Miroslav Ihnačák (born November 19, 1962) is a Slovak former

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 ...

player. He played 56 games 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 ...

. He played for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. Since 2020 he is the head coach for HC Merano. Miroslav is the brother of

Peter Ihnačák Peter Ihnačák (born May 3, 1957) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey centre. He initially played in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League before defecting during the Cold War and joining the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey ...

Career

Ihnačák was involved in a true

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

style spy movie escape from behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

in late 1985. Just prior to Christmas he and his girlfriend had been smuggled into

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, sneaking out of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in the middle of the night without even bringing any baggage after Maple Leafs owner

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

spent over $100,000 to get the young superstar smuggled into Austria. There they were awaiting contact from Maple Leaf team officials including General Manager Gerry McNamara who was supposed to be arriving on a commercial flight, but there were reports of terrorists shooting in the airport forcing the plane to divert to another airfield causing the Maple Leaf officials to take a two-hour bus ride to make it back to the Austrian capital. From there further concerns arose including suspicions that the Czechoslovak secret police and even

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

agents were searching for Ihnačák to bring him back home, where he would have been put in prison for three years for the

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

attempt. Then problems arose with immigration officials who claimed that Ihnačák would have to spend up to two months in a refugee camp to first apply for asylum in Austria; all of this going on while he and his girlfriend were hiding out in an anonymous Vienna apartment. Then on New Year's Eve reports of the immigration issues were leaked to the press prompting public backlash resulting in two Canadian politicians getting involved to immediately get the Slovak hockey player out on the soonest possible flight. The first available flight was around the other side of the world and on January 4, 1986, Ihnačák and his girlfriend Eva arrived in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Toronto had been off to a very bad start at the beginning of the 1985-86 NHL season and were one of the worst teams in the NHL with a record of 10-20-5. Leafs owner Harold Ballard naturally wanted to improve the fortunes of his team, while at the same time taking advantage of helping a persecuted athlete escape. Following the successful defection Ballard was quoted as saying, “Any communist that I could get out of there who wanted to be a Canadian, I'm very happy about it.” Even after enduring such a stressful ordeal Ihnačák suited up and played for the Leafs during the second half of the season. He contributed as they attempted to make the playoffs playing in 21 games, scoring two goals and adding four assists. The Maple Leafs would end the season by qualifying for the final playoff spot in the

Campbell Conference Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television n ...

. While Ihnačák did not play in the postseason the Leafs upset the

Norris Division The National Hockey League's Norris Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. When the NHL realigned into geographic divisions in 1981, the division moved to the Clarence Campbell Conference, where it comprised the ...

champion

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and then gave the upstart

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 ...

everything they could handle before finally falling to them in seven games. After retiring from hockey, Ihnaček became a coach. He has had head coaching stints at MHK Kezmarok,

GKS Tychy GKS Tychy is a Polish professional football club, based in Tychy, that competes in the Polish I liga. The club was founded in 1971. It played in the Ekstraklasa between 1974–1977 and 1995–1997. Their biggest success was a second-place finish ...

, HK Spisska Nova Ves,

HK Michalovce HK Dukla Michalovce is a professional ice hockey team playing in the Slovak Extraliga, the top level of ice hockey in the country. They play in the city of Michalovce, Slovakia at Michalovce Ice Stadium. History The club was founded in 1974. In th ...

HC Košice Hockey Club Košice is a Slovak professional ice hockey club based in Košice that competes in the Slovak Extraliga, the top tier of Slovak ice hockey. It is the most successful hockey club in Slovakia and the former Czechoslovakia, having won the ...

TMH Polonia Bytom TMH Polonia Bytom is a professional ice hockey team in Bytom, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south ...

and

Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák () is a Hungarian ice hockey team that currently plays in the MOL Liga. They play their home games at Dunaújvárosi Jégcsarnok, located in Dunaújváros. Team Name Over time the team's name has changed... *1977–200 ...

. He currently works as a head coach for HC Merano.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ihnacak, Miroslav 1962 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players Adler Mannheim players BSC Preussen Berlin players Detroit Red Wings players Czechoslovak ice hockey left wingers ERC Selb players EV Landsberg players EV Zug players HK Poprad players Halifax Citadels players HC Košice players Heilbronner Falken players MHC Martin players Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players Newmarket Saints players Ice hockey people from Poprad Slovak ice hockey left wingers St. Catharines Saints players Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Maple Leafs players Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Slovak ice hockey coaches Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Poland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy