Steve Ludzik played almost 500 games, mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks with a handful for Buffalo. He also coached Tampa Bay for 120 games at the beginning of the millennium, and spent some time on the Score Network.
He is in stage 4 liver failure and desperately awaiting a transplant.
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It was the final, inevitable word on a battle Ludzik has been fighting for decades, several years without his knowledge. In addition to the colitis and Crohn's disease which almost ended his hockey career before it began, Ludzik had chronically high liver enzymes.
One night near the end of his playing career with the AHL's Rochester Americans – after NHL stints with the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres — he went into liver failure. Though he tried to keep playing, his energy and strength was gone. He was 30 years old.
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But he wasn't just battling on the ice. The medication he took for his Crohn's was making his bones brittle and, unknown at the time, doing massive damage to his liver.
Ludzik recalls a game near the end of Tony Esposito's career in which fans booed the Hall of Fame goalie. He was appalled and told MaryAnn that night to tap his shoulder when it was time to quit.
"I had broken my foot, my shoulder, my collar bone, my sternum was the final one. MaryAnn said 'Remember that tap? I'm giving it to you right now.' "
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He recalls some cruel remarks about his appearances on the TV network. Because he slurred some words, people suggested he was drinking. What the public didn't know is that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease years earlier at age 39. He kept it hidden, worried it would cost him some jobs.
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Thus far, Ludzik says there is one good candidate who has come forward. He was told there needs to be at least four or five prospects to choose from. Good as intentions may be, there are numerous physical requirements.
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