Jaroslav Jiřík (10 December 1939 – 11 July 2011) was a Czech professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He became the first player that an

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

country released to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

International Hockey Legends: Jaroslav Jirik
/ref> when he appeared in three games with the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

in the 1969–70 season.

Playing career

Jiřík played seventeen seasons in the

Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

, scoring 300 goals in 450 games. Jiřík was named an all-star at the 1965 World Championship in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and he was a member of the Czechoslovak national team that won the bronze medal at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

and the silver medal at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

.Olympics History - espn.com
/ref> He scored 83 goals in 134 international games for Czechoslovakia. Jiřík was first noticed by

assistant general manager

Cliff Fletcher George Clifford "Cliff" Fletcher (born August 16, 1935) is a National Hockey League executive and is a former general manager of the Atlanta Flames/Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Phoenix Coyotes. He is currently a senior advisor to th ...

in 1969. Fletcher actually signed three Czechoslovak players: Jiřík, Jan Havel, and

Josef Horešovský Josef Horešovský (born 18 July 1946 in Žilina, Czechoslovakia) is a Czeck retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He played for HC Dukla Jihlava and HC Sparta Praha. Horešovský won a bronze medal at ...

, all of whom were given permission to transfer to North America by the Czechoslovak government. However, the government changed its mind about Havel and Horesovský, because they were still in their twenties. Jiřík, 30 at the time, was the only player allowed to go. Jiřík spent most of the 1969–70 season with St. Louis's minor-league affiliate, the Kansas City Blues of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. He played well in Kansas City, scoring 35 points in 53 games. St. Louis called him up late in the season, and he played three games with the club, going scoreless. He was invited to remain with the organization for the 1970–71 season; however, Jiřík decided to return to Czechoslovakia instead.

Post-playing career

After his playing career, Jiřík coached several Czechoslovak clubs and ran the Swiss national team from 1977 to 1980. On 11 July 2011, Jiřík, an experienced pilot, died in a plane crash near Brno.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jirik, Jaroslav 1939 births 2011 deaths Czech ice hockey forwards Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czechoslovak ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players at the 1960 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Rytíři Kladno players HC Kometa Brno players Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia People from Žďár nad Sázavou District St. Louis Blues players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Czech Republic Ice hockey people from the Vysočina Region Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2011