Richard Joseph Jodzio (born June 3, 1954 in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

left winger. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

and the Cleveland Barons; he also played in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

(WHA) with the

Vancouver Blazers The Vancouver Blazers were a professional ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1975. The Blazers played at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, sharing the facility with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hocke ...

and the

Calgary Cowboys The Calgary Cowboys were an ice hockey team that played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1975 to 1977. The Cowboys played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles ...

. In his NHL career, Jodzio appeared in 70 games. He scored two goals and added eight assists while collecting 71 minutes in penalties. He played in 137 WHA games, scoring 15 goals and adding 16 assists with 357 minutes in penalties. Jodzio was a trained boxer. On April 11, 1976, in one of the hockey's most infamous moments, Jodzio attacked

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

star

Marc Tardif Joseph Gérard Marquis Tardif (born June 12, 1949) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey forward (ice hockey), left winger who played in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA), principally ...

with his hockey stick during a playoff game in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. Jodzio's crosscheck into the boards knocked Tardif unconscious and he repeatedly hit him as he lay helpless on the ice. Jodzio was suspended for the rest of the playoffs and charged with assault by

Quebec police Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. After pleading guilty, Jodzio was fined $3000. Since the incident Tardif forgave Jodzi

Jodzio is currently the owner of Frontline Freight, a

less than truckload Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less ...

carrier based out of

City of Industry, California The City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is almost entirely industrial, containing over 3,000 businesses employing 67,000 people, with only 264 residents as of ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* * *"The Most Underrated Player of the '70s & the Violent Act He Can Never Forget. The Marc Tardif story" fro
Youtube
1-''Allo Police'' page 6, 4 July 1976. 1954 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Calgary Cowboys players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Charlotte Checkers (SHL) players Cleveland Barons (NHL) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Erie Blades players Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players New Brunswick Hawks players Oklahoma City Stars players Springfield Indians players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Tidewater Sharks players Vancouver Blazers players {{canada-icehockey-winger-1950s-stub