Former NHLer to get press box in his honour at Niagara Falls’ arena

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Published September 30, 2022 at 1:29 pm

Steve Ludzik, a former NHL player, long associated with Niagara Falls, will have the press box at the Gale Centre named in his honour on October 7. (Photo: Sportsnet)

A former NHL player, long associated with Niagara Falls, will have the press box at the Gale Centre named in his honour on October 7.

Steve Ludzik, 61, who played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres between 1981 and 1990, as well as the Niagara Falls Flyers junior team before that, will be on hand that night when Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati unveils the Steve Ludzik Press Box at 7 pm.

After retiring as player, Ludzik turned to coaching, starting in the IHL with the Muskegon Fury and then the Detroit Vipers, where he won the 1996-97 Turner Cup with General Manager Rick Dudley.

He then spent two years as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but was let go after the 2000–01 season. He subsequently went to the OHL as head coach of the Mississauga IceDogs (the predecessors of the Niagara IceDogs in St. Catharines), and then to the AHL, where he ended his coaching career in 2004–05 with the San Antonio Rampage.

He was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 2017 for his accomplishments in hockey.

Ludzik has battled Parkinson’s disease for years, prompting him to establish the Steve Ludzik Parkinson’s Rehab Centre at Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St. Catharines. He has suffered other ailments, including Crohn’s disease and most recently, liver disease.

The Gale Centre is located at 5152 Thorold Stone Road.


Steve Ludzik’s O-Pee-Chee hockey card during his days with
the Chicago Blackhawks.

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