Joe Zanussi was born September 25, 1947 in Rossland, British Columbia. After spending the entire 1967-68 season with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League, Zanussi joined the Estevan Bruins for the 1968 Memorial Cup.
After spending the 1968-69 season with the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern Hockey League, Zanussi found himself in the Central Hockey League for the next three seasons as a member of the Fort Worth Wings (1969-1972).
A Central Hockey League Second Team All-Star, and co-winner of the Tommy Ivan Trophy as the Central Hockey League's most valuable player in 1971, Zanussi was selected by the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association in the General Player Draft in the winter of 1972.
Traded to the New York Rangers by the Detroit Red Wings in the spring of 1972, Zanussi spent two seasons with Jets (1972-74) before making his NHL debut during the 1974-75 season. Although he spent the better part of the 1974-75 season with the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League, Zanussi played in eight regular season games, recording two assists.
The 1974-75 season saw Joe Zanussi not only make his NHL debut, with the Rangers, but he was then traded to the Boston Bruins where he achieved individual success with the team's AHL affiliate, the Providence Reds. Zanussi was an AHL First Team All-Star on defense and won the Eddie Shore Award as outstanding defenseman in the American Hockey League.
Zanussi spent the better part of the 1975-76 season with the Boston Bruins while playing in 60 games with the Bruins and a handful of games with the Providence Reds and Rochester Americans of the AHL. When the 1976-77 regular season began, he was a member of the Boston Bruins, and when it ended he was a member of the St. Louis Blues. After sharing his time with the Bruins and the Americans in the first half of the season, Zanussi was traded to the St. Louis Blues where he split his time between the Blues and the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League.
A First Team All-Star on defense for the Central Hockey League in 1978, as a member of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, Joe Zanussi recorded ten goals and 24 assists in 71 games.
Once the 1977-78 hockey season came to a close, Joe Zanussi had played in 87 NHL games for three different teams.
