FORMER pro hockey player and actor Guido Tenesi has died at the age of 71.
Tributes have poured in for the ex-defender, who played seven years of professional hockey.
Former pro hockey player and actor Guido Tenesi has died at the age of 71[/caption]
A cause of death is not known.
Tenesi also starred in classic sports movie “Slap Shot.”
He played Billy Charlebois in the movie about the fictional Charlestown Chiefs team.
The movie was released in 1977 while Tenesi was in the middle of his hockey career.
Tenesi was born in Detroit, Michigan but represented the Italian national team.
He was drafted in the fifth round of the NHL Amateur Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1973.
The former defender played in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears.
“We’re saddened to learn of the passing of Guido Tenesi,” the team said Thursday.
“A member of our roster during the 1974 Calder Cup championship, and was known to many more for his role as Billy Charlebois in the classic hockey film Slap Shot.
“Our hearts are with his family, friends, and teammates.”
Tenesi also played in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and North American Hockey League.
His career ended after a spell in the Italian league.
But his spell with the Johnstown Jets in the North American Hockey League helped land him a role on Slap Shot.
The team won the North American Hockey League championship in 1974-75.
Tenesi spoke to the Utica Observer-Dispatch in 2016 about the movie.
“I played on the same team as Ned Dowd, Dave Hanson, and the Carlsons,” he said.
“Ned would walk around with a tape recorder, and taking notes on everything that happened on one of our road trips.
“If someone tripped on the ice, or if a player broke their stick and threw it over the glass, Ned recorded it.”
“It was neat, being in a movie.
“How they made it, is what was so interesting to me.”
