Zellio Toppazzini

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1964–1968	Providence
Head coaching record
Overall	31–60–1 (.342)

Zellio Toppazzini
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; Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career	1947–1964

Plaque at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in honor of Toppazzini

Zellio Louis Peter Toppazzini (January 5, 1930^[1] – April 1, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 123 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Chicago Black Hawks between 1949 and 1956. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1948 to 1964, was mainly spent with the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League. He was the brother of Jerry Toppazzini, who played in the NHL from 1952 to 1964, and the great-uncle^{[citation needed]} of Justin Williams, who played in the NHL from 2000 to 2020.

Playing career

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.

Post-playing career

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.

Toppazzini was inducted as a charter member of the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1946–47	Copper Cliff Jr. Redmen	NOJHA	9	10	3	13	6	5	4	4	8	5
1947–48	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	33	27	18	45	53	3	4	4	8	2
1948–49	Boston Bruins	NHL	5	1	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
1948–49	Hershey Bears	AHL	49	9	14	23	15	—	—	—	—	—
1949–50	Boston Bruins	NHL	36	5	5	10	18	—	—	—	—	—
1949–50	Hershey Bears	AHL	34	16	9	25	6	—	—	—	—	—
1950–51	Boston Bruins	NHL	4	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
1950–51	Hershey Bears	AHL	12	6	5	11	2	—	—	—	—	—
1950–51	New York Rangers	NHL	55	14	14	28	27	—	—	—	—	—
1951–52	New York Rangers	NHL	16	1	1	2	4	—	—	—	—	—
1951–52	Cincinnati Mohawks	AHL	7	2	4	6	0	—	—	—	—	—
1951–52	Providence Reds	AHL	33	20	25	45	6	11	3	7	10	2
1952–53	Providence Reds	AHL	64	35	32	67	23	—	—	—	—	—
1953–54	Providence Reds	AHL	70	33	43	76	18	—	—	—	—	—
1954–55	Providence Reds	AHL	62	21	53	74	12	—	—	—	—	—
1955–56	Providence Reds	AHL	64	42	71	113	44	9	7	13	20	2
1956–57	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL	7	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1956–57	Providence Reds	AHL	44	13	40	53	16	5	0	1	1	4
1957–58	Providence Reds	AHL	70	27	42	69	14	5	1	1	2	0
1958–59	Providence Reds	AHL	67	17	38	55	14	—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	Providence Reds	AHL	68	31	34	65	2	—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	Providence Reds	AHL	66	21	36	57	2	3	1	2	3	0
1962–63	Providence Reds	AHL	61	16	24	40	10	6	4	4	8	0
1963–64	Providence Reds	AHL	14	1	6	7	0	1	0	0	0	0
AHL totals			785	310	476	786	184	40	16	28	44	8
NHL totals			123	21	22	43	49	2	0	0	0	0

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
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 Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

^ "Zellio Toppazzini #15 RW". www.nhl.com.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey winger born in the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Zellio Toppazzini #15 RW". www.nhl.com.

[1]

v t e Providence Friars men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Rhode Island Auditorium (1952–1973) Schneider Arena (1973–present)
Head coaches	Joseph T. Landry (1926–1927) John Graham (1926–1927) Clement Trihey (1926–1927) Dick Rondeau (1952–1956) Tom Eccleston (1956–1964) Zellio Toppazzini (1964–1968) Lou Lamoriello (1968–1983) Steve Stirling (1983–1985) Mike McShane (1985–1994) Paul Pooley (1994–2005) Tim Army (2005–2011) Nate Leaman (2011–present)
Seasons	1926–27 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1984) Hockey East (1984–Present)
Rivalries	Brown
Culture & lore	Mayor's Cup
All-time leaders	Ron Wilson (250 Points) Rob Gaudreau (103 Goals) Hayden Hawkey (72 Wins)
National championships	2015
Frozen Four appearances	1964 1983 1985 2015 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances	1964 1978 1981 1983 1985 1989 1991 1996 2001 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1964 1981 Hockey East: 1985 1996
Providence College · Providence, RI