PROVIDENCE – Noting he was “perhaps the greatest player to ever come out of Burrillville High School,” the R.I. Hockey Hall of Fame has named Ed Zifcak to the Class of 2026.
Zifcak was among five new honorees said to have a lasting impact on the sport unveiled on Saturday, Feb 28, between periods of the Providence Bruins vs. Bridgeport Islanders game at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence.
A hockey great now in his 90s who took many of his first shots on Burrillville’s Ross Pond, Zifcak would go on to ultimately represent his country with Team USA for both the 1957 and 1958 World Championships.
At BHS, he honed his skills under coach Tom Eccleston, helping to lead the Broncos to their first appearance in the New England Tournament championship game in his sophomore year. In a write up on the hockey great for RIHHF in 2022, Tom’s son Bill Eccleston notes that Zifcak came from a large family, and was also adept in football and baseball, playing also on those BHS championship teams.
“Eddie Zifcak, a smooth, swift skater with clever hands and a canon for a shot — All State, All New England, twice All American, and twice a member of the US National Team,” described Eccleston.
After graduation, Zifcak would become a powerful, high-scoring forward at St. Lawrence University, noted RIHHF in the announcement. He was a college All-American, leading his team to two NCAA Final Fours before his time on Team USA.
His nephew, Burrillville’s Jerry Zifcak, would also go on become a local hockey legend.
“Zifcak set the standard for one of RI’s most famous hockey families,” noted RIHHF in a release on the older Zifcak’s inclusion in the Class of 2026.
He will be included in the ninth class of inductees since the Hall of Fame’s charter Class of 2018.
This year’s class was elected during a thorough review and anonymous balloting by the Hall of Fame’s nine-member selection committee, RIHHF noted, adding that the selection process also included a public nomination feature that provides community participation.
“Our ninth class of inductees underscores the endless number of individuals from Rhode Island who have had an everlasting impact on the sport of ice hockey at the local, national, and international levels,” founding chair of the Hall of Fame, Vin Cimini, said in a press release. “From team ownership and the press box to international play and the NHL, the diverse backgrounds of the Class of 2026 clearly demonstrate the variety of ways an individual’s passion and commitment to a sport can earn them enduring praise and recognition.”
An enshrinement celebration and dinner for this year’s class will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston. Tickets are currently on sale on the Hall of Fame’s website at www.rihhof.com.
Other inductees announced were as follows:
• Brad Boss was enshrined in the URI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 in recognition for establishing URI’s very first club hockey team in 1951. In 2002, his decades-long advocacy for his alma mater led to his donation of the Boss Arena on the URI campus. Today, URI maintains one of the most successful club teams in the nation, while Boss Arena has opened up new opportunities for youth and high school programs and the growth of the game throughout southern Rhode Island.
• George Patrick Duffy was the former publicity director and radio voice of the legendary Reds of the AHL. For more than 30 years, he performed those tasks with generous doses of his Irish wit and “gift of gab” at the R.I. Auditorium, at the AMP, and at rinks throughout the AHL. A civic leader in his native city of Pawtucket, he previously earned recognition as an inductee of both the Pawtucket and R.I. Heritage Halls of Fame.
• Ed Lee was selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 NHL Draft after his freshman year at Princeton University, and in so doing, he became the first Mount and Princeton graduate to be drafted by and play for an NHL team when he skated for the Nordiques in 1985. He played for three U.S. National Teams, his first at the World Championships in West Germany, where he would later record a superb 77-goal season as an overseas professional.
• The late George Sage was instrumental in paving the way and championing the construction of the then-named Providence Civic Center, coinciding with his purchase of the Reds. This former Bonanza Bus Lines owner left a legacy of generous contributions to the R.I. hockey community and to local schools and charities during his lifetime. He held his adopted state in such high esteem that he established a donor-advised fund that continues to support R.I. non-profits to this day.
Lee and Zifcak, two of Northern Rhode Island’s finest hockey players. Congratulations to you both.