George Pesut was born in City Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a product of a second marriage, both parents of Croatian descent. His birth parents met in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan after both had divorced their Croatian partners. His father, after being released after WW2 from the Esterwegen concentration camp, a brutal, Nazi-run prisoner of war facility, could not convince his then wife, to accompany him on moving to Canada to establish a new life. He then left her to begin anew as a Canadian, and settled in the province of Saskatchewan. Pesut\'s mother on the other hand, had originally married a man of Croatian heritage from Chicago, USA, and they had moved to Hanley, Saskatchewan. They divorced shortly after they were married, at which time Pesut\'s mother moved to the larger centre Saskatoon where more opportunity and jobs existed. His birth parents both had grown up in the Lika region of Croatia, one town apart in their native country, but had met some 5000 miles away in Canada for the first time.\n', '

Pesut began his hockey career in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, in Saskatoon. He played his minor hockey in the Saskatoon system and eventually began his junior career with the A level Saskatoon Macs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. A strapping, lanky defenseman, Pesut, at the age of 18, entered the major junior hockey ranks in the 1971-72 season with the Victoria Cougars which was a member of the Western Canada Hockey League. As a defensive specialist, Pesut played 38 games for the Cougars notching 16 points before being traded to the Flin Flon Bombers in the same season. With the Bombers, Pesut played another 25 games, adding another 11 points to his scoring total, before being traded once again in the 1971-72 WCHL season to the Saskatoon Blades, the major junior team in his hometown. He finished the season playing 2 games for the Blades, and returned to the team in the \'72-\'73 season where in his amateur draft year, he played 68 games and recorded his highest scoring total in his WCHL career with 37 points, 12 of which were goals, an impressive feat for a defenseman. He was selected for the WCHL\'s first team all-star honors in 1973.\n', '

In spite of only playing 2 full seasons of major junior hockey, Pesut was highly regarded by National Hockey League and World Hockey Association scouts. His defensive "rough and tumble" no nonsense style play was appealing to the pro teams at the time, along with his 6 foot plus frame, and his patented, smooth, "turn on a dime" skating ability. His hard shot and precision from the blue-line were all attributes which afforded him a high placing within the draft rankings in the upcoming 1973-74 NHL and WHA amateur drafts. Pesut also had shown prospective pro teams that he also could provide much needed offense as a rushing defenseman, putting up 37 points in his draft year while still in junior with the Saskatoon Blades. He was also noted as a fearless opponent who took on many of the WCHL\'s agitators and enforcers, and was known to NHL teams as player who never backed down in support of his teammates. Consequently, he fought many of the NHL enforcers during his stint in the NHL.\n', '

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