Václav Nedomanský (born 14 March 1944) is a Czech 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 ...

forward. Nedomanský is best known as the first Czechoslovak hockey player to defect to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to play. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 2019. He is also a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame (1997), Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame (2002), Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (2008) and was named into the IIHF All-Time Czech Team (2020).

Playing in Czechoslovakia

Nedomanský played for Slovan Bratislava of the Czechoslovak Extraliga for twelve seasons. In 1968, he was a member of the

Czechoslovak national ice hockey team The Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team was the national ice hockey team of Czechoslovakia, and competed from 1920 until 1992. The successor to the Bohemia national ice hockey team, which ...

which won silver medals at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble and bronze medals in 1972 at the Winter Olympics in Sapporo. He also played for Czechoslovakia in nine IIHF World Championships, and was named top forward at the 1974 World Championships. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.

Career after defection

Nedomanský defected in 1974 to Toronto via Switzerland. He was not able to return to his home country until after the fall of the Iron Curtain. He played just over three seasons in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

with the

Toronto Toros The Toronto Toros were an ice hockey team based in Toronto that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1976. History The franchise was awarded to Doug Michel in 1971 for $25,000 to play in the WHA's inaugural 1972–73 WHA season, 19 ...

and the Birmingham Bulls, peaking with 56 goals and 98 points for Toronto in 1975–76. He also won the Paul Deneau Trophy for sportsmanship in 1975–76. He then signed as a free agent with 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 ...

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 ...

in 1977. Nedomanský played five seasons for Detroit, posting highs of 38 goals and 74 points. He retired after one final season with the St. Louis Blues and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in 1982–83. Nedomanský coached in Germany and Austria from 1987 to 1991. He was born in Hodonín in the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexation, annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), German occupation of the Czech lands. The protector ...

in the present-day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The winter stadium in Hodonín bears his name.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

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''Cold War Conversations - Czechoslovak hockey star defects to Canada (132)''
An interview with Václav's son Vashi Nedomanský, who talks about his father's defection from Czechoslovakia to Canada. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nedomansky, Vaclav 1944 births Living people Birmingham Bulls (WHA) players Competitors at the 1970 Winter Universiade Czech ice hockey centres Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Austria Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Detroit Red Wings players FISU World University Games gold medalists for Czechoslovakia HC Slovan Bratislava players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from the South Moravian Region Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Kings scouts Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Nashville Predators scouts New York Rangers players Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) SHK Hodonín players Sportspeople from Hodonín St. Louis Blues players Toronto Toros players Vegas Golden Knights scouts Winter World University Games medalists in ice hockey