Peter Zezel, Former NHL Player, Dies of Blood Disorder at 44 Former New Jersey Devils forward Peter Zezel dead at 44 Kevin Larkin/Associated Press Former Devil Peter Zezel, shown fighting for the puck in the 1997 Eastern Conference semi-final, died Tuesday after battling a blood disorder. Former NHL forward Peter Zezel, who played 23 games for the Devils in 1996-97 and 1997-98, died Tuesday in a Toronto hospital after battling a longtime blood disorder. Zezel, who fought hemolytic anemia for the past 10 years, recently underwent surgery to have his spleen removed and had also received chemotherapy treatments. He was...