"Back then,'' the long-time Canadian national teamer is reminiscing, "he was this emerging superstar, only 18 or 19 the year we won the Izvestia.
"In '86 we'd finished second, got the silver.
"Then, only a couple of months before the (1988) Olympics, we beat the Russians to gold. Not an easy thing to do in Moscow.
"And Zarley was voted Most Outstanding Defenceman of that tournament. You've gotta remember, the Russians had everything at that time. That might've been their strongest team, ever.
"They had (Sergei) Makarov, (Igor) Larionov and (Vladimir) Krutov up front. (Alexei) Kasatnov and (Viacheslav) Fetisov were maybe the two best defencemen in the world.
"Close. Arguably.
"And this massive, powerful 18-year-old kid walks right into Moscow and is named Most Outstanding Defenceman. And we win the Izvestia.
"That's how good he was."
So the news Tuesday that Zalapski had passed away, only 49, seemed impossible to process.
"I saw Zarley earlier in the fall,'' said Sherven. "It's shocking. At his age, it's not supposed to happen. Unfortunately, sometimes it does.
"But you still have trouble making any sense of it.
"We're pretty fortunate to be a part of something like the Flames Alumni, the NHL Alumni, because it is a pretty close-knit group.
"Guys are there for each other.
"And when you lose a friend, it's never easy."
Zalapski - selected fourth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1986 - spent five seasons patrolling the blueline for the Flames, from 1993 through '98, scoring 21 times and adding 55 assists over 178 games.
His NHL totals: 637 games, 384 points for the Hartford Whalers, Flames, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.
In 1990-91, the Edmonton-born Zalapski enjoyed his finest offensive season for the Whalers, scoring 20 goals and 57 points.
"When we got him and James Patrick from Hartford,'' recalled Theoren Fleury on Tuesday, "it made our team a lot better, that's for sure.
"I remember him being incredibly fit, super strong. He had all the skills. Smart. Thoughtful. One of the first guys I think I met it in the game who really took nutrition seriously. Watched what he ate, took care of himself that way.
"You feel so sorry for his family.
"He was such a young guy. Makes you think about your own health."
Living here in Calgary, Zalapski had recently joined the Flames' Alumni as an executive.
"Just a major shock,'' said alumni president Jamie Macoun. "I'd had the chance to talk to him a little more in depth recently, obviously.
"I never got to play on the same team but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, quiet. Literally just last week I was talking about what a good job he'd done organizing one of our events and what a great addition he is to our executive.
"New blood coming into the alumni, thinking nothing but positive thoughts about him. And lo and behold, (Monday) I find out he'd passed.
"I mean, you don't know what to say. There is nothing to say that can make up for the loss."