I agree with you that Hlinka was most likely rated higher given the time of the poll.
Having said that, it seems to me that the Czechs always held him in pretty high regard, even before the Olympic victory in 1998.
Hlinka was the modern prototype of a player in the 1970s. He had good size and was strong inside the slot, often scoring goals from close in. He had a snappy wrist shot and was a good stickhandler. He was creative and opened up a lot of space for his linemates. His outgoing personality and humour made him a popular teammate.
At first glance I would rank him in the top 30-40 range.
I agree. Suchý and Pospisil were diametrical players. Suchý was skilled and creative, while Pospisil was disciplined and hard working. As you mentioned, Suchý probably had a better peak than Pospisil. Suchý was flamboyant and had a good skill set, but his career was hurt somewhat by his off ice behaviour. Pospisil is a bit underrated and was in the mold of Valeri Vasiliev.
Very consistent player, a real leader. He wasn’t flashy like Suchý and wasn’t the fastest skater around, but was extremely well-conditioned, could handle the rough stuff. A character player with a winning mentality combined with those strong leadership skills. In my book Suchý is approximately a top 40 player and Pospisil a top 20-30 player.
Holik’s value is not so easily measured just in stats. Any coach would love to have a Jiri Holik on their team, that’s one of the reasons why he played at the world stage for 14 years. Although Jiri Holik was more eye-catching and talented than his more temperamentful brother Jaroslav, he was an extremely hard worker, a good two-way player and an elegant skater. His value is more as a team player than an individual virtuoso. Top 30-40 player in my book.
Nedomanský grew up idolizing Tumba Johansson and in many regards was a player in the same mold.
He was really popular with fans outside of Czechoslovakia in the days.
As we know, Nedomanský had good size and possessed probably the best wrist shot in Europe at the time, clocked at 90 mph. He had great touch around the net. As his speed detoriated, he thrived more in the slot and became more of a powerplay specialist. A top 10-20 player.
Holecek may have been more skilled than Tretiak but wasn’t as consistent.
He tried to emulate the style of his childhood idol Seth Martin and was equally good and fast with his blocker as he was with his glove hand. Holecek had incredible foot speed. Holecek was cool under pressure, but had instances when he just flunked right out of the gates.
Funny thing is that both Holecek and Tretiak started out as forwards when they were kids.
A quick look in the head to head battle against Tretiak we can see that Holecek did really well and was neck to neck with Tretiak. I estimate that I will have Holecek somewhere around Top 20-25.
Season
||
Jiri Holecek vs Vladislav Tretiak
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|
1969/70||
0-0-0
||
|
1970/71||
1-0-0
||
|
1971/72||
2-1-1
||
|
1972/73||
0-0-2
||
|
1973/74||
1-0-2
||
|
1974/75||
4-0-3
||
|
1975/76||
1-1-3
||
|
1976/77||
2-0-1
||
|
1977/78||
2-0-2
||
|
Totals W-T-L:||
13-2-14
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I totally agree. Ruzicka also benefited from the timing of this poll in 1998.
Many also remembered his important 1-0 goal when Czechoslovakia beat the Soviets at the 1985 World Championships in Prague to capture the gold medal. It is still one of the classic moments in Czech(oslovakian) hockey history. Having said that Ruzicka was a very good player in his own right.
Made his league debut at the age of 16. He lacked that fluent skating style that many of the other top Czech players had, but was very smart with the puck. Had all the skills in the world, but wasn’t always “up for a game.” I think he’s seen a little bit as a hero and cult player by the Czechs. (Correct me if I’m wrong). But I definitely put Pospisil, Nový and Jiri Holik above him. Top 50-60 player.
Nový had that gift that you can’t teach. He was a pure sniper who could score goals from anywhere. He also had the right mindset for scoring goals, always thinking shot before pass. He had that quick and hard wristshot that fooled many goalies. Excellent technique and strong on the puck. He combined that with some swift skating. Now the knock on him was that he didn’t bother too much defensively early on in his career and he also lacked some of the physical play. At any rate a top 30-40 player.
). My point comes just from talking to other hockey fans. Larionov was even being compared to Gretzky. Inexplicably.
