the other cheek" apply in this. I know hockey is a violent sport but it's sad he couldn't control his temper.

Figures that he played for Filthidelphia.

Thank you for this, I learned a lot. Rest in Peace

Happy Gilmore tried to stab a man with his skate.

Great video, ive always had a massive problem with people who used sticks as weapons, if you have a problem throw punches not slashes, but then again i didnt play in the 50s

Don Cherry's stories about Larry are absolutely legendary.

I always have my respects towards the people who make these documentaries, even if it’s good or bad, they still take incredible effort into making. I just want to appreciate the people who do makes these, thank you.

I never knew there was a connection from the old Edmonton Flyers minor league team to the Philadelphia Flyers that we know today. Cool video.

Minor League hockey was legendary for being violent and full of fights. When I was growing up, they advertized the local hockey team with footage of fights! I'll never forget those commercials. Minor League hockey could be quite competitive back then. There weren't as many NHL times back then, and it was hard to break into the league. As a result, there were some very good hockey players in the minors. I wonder if Zeidel ever played "Goldie" Goldthorpe, the inspiration behind the character Ogie Oglethorpe in "Slap Shot", who was legendary for his penalty minutes.

Subbed. Professional quality mate. I'm a rare case of I have zero interest in hockey but I love and respect warriors/enforcers something primal that appeals to me same thing happened to UFC as hockey it got faster,more finesse more atheletic but lost what I loved a certain rawness. Love well done documentaries so this ticks a lot of boxes for me.

It's a shame we're only now coming to realize the cumulative damage multiple concussions cause in the human brain.

Going have to get some of his sports cards to add to my collection.

This man was a gladiator when he stepped in the rink.

Hockey was brutally violent right until the late 90s really. When I was a kid my father would take me and my brother to Le Colisee in Laval where we grew up to watch Les Voisins de Laval and Mario Lemieux. The Quebec Major Hockey League (the Q as it was called) was infamous for its violent play as noted in the video. Going to hockey games during the 70s-90s era was like going to some sort of Roman gladiator ritual that happened to be a sport. It was wild. Part of me misses the sheer energy and visceral rage of the rivalries. Adams Division. For hockey fans who remember. Amirite?

Grew up reading about Larry Zeidel in the Hockey Magazines and saw him play a couple of times with the Flyers at the end of his career. As a Jewish kid playing junior hockey he was a crazy role model to follow but he always inspired me!

Hey guys I love ur channel I love hockey but I don't know anything's pre 1988 so thanks for keeping the flame going

I love the game of hockey. And while I understand the brutality of the game, I gotta say... this is still one of the saddest stories in sports. R.I.P Larry Zeidel.

Enjoyed this Story ,well done

Fantastic reporting, great job.

One season (1971-72) Larry Zeidel did color commentary for the Flyers radio broadcasts (WCAU-AM 1210) and his commentary was indeed colorful.

Ending was WOW!!! Great info. 😁🙏🇺🇸👍

He taught Brad Marchand everything he knows 😂🤔🤣🤣

wow! I've bin watching hockey since the late 50's and I had never heard of him, what a story!

I never minded fighting but you’ve gotta leave sticks out of it. The flyers ruined hockey for a time and now the game is really great.

First time I ever heard of this guy. Crazy.