Mario Zucchini

Mario Zucchini was an Italian ice hockey center who was born in Italy but later moved in 1913 to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he learned to play hockey. In the 1930s he returned to Italy where he played three seasons with Milano’s Diavoli Rossoneri club. He won two consecutive Italian titles in 1935-36, and helped Diavoli win the prestigious 1935 Spengler Cup in Davos (Switzerland).

Internationally Zucchini competed at the 1934 and 1935 World Championships and the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he became famous after a superb pass where he dribbled past several opponents in overtime against the United States for an historic 2-1 victory. He returned to the USA later in 1936 where he lived until his death in 1997 at the age of 86.