Miloslav Blažek (22 June 1922 in

Přívoz Přívoz (german: PrziwosThe postoffice name was ''MÄHRISCH OSTRAU, BAHNHOF'' before 1880., briefly till 1920 and 1939-1945 also ''Oderfurt'') is a part of the city of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. It lies in the Moravi ...

– 19 February 1985 in Ostrava) was a Czechoslovak ice hockey player who competed in the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

Career

Active in the 1940s and 1950s, Blažek played for Czeck ice hockey team HC Vitkovice. He played for the international team on various occasions, such as the

; the team placed 4th out of 16 and received the second most medals. In total, Blažek played for Vitkovice from 1949 to 1960, the national team from 1949-1952, and coached at Vitkovice from 1965-1966. During his career, under Vitkovice, he won a gold metal in the Extraliga in 1952, silver in 1950, 1951, and 1953, and bronze in 1958. Working as a coach in some form until 1975, he retired from official competitive competitions in 1960 after scoring 127 league goals in 180 games.

Political issues

Blažek openly dissented to many of the repressive policies of the

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

and its influence over Czechoslovakia. His outspokenness about the government and suspected plans to defect led to a travel ban being imposed upon him in 1953 until 1957, preventing him from competing in competitions abroad.

Legacy

Blažek has a memorial dedicated to him in the city hall of Ostrava, his hometown.

References

External links

* 1922 births 1985 deaths Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Ice hockey players at the 1952 Winter Olympics Ice hockey people from Ostrava HC Vítkovice players Czech ice hockey forwards Czechoslovak ice hockey forwards {{CzechRepublic-icehockey-bio-stub