Zappia was Knights' most prolific scorer

Kevin Zappia was just another kid from Massena who loved hockey. He wasn't highly recruited, and the two local Division I colleges in the area had little interest in him.

But somehow, from that modest beginning, Zappia carved out a collegiate career that ranks him among Clarkson University's all-time greats.

Zappia, whose career at Clarkson ended in 1979, remains the only player in Golden Knights history to score more than 100 goals for his career. He is Clarkson's all-time goal-scoring leader with 103. He is also second all-time at Clarkson for total points scored with 213. Only former NHL standout Dave Taylor, Zappia's former linemate at Clarkson, recorded more points.

Zappia, also an excellent baseball player for the Golden Knights, was inducted into Clarkson's athletic hall of fame last July.

Zappia started his hockey career at Massena high school, then attended Northwood Prep School in Lake Placid. After Zappia supplied two goals and two assists in his first game of the season, against the Clarkson junior varsity team, Clarkson made him a scholarship offer.

Zappia had a knack for finishing teammates' passes, and he began his Golden Knights career quickly, finishing third on the team in scoring as a freshman with 22 goals. He recorded a hat trick against Penn on Feb. 28, 1976, and was the first freshman to be named MVP of the ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival in New York, supplying a goal and four assists in a victory over Vermont in the championship.

As a sophomore, he supplied 28 goals and 53 points as Clarkson took first place in the ECAC with a 19-4 mark. Upon Taylor's graduation, Zappia led the Golden Knights in scoring as a junior with 31 goals and 59 points and was a second-team league all-star. Finally, as a senior, Zappia scored 22 goals and 52 points. He recorded two hat tricks in a four-day span in February 1979. At season's end, he was Clarkson's MVP.

Zappia signed with the Quebec Nordiques, and spent the 1979-80 season with Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Syracuse before ending his professional career.

Zappia now lives in Manlius where he works in financial services. He also works as an assistant hockey coach for the Fayetteville-Manlius high school team.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest 100 Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com