Dean DeFazio

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| position = Left wing

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 185

| played_for = Pittsburgh Penguins

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|4|16}}

| birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| draft = 175th overall

| draft_year = 1981

| draft_team = Pittsburgh Penguins

| career_start = 1983

| career_end = 1989

}}

Dean DeFazio (born April 16, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. During the 1983–84 NHL season he played 22 games in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1975 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from South Ottawa.{{cite web|url=https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|title=Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA|year=2018|website=Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament|access-date=2019-01-11|archive-date=2019-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|url-status=dead}}

DeFazio began his junior career playing in the OMJHL playing for the Brantford Alexanders. Following his one season with Brantford, in which he accumulated 104 PIMs in 60 games, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. the Penguins drafted DeFazio in the 9th round, 175th overall, in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. DeFazio played the next two years in Juniors splitting time between the Alexanders, Sudbury Wolves, and Oshawa Generals, all of the OHL.{{cite web |url= https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/d/defazde01.html |title = Dean Defazio's player profile |publisher = Hockey Reference.com| accessdate =2010-06-02}}

Following his last season in Juniors, Pittsburgh assigned him to the American Hockey League (AHL) to play for the Baltimore Skipjacks during the 1983-84 season. In December the Penguins called up DeFazio. He made his NHL debut on December 21, 1983 versus the New York Rangers.{{cite web |url= http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1981/81175.html |title = 1981 NHL DRAFT PICK: Dean DeFazio |publisher = Hockey Draft Central.com| accessdate =2010-06-02}} He played 22 games for the Penguins during the season totaling 2 assists, it would be the only NHL games he would play. DeFazio continued to play with the Skipjacks for two more years before moving on to play for the Newmarket Saints during the 1986-87 season. DeFazio returned to Baltimore the following season splitting time between the Skipjacks and the International Hockey League's Flint Spirits. He played one more season in the AHL this time for the New Haven Nighthawks, before going to Germany to play his final professional season for Straubing EHC in 1988.

Personal information

After his retirement DeFazio became a firefighter. He also runs the DeFazio Hockey camp in Oakville, Ontario.{{cite web|url=http://search.hipinfo.info/record/OAK2048/ |title=DeFazio Hockey Camp |publisher=Halton Community Services |accessdate=2010-06-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727145830/http://search.hipinfo.info/record/OAK2048 |archivedate=July 27, 2010 }}

His son, Brandon DeFazio, had a two-way contract playing professional hockey with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League after moving on from the Vancouver Canucks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=726858|title = Vancouver Canucks sign forwards Darren Archibald, Brandon DeFazio}}{{Cite web|url=http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=774029|title=Bruins Sign Jimmy Hayes, Brett Connolly, and Brandon DeFazio}}