NHL Player Zarley Zalapski Dies at 49

I won the Canadian Open in 1970 at the London Hunt and Country Club in London, Ontario, CANADA. Two years prior, a boy was born in Ontario. The boy’s father, with the last name Zalapski, knew of me as a PGA Tour pro golfer. So he named his son after me–Zarley Zalapski. You’d think this boy’s father had a sense of humor to name his son that. People have always kidded me about my unusual name, including Bob Hope. But how about Zarley Zalapski! As strange as that name is, it still sort of seems to roll off your tongue with ease. (Canadians are fond of saying “sort of.”)

I never met any of those Zalapskis, including Zarley. Surely, he was the only guy to ever have Zarley as a first name. I never learned what he middle name was. That boy grew up to be a good hockey player in the NHL. But Zarley Zalapski, unknown to lot of people I guess, had a heart problem. It caused his early death last week at 49 years of age. BTW, I’m related to all Zarleys in the world except this Zarley.

Zarley Zalapski played 637 NHL games as a defenseman for Calgary (1993-1998), Pittsburgh, Hartford, Montreal and Philadelphia from 1987 to 2000. He then retired to live in Calgary, Ontario. Calgary Flames president and CEO Ken King said of Zarley Zalapski, “This is a terrible loss of a man with great character who truly loved the game of hockey.”

Here is an article about it.