The Penguins have lost a member of their extended family. Zarley Zalapski, the team’s top pick in the 1986 Entry Draft, passed away at the age of 49. The cause of death was not revealed.
Blessed with a chiseled physique, great wheels and marvelous skills, the 6’1″ 211-pounder emerged as one of the Penguins’ top offensive defensemen of the late 1980s and early ’90s. In 190 games with the black and gold, Zalapski tallied 33 goals, 102 assists and 135 points, 11th all-time among Pens’ defensemen.
Enjoying arguably his finest all-around season in 1990-91, “ZZ Top” seemed set for a long and eventful stay in the ‘Burgh. But on March 4, 1991, the 22-year-old blueliner was dealt to Hartford along with John Cullen and Jeff Parker in a shocking six-player swap for Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson.
While “The Trade” propelled the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup, Zalapski performed well for a poor Whalers team. In 1991-92, he scored a career-best 20 goals and 57 points. The following season he registered 51 assists and 65 points, both career highs, along with 14 goals. Zalapski also skated for Calgary and Montreal before winding down his NHL career with the Flyers in 1999-2000.
His departure from the NHL ushered in a second career in Europe. Over the next decade, the Edmonton native played for teams in Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland before retiring at the age of 41.
Through it all, the Steel City remained close to his heart.
“I loved (Pittsburgh),” he shared in a 2010 interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I really enjoyed the city, and the people were great.”
Hey Rick,
I was a Zalapski fan. This is a sad day for me. Remember the season with all the double digit players; Cullen (11), Dykstra (22), Zalapski (33), Brown (44), Mario (66) and the Doctor (77) and the promotions the team ran off of that? Too bad Murph was on the team yet.
Hey Other Rick,
Being a bit of a rock head back then, I wanted then-GM Eddie Johnston to draft a more physical player. But Zalapski quickly grew on me.
In some ways, I think he was 20 years ahead of his time. There was more of an emphasis on physical play back then, and while Zarley had good size and strength, he wasn’t a bruiser. With his combination of size, skill and mobility, he would’ve been a prototype defenseman in today’s NHL.
Switching gears, can you imagine the skill level the Pens had on defense for those few months when they had Coffey, Murphy and Zalapski?
Rick
Hey Rick,
I was a bit of a cement head myself back then but was starting to change. Memories of Colin Campbell, then Russ Anderson having to fight the entire Bruins team by themselves in two different but back-to-back play-off years because the Pens hadn’t had more than 1 guy per season who stand-up for his team (pretty much like right now) still haunted me. However, I was beginning to appreciate having some offensive “D” men. I guess the Carlyle – Faubert, brief as it was, era whetted my appetite.
So I did want some bruisers back there on the blue-line, like I would love to have at least one right now who could clear the front of the net, I didn’t want that at the expense of “Z” squared. However, you have to give to get and getting Ulfie was exactly what the team needed defensively. And flipping Cullen who I also liked for Francis made that trade the coup of the decade.
About having Coffey, Murphy, and Zalapski at the same time, well, a team would be hard pressed to pull that off in this era. You would have to have drafted those types of players and have at least one, maybe two of them still basically on their first contract. Coffey and Murphy could command at least $10 mil dollars a piece and Zalapski in the $ 6 – 7 mil range in today’s market, if they weren’t on their first contracts. Even under next years projected $78 – $82 mil caps, tying up $26 mil in just those 3 D – men wouldn’t leave much room for enough quality forwards and a goalie.
Back then, in the pre cap ear, Baldwin was spending money like a drunken sailor.
Rick