Hockey in Czechoslovakia and Europe from 1968 to 1990 (some awards and stats)

[Canadiens1958]

Thank you.

Curios. Would this hold for the Soviet league during the same time frame?

 

[DN28]

Thank you.

Curios. Would this hold for the Soviet league during the same time frame?

I have no idea. Soviet league is certainly a topic which I would like to examine sometimes in the future. Czechoslovak sports media of the 60s, 70s paid almost no attention to the Soviet league. For me, it came as a surprise that the NHL coverage in the Czech press was fairly regular and much more informative than the reporting of results of the USSR elite league. And scarce articles dealing with the inner structure and general quality of the Soviet league, that I found, are contradictory..

EDIT: A prime example of contradiction would be Vladimir Kostka and Vladimir Pitner´s assesments of the Soviet league (CSSR coaches of late 60s, early 70s). While Kostka thought of Soviets and their league very highly - basically Soviets being much closer to Canadians and NHL than to the Czechs, Pitner seemed to think that there is no fundamental difference in the average of both Czechoslovak and Soviet leagues.

 

[Theokritos]

Thank you.

Curios. Would this hold for the Soviet league during the same time frame?

No, the Soviet league schedule wasn't as balanced. Traveling distances in the Soviet Union played a role (somewhere between Czechoslovakia and NA) and also the concentration of most elite players on a few teams. The latter circumstance meant that league games between the lower lights could sometimes be scheduled during the international breaks with the rosters intact, while many CSKA, Dinamo and Spartak players were busy representing the USSR abroad.

 

[Canadiens1958]

No, the Soviet league schedule wasn't as balanced. Traveling distances in the Soviet Union played a role (somewhere between Czechoslovakia and NA) and also the concentration of most elite players on a few teams. The latter circumstance meant that league games between the lower lights could sometimes be scheduled during the international breaks with the rosters intact, while many CSKA, Dinamo and Spartak players were busy representing the USSR abroad.

Interesting, very interesting.

O6 scheduling did not require plane travel. Post 1967 required plane travel, quickly coincided with a major train travel reduction.

Would be nice to see actual Soviet/Russian schedules and how they were structured and balanced.

 

[Theokritos]

Would be nice to see actual Soviet/Russian schedules and how they were structured and balanced.

Two examples:
1968-1969
1988-1989

It's all in Russian, but you don't need to master the language to use it. You only need to read a few Cyrillic letters.

The team names are rather easy to decipher:
ЦСКА = CSKA (Moscow)
Спартак = Spartak (Moscow)
Локомотив = Lokomotiv (Moscow)
Крылья Советов = Krylya Sovietov (Moscow)
Динамо Москва = Dinamo Moscow
Динамо Киев = Dinamo Kiev
Динамо Рига = Dinamo Riga
Динамо Минск = Dinamo Minsk
Динамо Харьков = Dinamo Kharkov
Сокол = Sokol (Kiev)
СКА = SKA (Leningrad)
Химик = Khimik (Voskresensk)
Трактор = Traktor (Chelyabinsk)
Автомобилист = Avtomobilist (Sverdlovsk)
Сибирь = Sibir (Novosibirsk)
Торпедо Горький = Torpedo Gorky
Торпедо Ярославль = Torpedo Yaroslavl

Months:
сентября = September
октября = October
ноября = November
декабря = December
января = January
февраля = February
марта = March
апреля = April
мая = May

That's pretty much all you need to figure out the league schedule.

Note that the home team is always listed first as is custom in all of Europe.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Two examples:
1968-1969
1988-1989

It's all in Russian, but you don't need to master the language to use it. You only need to read a few Cyrillic letters.

The team names are rather easy to decipher:
ЦСКА = CSKA (Moscow)
Спартак = Spartak (Moscow)
Локомотив = Lokomotiv (Moscow)
Крылья Советов = Krylya Sovietov (Moscow)
Динамо Москва = Dinamo Moscow
Динамо Киев = Dinamo Kiev
Динамо Рига = Dinamo Riga
Динамо Минск = Dinamo Minsk
Динамо Харьков = Dinamo Kharkov
Сокол = Sokol (Kiev)
СКА = SKA (Leningrad)
Химик = Khimik (Voskresensk)
Трактор = Traktor (Chelyabinsk)
Автомобилист = Avtomobilist (Sverdlovsk)
Сибирь = Sibir (Novosibirsk)
Торпедо Горький = Torpedo Gorky
Торпедо Ярославль = Torpedo Yaroslavl

Months:
сентября = September
октября = October
ноября = November
декабря = December
января = January
февраля = February
марта = March
апреля = April
мая = May

That's pretty much all you need to figure out the league schedule.

Note that the home team is always listed first as is custom in all of Europe.

Thank you. Will look at comparables.

 

[DN28]

Missing Save Percentages

WHC 1972 Save percentage (per game reports of Československý sport):
1. Vladimir Shepovalov (USSR): 4 games / 2 goals allowed / 53 saves / 0.9636
2. Jiří Holeček (CSSR): 6 games / 10 goals allowed / 137 saves / 0.9320
3. Vladimír Dzurilla (CSSR): 4 games / 6 goals allowed / 63 saves / 0.9130
4. Vladislav Tretiak (USSR): 7 games / 15 goals allowed / 156 saves / 0.9123
5. Curt Larsson (SWE): 2 games / 3 goals allowed / 29 saves / 0.9063
6. Leif Holmqvist (SWE): 7 games / 20 goals allowed / 164 saves / 0.8913
7. Jorma Valtonen (FIN): 9 games / 41 goals allowed / 271 saves / 0.8686
8. Christer Abrahamsson (SWE): 3 games / 10 goals allowed / 64 saves / 0.8649
9. Alfred Molina (SWI): 7 games / 45 goals allowed / 279 saves / 0.8611
10. Rainer Makatch (W. GER): 5 games / 16 goals allowed / 90 saves / 0.8491
11. Anton Kehle (W. GER): 5 games / 32 goals allowed / 138 saves / 0.8118
12. Gérald Rigolet (SWI): 6 games / 51 goals allowed / 199 saves / 0.7960
13. Franz Funk (W. GER): 4 games / 28 goals allowed / 105 saves / 0.7895
14. Stig Wetzel (FIN): 2 games / 7 goals allowed / 18 saves / 0.7200

WHC 1971 Save percentage:
(image comes from Tip magazine)
1. Jiří Holeček (CSSR): 8 games / 12 goals allowed / 216 saves / 0.9474
2. Vladislav Tretiak (USSR): 5 games / 6 goals allowed / 80 saves / 0.9302
3. Jorma Valtonen (FIN): 7 games / 17 goals allowed / 223 saves / 0.9292
4. Marcel Sakáč (CSSR): 3 games / 8 goals allowed / 85 saves / 0.9140
5. Christer Abrahamsson (SWE): 9 games / 27 goals allowed / 284 saves / 0.9132
6. Viktor Konovalenko (USSR): 7 games / 18 goals allowed / 165 saves / 0.9016
7. Anton Kehle (W. GER): 8 games / 39 goals allowed / 319 saves / 0.8911
8. Dick Tomasoni (USA): 2 games / 6 goals allowed / 48 saves / 0.8889
9. Mike Curran (USA): 2 games / 9 goals allowed / 71 saves / 0.8875
10. Carl Wetzel (USA): 8 games / 38 goals allowed / 299 saves / 0.8872
11. Josef Schramm (W. GER): 4 games / 23 goals allowed / 167 saves / 0.8789
12. Urpo Ylönen (FIN): 4 games / 25 goals allowed / 171 saves / 0.8724
13. William Löfqvist (SWE): 1 game / 6 goals allowed / 29 saves / 0.8286

WHC 1970 Save percentage (per game reports of Československý sport):
1. Vladislav Tretiak (USSR): 6 games / 4 goals allowed / 76 saves / 0.9500
2. Viktor Konovalenko (USSR): 8 games / 7 goals allowed / 116 saves / 0.9431
3. Leif Holmqvist (SWE): 8 games / 14 goals allowed / 166 saves / 0.9222
4. Urpo Ylönen (FIN): 6 games / 18 goals allowed / 188 saves / 0.9126
5. Miroslav Lacký (CSSR): 1 game / 2 goals allowed / 16 saves / 0.8889
6. Klaus Hirche (E. GER): 7 games / 30 goals allowed / 232 saves / 0.8855
7. Vladimír Dzurilla (CSSR): 10 games / 28 goals allowed / 200 saves / 0.8772
8. Jorma Valtonen (FIN): 4 games / 22 goals allowed / 141 saves / 0.8650
9. Walery Kosyl (POL): 8 games / 44 goals allowed / 259 saves / 0.8548
10. Gunnar Bäckman: 2 games / 7 goals allowed / 36 saves / 0.8372
11. Dieter Pürschel (E. GER): 5 games / 20 goals allowed / 97 saves / 0.8291
12. Andrzej Tkacz (POL): 3 games / 26 goals allowed / 116 saves / 0.8169

WHC 1966 Save percentage
Unfortunately, records of goalie saves, published in game reports of the 1966 World Championship produced by writers of Československý sport, were very scarce. Goalies with a full record were only three. Five other goalies had published their numbers of saves in at least half of the games they´d played in. This is what I´ve got…

Goalies with full statistical account of this championship:
Ken Broderick (CAN): 3 games / 2 goals allowed / 66 saves / 0.9706
Vladimír Dzurilla (CSSR): 6 games / 10 goals allowed / 91 saves / 0.9010
Jiří Holeček (CSSR): 2 games / 5 goals allowed / 31 saves / 0.8611

Goalies with partial statistical account of this championship:
Viktor Konovalenko (USSR): played 6 games, allowed 7 goals in total;
stats from 3 games (vs. CAN, SWE, USA) / 3 goals allowed / 47 saves / 0.9400
Peter Kolbe (E. GER): played 6 games, allowed 20 goals in total;
stats from 4 games (vs. CSSR, SWE, CAN, POL) / 13 goals allowed / 142 saves / 0.9161
Seth Martin (CAN): played 4 games, allowed 8 goals in total;
stats from 2 games (vs. USSR, CSSR) / 5 goals allowed / 54 saves / 0.9153
Leif Holmqvist (SWE): played 5 games, allowed ??? goals in total;
stats from 4 games (vs. CAN, CSSR, USSR, E. GER) / 13 goals allowed / 71 saves / 0.8452
Rod Blackburn (USA): played 4 games, allowed 19 goals in total;
stats from 2 games (vs. USSR, CSSR) / 15 goals allowed / 71 saves / 0.8452

Having read these ´66 reports, perhaps I should also add, with regards to ongoing discussions here on this subforum about ‘Top 100 players of all-time’ lists, that I´ve discovered quite strong appreciation of the game of Anatoli Firsov at this tournament. Seemingly only 5 points and being well outside of the best scorers doesn´t make an impression of great tournament but Firsov was:

a) singled out as the best forward of the game along with Starshinov in the final game vs. Czechoslovakia (which was the game Soviets actually had to win in order to earn 1st place, tie would mean gold medal for CSSR) by the writers of game reports, Gustav Vlk and Zdeněk Valenta.

b) included into Vladimír Kostka´s (CSSR coach) own version of the ´66 Championship´s All-Star Team. Kostka named this one: Martin – Kuzkin, Begg – Prýl, Starshinov, Firsov.

c) given a special role at the tournament – to look after and take care of two rookies in the team, Vikulov and Polupanov, while playing in the 3rd line. It is mentioned by writers of the Československý sport and by Tarasov himself, that his “mentorship” was highly appreciated. They spoke about Firsov that he has been going through noticeable improvements year by year.

EDIT: Also considering the fact that 1966 was the only Firsov´s season where he won the (goal)scoring in the Soviet league, I am quite convinced that he belonged to the Europe´s best players already here in this season.

 

[Batis]

Having read these ´66 reports, perhaps I should also add, with regards to ongoing discussions here on this subforum about ‘Top 100 players of all-time’ lists, that I´ve discovered quite strong appreciation of the game of Anatoli Firsov at this tournament. Seemingly only 5 points and being well outside of the best scorers doesn´t make an impression of great tournament but Firsov was:

a) singled out as the best forward of the game along with Starshinov in the final game vs. Czechoslovakia (which was the game Soviets actually had to win in order to earn 1st place, tie would mean gold medal for CSSR) by the writers of game reports, Gustav Vlk and Zdeněk Valenta.

b) included into Vladimír Kostka´s (CSSR coach) own version of the ´66 Championship´s All-Star Team. Kostka named this one: Martin – Kuzkin, Begg – Prýl, Starshinov, Firsov.

c) given a special role at the tournament – to look after and take care of two rookies in the team, Vikulov and Polupanov, while playing in the 3rd line. It is mentioned by writers of the Československý sport and by Tarasov himself, that his “mentorship” was highly appreciated. They spoke about Firsov that he has been going through noticeable improvements year by year.

EDIT: Also considering the fact that 1966 was the only Firsov´s season where he won the (goal)scoring in the Soviet league, I am quite convinced that he belonged to the Europe´s best players already here in this season.

Thank you for this. Very interesting. I have always viewed Firsov as a likely 4-time winner of the Soviet player of the year award (had it been awarded before 67/68) considering that his 66/67 season probably is his very best season or at the very least tied for being his best season with 67/68 when he won the SPOTY voting with a landslide margin. Reading your post it does not seem impossible that Firsov could have challenged for the SPOTY award in 65/66 as well.

 

[VMBM]

I'm a little late here...

However, regarding the 1973 playoffs, I was somewhat surprised that Martinec is viewed in such positive light - he is even singled out once (from the other players of his line) and his linemate Bohuslav Stastny isn't; I mean, weren't his playoff stats somewhat lacklustre, especially compared to Stastny's? Maybe it just goes to show you that statistics don't always tell the story... I was also thinking that maybe his play tailed off after game 2 of the final series, since his performance is being specifically praised in the first two games. And/or maybe he just didn't get much credit for his playmaking efforts (secondary assists were not counted?).

As for Jiri Holik, I'm quite ready to admit that I have always underrated him. I used to e.g. rank him below Ivan Hlinka and I guess there's no strong case for that really. My main problem was that Holik lacked major individual awards, like the Golden Stick and WHC All-Star berth, not to mention IIHF Best Forward award, and didn't give him enough credit for his two-way/PK excellence. But his prime was really long, and even though he never quite won 'the big award', he was often among the very best players, truly consistent. He seemed to have been a true clutch performer also.

Interesting info on Firsov; I had thought that he was a relatively 'late bloomer', but it's probably not the whole truth; it almost feels like he was fully 'unleashed' only around 1966/67.

 

[DN28]

Thank you for this. Very interesting. I have always viewed Firsov as a likely 4-time winner of the Soviet player of the year award (had it been awarded before 67/68) considering that his 66/67 season probably is his very best season or at the very least tied for being his best season with 67/68 when he won the SPOTY voting with a landslide margin. Reading your post it does not seem impossible that Firsov could have challenged for the SPOTY award in 65/66 as well.

It´s an interesting question. Alexandrov seems like the best player of the 65-66 season at first glance, scoring the most points internationally, specifically at the WHC and being named as All-Star LW of the tournament (Loktev won Directoriate´s best forward award + All-Star RW).

Major and Minor International Tournaments 1965/66 (WHC, Braun Memorial)
1. Veniamin Alexandrov: 10 gp, 10 g, 8 a, 18 pts
1. Viktor Yakushev: 10 gp, 3 g, 15 a, 18 pts
3. Alexander Almetov: 10 gp, 7 g, 8 a, 15 pts
4. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 9 gp, 13 g, 1 a, 14 pts
5. Vaclav Nedomansky: 10 gp, 9 g, 3 a, 12 pts
6. Stanislav Pryl: 9 gp, 6 g, 5 a, 11 pts
7. Konstantin Loktev: 10 gp, 5 g, 5 a, 10 pts
8. Jozef Golonka: 10 gp, 3 g, 6 a, 9 pts
9. Vladimir Brezhnev: 10 gp, 5 g, 3 a, 8 pts
10. Anatoly Firsov: 8 gp, 4 g, 3 a, 7 pts
10. Boris Mayorov: 9 gp, 3 g, 4 a, 7 pts

But as I´ve said, Firsov won the league scoring with 40 goals in (probably) 36 games. Alexandrov came 2nd with 31 goals, which indicates strong season domestically from both.

1965-66 (36 games)

1 Anatoli Firsov CSKA 40
2 Venyamin Aleksandrov CSKA 31
3 Viktor Polupanov CSKA 25
4 Aleksandr Almetov CSKA 24
5 Vyacheslav Starshinov Spartak 22
Evgueni Mishakov CSKA 22
Boris Majorov Spartak 22

Soviet player of the year award did not exist here but we have at least Soviet All-Star teams where both Firsov and Alexandrov were placed (Alexandrov-Starshinov-Firsov as an all-star offense from this season).

Then we have also Soviet "Top 34 players" from 1964 to 1971 where Firsov appears to end up AHEAD of Alexandrov at the LW position:

1965-1966
G: 1. Viktor Konovalenko, 2. Viktor Zinger, 3. Valery Zubarev, 4. Aleksandr Pashkov
D: 1. Aleksandr Ragulin, 2. Viktor Kuzkin, 3. Eduard Ivanov, 4. Vitaly Davydov, 5. Vladimir Brezhnev, 6. Oleg Zaytsev, 7. Igor Romishevsky, 8. Vyacheslav Zhidkov, 9. Aleksey Makarov, 10. Viktor Blinov
LW: 1. Anatoly Firsov, 2. Veniamin Aleksandrov, 3. Boris Mayorov, 4. Yury Moiseyev, 5. Viktor Tsyplakov, 6. Yury Paramoshkin, 7. Viktor Yaroslavtsev
C: 1. Vyacheslav Starshinov, 2. Aleksandr Almetov, 3. Viktor Yakushev, 4. Viktor Polupanov, 5. Anatoly Ionov, 6. Anatoly Motovilov
RW: 1. Konstantin Loktev, 2. Vladimir Vikulov, 3. Yevgeny Zimin, 4. Yevgeny Mishakov, 5. Valery Nikitin, 6. Aleksandr Striganov, 7. Valentin Kozin

So yes, definitely agree that Firsov could have challenged for the hypothetical "Best Soviet Player 1966" title. By the look of all this, stats + awards + the Firsov newly discovered appreciation of his WHC 1966 performance, it seems at least to me that Firsov and Alexandrov were best Soviet players of the season with Starshinov and Loktev closely behind them, and perhaps with Almetov, V. Yakushev, Ragulin, Kuzkin and Konovalenko receiving honorable mentions as well.

I'm a little late here...

However, regarding the 1973 playoffs, I was somewhat surprised that Martinec is viewed in such positive light - he is even singled out once (from the other players of his line) and his linemate Bohuslav Stastny isn't; I mean, weren't his playoff stats somewhat lacklustre, especially compared to Stastny's? Maybe it just goes to show you that statistics don't always tell the story...

It was still just a quick summary of the playoffs, I tried to only capture the most essential things... My overall impression of Martinec from reading the reports was definitely positive. After all, his team won the title (with winning two rather close series) and it was clear Pardubice first line kept being the best / most important / most productive throughout playofffs. But I named the whole Martinec-Novak-Stastny line on a "2nd tier" of best PO players (behind Crha, Holik) for a reason - it does not seem that anyone of these players truly separated himself by his performance from the other two... Tendency of the writers was to praise the line as a whole (or to praise Martinec-Stastny duo when penalty killing).

Problem with CSSR league scoring: there were at least three different sources producing different but generally similar scoring tables, but in the case 1973 playoffs - all these "point-counters" produced very different lists. First, there were official game records with referees distributing scoring points. Second, there were coaches (or generally, more likely people within each club) responsible of assigning scoring points for their players - these were subsequently published in Gól magazine. Third, there were writers / journalists of Československý sport (daily newspaper) publishing their stats of goals and assists from each game as they themselves saw it.

I would definitely like to be finally the one who gathers all these different sets of scoring lists and put them together into one - say - excel spreadsheet, so that the CSSR scoring tables and questions about it would no longer be an issue... but I´m quite busy already now. It will definitely take me some time if I really make this...

Now back to Martinec, play-off ´73 scoring and discrepancies.

Source: Gól magazine
1. Bohuslav Šťastný - 14 points (6+8) / 12 games
2. Milan Nový - 12 points (9+3) / 10 games
3. Václav Haňka - 12 points (5+7) / 12 games
4. Vladimír Veith - 11 points (5+6) / 12 games
5. Jiří Holík - 10 points (7+3) / 10 games
6. Stanislav Prýl - 10 points (4+6) / 12 games
7. Eduard Novák - 9 points (6+3) / 9 games
8. Jiří Novák - 9 points (4+5) / 12 games
9. Miroslav Miklošovič - 8 points (5+3) / 11 games
10. Václav Nedomanský - 8 points (4+4) / 11 games
?. Vladimír Martinec - 6 points (5+1) /12 games

Source: Československý sport
1. Milan Nový - 15 points (10+5) / 10 games
2. Jan Hrbatý - 10 points (4+6) / 10 games
3. Eduard Novák - 9 points (6+3) / 8 games
4. Miroslav Miklošovič - 9 points (5+4) / 11 games
5. Vladimír Martinec - 9 points (5+4) / 12 games
6. Jiří Holík - 8 points (7+1) / 8 games
7. Václav Haňka - 8 points (5+3) / 11 games
8. Václav Nedomanský - 8 points (4+4) / 11 games
9. Martin Pavlíček - 8 points (4+4) / 12 games
9. Stanislav Prýl - 8 points (4+4) / 12 games

1st table claims that Martinec was at best 6th most productive player on his own team (behind Stastny, Hanka, Veith, Pryl, Novak), while according to 2nd table, Martinec was the most productive play-off player on his own team (as Novy, Hrbaty played for Dukla, E. Novak for Kladno and Miklosovic for Slovan). So that´s that...

I was also thinking that maybe his play tailed off after game 2 of the final series, since his performance is being specifically praised in the first two games. And/or maybe he just didn't get much credit for his playmaking efforts (secondary assists were not counted?).

As for Jiri Holik, I'm quite ready to admit that I have always underrated him. I used to e.g. rank him below Ivan Hlinka and I guess there's no strong case for that really. My main problem was that Holik lacked major individual awards, like the Golden Stick and WHC All-Star berth, not to mention IIHF Best Forward award, and didn't give him enough credit for his two-way/PK excellence. But his prime was really long, and even though he never quite won 'the big award', he was often among the very best players, truly consistent. He seemed to have been a true clutch performer also.

Interesting info on Firsov; I had thought that he was a relatively 'late bloomer', but it's probably not the whole truth; it almost feels like he was fully 'unleashed' only around 1966/67.

The play of whole Tesla Pardubice tailed off in game 3 and 4, when Jihlava tied the series seemingly without too much trouble. Game 5 (5:2 for Tesla) - no specific mention of Martinec, only that his line created the most chances but also wasted the most chances. All 5 goals of Pardubice were actually scored by players from 2nd and 3rd line.
Game 6 (5:3 for Tesla) - a mention that Martinec scored the 2nd goal of the game in 19th minute on a breakaway right after heavy pressure from Jihlava in the 1st period. The goal broke the morale of Dukla, Pardubice calmly went for the title after that by scoring three goals in 2nd period.

Yeah, secondary assists were not counted.

I´m inclined to rank Holik above Hlinka too, no question. I guess, a case for Hlinka could be made based on peaking higher... It´s a shame the Izvestia voting wasn´t done just a year earlier because what other players than Hlinka and Holecek (and maybe Michailov?) would have serious chance of winning the award in 1978? Hlinka won the Golden stick that year, WHC all-star C, very narrow silver at WHC. Czechs also won Izvestia tournament that season (which was otherwise almost exclusively won by Soviets only) and Hlinka received the best forward award and was named all-star RW at the Izvestia tournment in December 1977. 2nd in domestic scoring by a single point behind the 1st... just an all-round great season, top 3 player in Europe (if not very best). Jiri Holik 1973 (or a different year) likely did not have as great season as Hlinka 1978.

 

[VMBM]

Problem with CSSR league scoring: there were at least three different sources producing different but generally similar scoring tables, but in the case 1973 playoffs - all these "point-counters" produced very different lists. First, there were official game records with referees distributing scoring points. Second, there were coaches (or generally, more likely people within each club) responsible of assigning scoring points for their players - these were subsequently published in Gól magazine. Third, there were writers / journalists of Československý sport (daily newspaper) publishing their stats of goals and assists from each game as they themselves saw it.

I would definitely like to be finally the one who gathers all these different sets of scoring lists and put them together into one - say - excel spreadsheet, so that the CSSR scoring tables and questions about it would no longer be an issue... but I´m quite busy already now. It will definitely take me some time if I really make this...

Now back to Martinec, play-off ´73 scoring and discrepancies.

Source: Gól magazine
1. Bohuslav Šťastný - 14 points (6+8) / 12 games
2. Milan Nový - 12 points (9+3) / 10 games
3. Václav Haňka - 12 points (5+7) / 12 games
4. Vladimír Veith - 11 points (5+6) / 12 games
5. Jiří Holík - 10 points (7+3) / 10 games
6. Stanislav Prýl - 10 points (4+6) / 12 games
7. Eduard Novák - 9 points (6+3) / 9 games
8. Jiří Novák - 9 points (4+5) / 12 games
9. Miroslav Miklošovič - 8 points (5+3) / 11 games
10. Václav Nedomanský - 8 points (4+4) / 11 games
?. Vladimír Martinec - 6 points (5+1) /12 games

Source: Československý sport
1. Milan Nový - 15 points (10+5) / 10 games
2. Jan Hrbatý - 10 points (4+6) / 10 games
3. Eduard Novák - 9 points (6+3) / 8 games
4. Miroslav Miklošovič - 9 points (5+4) / 11 games
5. Vladimír Martinec - 9 points (5+4) / 12 games
6. Jiří Holík - 8 points (7+1) / 8 games
7. Václav Haňka - 8 points (5+3) / 11 games
8. Václav Nedomanský - 8 points (4+4) / 11 games
9. Martin Pavlíček - 8 points (4+4) / 12 games
9. Stanislav Prýl - 8 points (4+4) / 12 games

1st table claims that Martinec was at best 6th most productive player on his own team (behind Stastny, Hanka, Veith, Pryl, Novak), while according to 2nd table, Martinec was the most productive play-off player on his own team (as Novy, Hrbaty played for Dukla, E. Novak for Kladno and Miklosovic for Slovan). So that´s that...

Interesting (the discrepansies = pretty big in some cases, and sometimes it's not only concerning assists but also goals and games played as well!). Yeah, it's only the version by Gól magazine that I had seen before, and thus wondered...

 

[DN28]

1972-1973 part 6:
Before we´ll finally move on with this to the next season, let me mention here a few last things and details from this season.

1) World Championship 1973.
Czechs failed to follow up their success from previous championships, gold medal in 1972 and close second to Soviets in 1971. It´s clear from contemporary accounts of coaches and writers published in Gól magazine, as well as from game reports published in Československý sport, that three main problems or obstacles arose:

First, the continuous progression towards tougher, more physical hockey in Europe. This seems to be direct result from the Summit Series ´72. The first encounter of elite European players versus NHL professionals led to yet another increasement in toleration of both “fair” and “unfair” physical hockey (practices that were within the rules but also outside the rules). CSSR team were deemed as the worst compared to Soviets, Swedes and Finns to adjust to these changes. And it´s no coincidence that the very same struggle happened at WHC 1970 – after the establishment of bodychecking all over the ice. Just like in 1973, CSSR in 1970 managed to earn the bronze medal only, while not posing any serious threat to Swedes and Soviets. In fact, Czechs surprisingly hard-fought Finns too (in both cases, 1970 and 1973). It didn´t come as a surprise to me, the Czech hockey history books usually paint the picture of “great skaters and technicians who struggle with more aggressive physical opponents” that Czechoslovak players tend to be. I don´t think this picture was always accurate but I´m sure it was a fact for these two championships. I also think that this problem affected the Czech forwards more than defensemen who, I think, adjusted better.

Second, huge amount of injuries that cost the team any serious chance to defend the title from previous year. Probably never before or since, the Czechoslovak team had so much bad luck in terms of untimely injuries. I´ve already mentioned Martinec who had suffered from torn ligament in the knee from the exhibition game against Poland right before the Championship and subsequently from concussion carried from the 1st game vs. USSR. Jaroslav Holik struggled with injuries during the whole season, but specifically I believe he had a chipped ankle several weeks before the championship and did not fully recover. Josef Horesovsky, Jiri Kochta and Milan Kuzela played through various injuries as well. Another one was Vaclav Nedomansky who did not have an injury per se, but went through a severe tonsillitis illness right before the championship started which obviously negatively affected primarily his conditioning.

Third, time for preparation. Championship started on March 31 and Czechoslovakia shut down the League and elite players gathered to training camp on March 9 – so the Czechs had roughly 3 weeks of preparation and it was already a lot in comparison to previous years. Up to 1970, National team basically got together for just a few days before the tournament, played one or two exhibition games with someone and that was it. But the Soviets in 1973 were able to shut down their League already on February 21 and their preparation time for the tournament lasted for 5 weeks! This was again seen as quite troubling for the Czechs in terms of how exactly are they supposed to beat USSR in competition if they won´t even match the amount of training devoted the best possible result at the following championship in the first place? As I´ve written at the end of Part 5, increasing need for more time for WHC preparation was the main reason why CSSR League´s playoffs did not continue after 1973.

Next, I´m going to mention NT coaches´ thought process of picking up the players for the team and their own post-WHC reflection of what mistakes they had done. Vladimír Kostka published several articles on this topic in Gól magazine. I will either summarize or directly translate the most interesting parts:

“Conception of the game of our team is always a representation of direction which prevails in the highest competition [= 1st CSSR League]. Its creation is influenced by: previous development, contemporary external conditions, especially typical mentality of our people, a system of preparation of players from pupils up to National team, societal status of the sport, material conditions, at which it is executed on mass level and on the peak-performance level too.

Inner influence is given by conception of the game which is created by cooperation of coaches and chosen players, co-creating a collective of the National team. Currently, it plays hockey that has earned international recognition and essentially builds on the strictly organized defense which allows quick and relatively secured attacks from defense point of view.

It´s not sufficient just to generally establish a system during this formation of conception of the National team game, but it [a system] needs to be defined very concretely, such that address not only ideas of coaches but also capabilities of players from broader range. Unfortunately, options of this broader range of players are here the smallest from all the matured hockey countries. By the systematic management, we develop one or two 1st-league-caliber players from the basic number of 50 pupils, and approximately one tenth of them later gets into the National team. If we count the base of pupils in the Soviet Union in their ‘Golden Puck’ competition for millions, if we take into account Swedes calculating with their natural northern weather conditions and their almost a triple the amount of artificial ice rinks [than ours] with tens of thousands of hockey players! We count the youth only for thousands! We maintain high level only due to well thought-out qualifications of coaches and style of play that corresponds to our conditions.

(…)

Quick penetration [into the offensive zone] with creative situational solutions suits our players, while gradual attack with penetrating into the organized tough defense of an opponent remains a heavy problem for them. Goals, that National team allow, come mostly after gross errors, which unforeseeably occur in the plays of individuals. These mistakes can be limited by training but cannot be completely expelled. Number of goals allowed, which is a certain measure of success of defense game, reveals our competitiveness with USSR and Sweden (USSR allowed 18 goals, Sweden 23 and CSSR 20). Low count of goals scored (USSR 100, Sweden 53 and CSSR 48) points to not only our old weakness in finishing offensive actions, but also to the reality that Soviet and Swedish team distinctly improved defensive game compared to last year."

Now to the question of nominations and performances: Kostka says that there were no serious objections to the nomination for the Moscov ´73 at the council of coaches. Julius Haas won the league goal-scoring but was left off for “disciplinary reasons”. Jan Suchy did not play well enough during the League´s finish. Another quality borderline players, such as Rudolf Tajcnar and Vladimir Bednar, who were also members of the ‘golden team’ from last year, were injured or ill and unable to play. Otherwise, several younger players (d-men Kajkl and M. Dvorak, LWs Ebermann and Pouzar, Cs Brunclik and Novy, RW E. Novak) were on the borders of nomination but older experienced players were preferred instead, especially if these experienced players had already played previous year in Prague ´72. In hindsight, Kostka writes that mainly Bohuslav Ebermann and maybe even Bedrich Brunclik could be considered as an omission – player(s) that would have been picked up instead of some other skater. Kostka also writes that E. Novak as the best remaining RW would come in handy as a replacement for heavily disabled Martinec. However, coaches believed that if they choose more or less the same ‘golden team', the worst possible result will still be a solid 2nd place. They realized only after the championship ended, that a lot had changed and that many players apparently had hit their peak performance in 1972. Most of these players could not be compared to other top internationals in terms of speed, toughness or strength. “It became most evident with the Jaroslav Holík´s unit where his brother Jiří remained the only dominant player.”

Chemistry between players was another key factor: whole 1st line of Pardubice and Jihlava (easily 2 contemporary best domestic teams) were chosen explicitly for this chemistry reason (that is Stastny-Novak-Martinec and Holik-Holik-Klapac lines). From other forwards, Nedomansky, Hlinka and Farda were chosen automatically based on their strength of individual performances. Forwards Kochta and Palecek were proven from their WHC ´72 play and both noted for their ability to up their game on the international scene relative to their league play – especially Kochta. Recall the Charouzd´s article from above the Part 1 of 1972-1973 season´ write-ups: “Combinations in the National team. These problems of chemistry and integrity of a hockey unit are carrying into the National team too. It is composed from players from nine clubs and it´s based off only of the club team´s pairs, trios of forwards at maximum, while every one of defense partners dress different league jersey. Although we do have undeniably high-level balanced competition, we still miss a distinctive top team. Individuals excel in the teams – Holeček, Machač, Pospíšil, Farda, Hlinka, Kochta, Brunclík, but rarely the two like Holík brothers or Nedomanský-Haas, and exceptionally the whole forward line like the Pardubician Martinec-Novák-Šťastný, while there can´t even be a debate about the whole 5-man team unit suitable for the National team yet. Considering these conditions, the previous year´s success of the National team at the World Championship excels so much more.” The chemistry within the whole 5-man units, or precisely the lack thereof in the Czechoslovak team, was considered as one of the serious flaws compared to the Soviet National team that should be somehow mitigated. Issue was that Soviets were already much better prepared in terms of physical conditioning – a factor that could be hardly matched or surpassed by the Czechs – therefore a push against inner-unit or inner-line chemistry as a pro-Soviet playing factor, that can be realistically matched and solved.

As far as the best CSSR players go… “Only goaltender Holeček fully satisfied, truly the best one at the championship, from forwards merely a very hardworking Jirka Holík and enterprising Kochta (in spite of his injury).”

To finish off this topic to its entirety, here are the coaches´ selections when Československý sport asked them to name the temporarily best players at each position half-way through the 1973 championship (I´ve already mentioned this in Part 2):

J. Pitner (CSSR): Abrahamsson – “I´m not going to name any one defenseman because I would harm many others.” – Söderström.
L. Lunde (FIN): Holeček – Pospíšil – Petrov.
V. Bobrov (USSR): Holeček – Pospíšil – Petrov.
K. Svensson (SWE): Holeček – Vasiliev – Petrov.

2) Ontario Cup 1973.
After the Izvestia Cup played out in late December, Czechoslovak players subsequently travelled to Canada to participate in Ontario Cup in January 1973. It was, I believe, the last encounter, “the swan song” of the Czechoslovak National Team vs. Canadian amateur teams match-ups. It is noted in many articles that the amateur hockey in Canada had found itself in serious crisis for obvious reasons of NHL expansions. The creation of WHA in 1972 almost seemed like a “nail in the coffin” at the time, indeed the tone of articles, where CSSR writers mixed their own view of things coupled together with citations coming from people from CAHA circles, is quite grim.

Professional leagues vacuumed all the quality players they could and subsequent results of the European teams at the Ontario Cup showed that the Euro National teams should really focus on playing professionals from now on exclusively. CSSR National team played under the name “Team Prague” but it was mostly all the best CSSR players, other European teams were Dynamo Moscow and Timra (Swedish hockey club). Zdeněk Andršt (head of the CSSR hockey association) concluded that best hockey games were played strictly between these three Euro teams and that Chernyshov´s Dynamo was the only team that forced Czechs to put out their best effort. I can´t find the full results of the tournament but it is mentioned in Ivan Ďurišin´s summary of the tournament (writer for the Tip magazine) that at least Dynamo won all their games vs. Canadian teams too and finished 2nd. Not sure about Timra but I think they won most of their games vs. 'Canada' too…

One of the biggest factors of completely outplaying Canadian teams seemed to be simply a better conditioning. At least that´s what Jaroslav Pitner suggested when he talked that the 1st periods of these games were relatively even but huge differences in the scoresheet appeared in 3rd periods when Canadians could not withstand the pressure anymore.

Frantisek Pospisil was declared the best player of the tournament and carried home the MVP award.

It´s interesting that Andršt mentioned that Czechoslovak hockey authorities made close contacts with NHL franchises Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres during this trip. It is mentioned they tentatively agreed upon a common camp and exhibition games during off-season. Idea was that these teams would arrive approximately in May to Czechoslovakia and Czechoslovakia would arrive in September to either Toronto or Buffalo. Such a shame that it never materialized! Anyway, specifically Punch Imlach, at this point a Sabres GM, showed a lot of interest in the Czech team, as I´ve already mentioned in Part 4, Imlach tried to lure Vaclav Nedomansky into his team but failed to do so.

3) International games in 1972-73.
Československý sport listed all the games and results that top National teams played over the course of entire season. It´s noted that the reason why this season was so interested is that the volume of international games played was never so high any time before.

USSR:
Summit Series, 8 games vs. Canada (7:3, 1:4, 4:4, 5:3 and 5:4, 2:3, 3:4, 5:6).
Izvestia Cup, 4 games, all wins (10:2 vs. SWE, 8:4 vs. CSSR, 11:3 vs. FIN, 5:1 vs. POL).
USA and Canada tour in January, 6 games, all wins (12:3 vs. Canada juniors, 13:3 vs. USA, 6:3 vs. Dukla Jihlava + 5:4 vs. Phoenix Roadrunners, 8:2 vs. San Diego Gulls, 9:4 vs. “Nightwanks").
WHC preparation, 8 games, 1 loss (3:4 vs. SWE), 7 wins (14:3 vs. combination of EV Füssen and Bad Tölz, 13:2 vs. Düsseldorfer EG, 17:2 and 7:0 vs. EV Füssen + 5:1 and 5:2 vs. FIN, 9:4 vs. SWE).
26 games for USSR before the championship in total, 20 wins, 5 losses, 1 tie.

CSSR:
Before Summit Series, 3 games vs. Eastern Germany, 1 tie (2:2), 2 wins (3:1, 8:1).
Post Summit Series, 1 game vs. Canada (3:3 tie).
Autumn, 2 games vs. Sweden, 2 wins (10:4, 3:2).
Izvestia Cup, 4 games, 2 ties (2:2 vs. SWE, 1:1 vs. FIN), 1 win (3:0 vs. POL), 1 loss (4:8 vs. USSR).
Ontario Cup, 7 games, all wins (6:3 vs. Owen Sound Downtowners, 8:5 vs. Galt Hornets, 5:3 vs. Moscow Dynamo, 7:1 vs. Brantford Foresters, 14:1 vs. Windsor Spitfires, 6:1 vs. Timra, 9:1 vs. Ages Kingston).
Winter 1973, 6 games, 5 wins (6:1 and 6:2 vs. CSSR juniors, 3:2 and 2:1 vs. FIN, 6:1 vs. SWE), 1 loss (0:2 vs. SWE).
WHC preparation, 5 games, 4 wins (8:2 vs. POL, 6:0 vs. FIN, 3:1 and 8:4 vs. USSR B-team), 1 tie (2:2 vs. FIN).
28 games for CSSR before the championship in total, 21 wins, 2 losses, 5 ties.

Sweden:
Before Summit Series, 1 game vs. CSSR juniors (7:5 win).
During Summit Series, 2 games vs. Canada, 1 loss (1:4), 1 tie (4:4).
Autumn, 4 games, 3 losses (4:10 and 2:3 vs. CSSR, 1:5 vs. FIN), 1 win (4:2 vs. FIN).
Izvestia Cup, 4 games, 1 loss (2:10 vs. USSR), 2 ties (2:2 vs. CSSR, 2:2 vs. POL), 1 win (3:1 vs. FIN).
Games in winter 1973 + immediate WHC preparation (it´s not differentiated here…), 5 wins (2:0 vs. CSSR, 5:1 vs. FIN twice, 4:3 vs. USSR, 12:3 vs. West. Germany), 2 losses (1:6 vs. CSSR, 4:9 vs. USSR).
18 games for Sweden before the championship in total, 9 wins, 7 losses, 3 ties.

4) Frantisek Pospisil.
Pospisil had an interesting season. After his peak 1972, he regressed a bit but still showed flashes of brilliance over the season. He performed overall pretty good in the League, led d-men in scoring for third time straight with 24 points (7+17) and finishing 3rd best in +/-. Funny that 2nd most productive league d-man was Pospisil´s own D partner Bohumil Cermak (13+5). Pospisil had some injury issues in this season and in following one, which somewhat slowed him down. Kladno was at this point absolutely dependant on him, which was clear from game reports I´ve read and also from forementioned Charouzd´s article from Part 1, mentioning how Kladno “took a deep swing during Pospíšil´s injury.”

Apart from a few injuries and thus missed games, Pospisil had somewhat slow start into the season finishing 7th in the 1st quarter of the Golden stick voting. His form though upgraded in January when he won that Ontario Cup MVP award… and some recognition from the side of Canadian observers, as mentioned in Part 4: “Nedomanský, Pospíšil, Kužela, Ebermann would have been the stars of biggest magnitude in Canada.” (Tommy Wally, manager of Windsor Spitfires).

Then his performance at the WHC ´73 is quite ambivalent. He was explicitely critized in that Kostka´s several pages long WHC ´73 summary as one of many players who played badly and disappointed. But then we can see from the questionnaire of 4 coaches half-way through the championship that Pospisil – at least – had to have a very good 1st half of the tournament, being named by 2 coaches as a provisional best D. After that, Pospisil in subsequent League playoffs does not seem to play anything special, reports don´t write any positive or negative evaluations of his performance so we can gather that he likely played a bit below his average level. Kladno was swept 0:4 in semi by Dukla and then lost close series 2:3 to Slovan for the final 3rd place, so nothing special here.

Overall, I think Pospisil´s ultimate 3rd place in GS voting does reflect his season fairly – still a very good play but below the quality of his 3 previous seasons. He was 7th, 4th, 3rd, 4th and 5th in respective GS voting rounds, which was consistent enough to earn him that overall 3rd spot.

5) Jan Suchy.
How did Suchy play in 72-73 when he served his prison time and was released? This was the question I was interested in because Suchy in his autobiography writes quite highly about his own immediate post-custody or post-jail games, was it really the case?

GS voting in 1972 of his is relatively strong: 15th overall and 3rd best d-man despite not playing neither OG nor the ‘golden’ WHC. He was released from custody and allowed to play for just the remaining 16 games left to play during which he scored 19 points (7+12). If Suchy had played the whole season and maintained the pace, he would have likely ended up with approximately 42 points which would have been the same amount that 3rd and 4th best league scorers of that season registered (Jan Klapac and Frantisek Pospisil). I haven´t read the game reports from this season but I found the results of 4th round of GS voting, i.e. results from the only quarter of the League that Suchy played entirely, and the man was voted as 4th best player.

…Not bad, but how about the 1973? GS voting is significantly weaker: 32th overall with mere 3 points and 11th among d-men. He played 21 games during which he recorded 6 points (3+3). Nothing too impressive, it needs to be said that Suchy was allowed to play internationally at this point since his sentence was carried out and coaches absolutely considered him as a serious candidate, but Vladimir Kostka wrote about him that he simply didn´t play well enough by the end of the regular season. It is in spark contrast with the ´72 Prague´s WHC where coaches and players begged the Czechoslovak political authorities for permission for Suchy to play, I believe Pospisil and Nedomansky (captain and assistant) even went to visit the chairman of the communist party before the start of championship but their demands were simply declined.

I did found the report from Suchy´s first game after prison, it was Slovan Bratislava vs. Dukla Jihlava game, played on January 23. Dukla won 4:2. Stano Kšiňan, reporter of the game, wrote that Suchy was a “big individual of the away team” and that the “long pause wasn´t practically noticed on him”. Therefore Suchy certainly didn´t make things up when he wrote about high praise he received when he came back on ice.

However, following 1973 reports mention him very scarcely and only time Suchy again received more attention in game reports, happened during 1973 play-off finals vs. Pardubice where Suchy is described as undoubtedly still showing a lot of effort but overall does not match up well versus Pardubice´s top line of B. Stastny - J. Novak - V. Martinec, issue being the lack of speed vis-à-vis these forwards. So taking into consideration that, plus Kostka´s evaluation, plus lack of GS votes compared just to 1972, and we can judge his 1973 season as an eminent decline of Suchy´s play.

6) Milan Novy.
As I keep looking more deeply into 1970s hockey, absence of any, say, verbal affirmation of “star power” of Milan Novy, is becoming more and more frustrating but also understandable. Let´s quickly recapitulate:

1971 season (age 19), almost a ppg (30-32 points in 33-36 games) in RS, top 20 scorer, very good playoffs with either 9 or 10 points in 9 games.

1972 season (age 20), less points (22-27 in 35-36 games) but with historically low scoring levels this was again more than enough for Novy to place in top 20 league scoring. This was the season where he dressed the national team jersey for the first time in some exhibition games, though he still did not make it to either Olympics or Worlds ´72.

1973 season (age 21), gets drafted to Dukla Jihlava, team simultaneously led by National team coach too! Novy finished 3rd in scoring (41-44 points in 35-36 games) in RS, again very productive in playoffs (12-15 points in 10 games). Novy leads his team (and very strong team with other star forwards around him) in scoring all throughout the season + play-off and not only that, I noticed there were instances were Novy appeared on the top of provisional League scoring table in the newspapers. Martinec, Novy, Haas were leading and surpassing one another in the scoring pretty much all season long. And with all that, Novy did not play in single one of those 28 international games that Czechs played before the subsequent 10 games played at the Championship where Novy did not appear again (despite having played the season in front of the eyes of National team coach in his club team). You can see from what I´ve written above that he was at least considered, but the n. 1 replacement forwards for the CSSR team were B. Ebermann (W from Plzen) and B. Brunclik (C from Kosice) anyway.. Novy played as Jihlava´s 2nd line C all season long, even in instances where Jar. Holik (1st line C) was injured, Novy did not get “promoted” into the top line. Jaroslav Holik, who was 30 y/o at this point and in his last season as a member of NT, was still considered as superior player and much more valuable to his team than Novy. For example, in game report from Československý sport 28. 2. 1973, a new absence of Jar. Holik in the lineup due to chipped ankle is described as:
“…Definitely bigger handicap for soldiers was the absence of the engine and brain of the team, injured Jaroslav Holík…”. And again, re-read one of those Charouzd´s article above from the Part 1 and see what he has to say about Holik and Novy, difference is clear. It´s just suspicious that Novy received so little remarks in newspapers over the season despite his numbers, especially true in the league playoffs.

1974 season, Novy finally became more-or-less a constant member of NT but got injured at the end of League season and missed the WHC ´74.

1975-1977 seasons, Novy´s peak years, no new info about them with one exception: I found an anecdote at the OG 1976 game reports that it was Novy who was prepared as an emergency back-up goalie in case Holecek wouldn´t be able to continue to play due to flu and eye injury. Crha was injured and Olympic official authorities refused to allow the Czechs to add a third goalie during the tournament. Novy was the only player in the team who allegedly had some experience with playing goalie when he was a kid, but this decision was not directive from coaches… he volunteered.

1978 season, I´ve re-read Karel Gut´s conclusive post-WHC 1978 interview for Gól magazine and found one thing. Writer asked Gut why Novy played so little at the championship as he expected to see him on the ice more often. Gut answered that he expected that too, Novy looked in good form before the tournament and the plan was to use the successful “Vienna formation” (Ebermann-Novy-Martinec) from previous championship again. But the coaches eventually bet on club chemistry once more, creating Ebermann-J. Novak-Martinec line (Pardubice connection, Novak had a strong pre-WHC camp too). Second line was dependent on Slovan Bratislava connection and chemistry (Marian and Peter Stastny) and third line was led by I. Hlinka, freshly appointed captain having his single-peak season. So Novy remained stucked in the lineup as a luxury substitute. Literally same thing happened to him at WHC 1979 too. Gut adds an important caveat to his answer: he intended to play him as a winger but Novy simply can´t use his shooting qualities at any other position than center properly.

I still remember the “Brett Hull” description of Novy from the Top Non-NHL Europeans project and now I think even more that it really is a very appropriate illustration.

He was a bit like Brett Hull, you often hardly noticed him in games, but then when you looked at the scoresheet he had two goals. As you wrote DN28, Nový had a really accurate shot and he had a sneaky fast release that surprised a lot of goaltenders over the years.

 

[Killion]

1972-1973 part 6:
Before we´ll finally move on with this to the next season, let me mention here a few last things and details from this season................... and now I think even more that it really is a very appropriate illustration.

...... ....... Wow!...... so much for the Readers Digest versions uh? Quite the post. Awesome.

 

[DN28]

...... ....... Wow!...... so much for the Readers Digest versions uh? Quite the post. Awesome.

Thanks, Killion.

Yeah, some of these posts got crazy long but then again, I always ask myself what´s the point of holding the information just for myself? So then I proceed to exhaust the topic to the maximum.

It´s quite satisfying to see it posted afterwards knowing it´s all finally "out there"...

 

[Theokritos]

2) Ontario Cup 1973.

(...)

I can´t find the full results of the tournament but it is mentioned in Ivan Ďurišin´s summary of the tournament (writer for the Tip magazine) that at least Dynamo won all their games vs. Canadian teams too and finished 2nd. Not sure about Timra but I think they won most of their games vs. 'Canada' too…

Source

26/12/1972 Owen Sound Downtowners (CAN) - Sélection Prague (TCH) 3-6 (2-2,1-2,0-2)
26/12/1972 Kingston Aces (CAN) - Dynamo Moscou (URSS) 6-8 (0-2,2-3,4-3)
28/12/1972 Galt Hornets (CAN) - Sélection Prague 5-8 (2-1,2-2,1-5)
29/12/1972 Sélection Prague - Dynamo Moscou 5-3 (1-1,0-1,4-1) [à Toronto]
29/12/1972 Kingston Aces - Timrå 9-6 (3-2,1-1,5-3)
30/12/1972 Galt Hornets - Owen Sound Downtowners 7-5
30/12/1972 Dynamo Moscou - Timrå 5-3 (3-0,1-2,1-1) [à Barrie]
31/12/1972 Galt Hornets - Timrå 8-7
01/01/1973 Owen Sound Downtowners - Dynamo Moscou 4-11 (2-3,1-3,1-5)
02/01/1973 Galt Hornets - Kingston Aces 5-4
03/01/1973 Sélection Prague - Timrå 6-1 [à Kitchener]
04/01/1973 Kingston Aces - Sélection Prague 1-9
05/01/1973 Owen Sound Downtowners - Timrå 4-7 (0-3,2-3,2-1)
06/01/1973 Owen Sound Downtowners - Kingston Aces 3-3
06/01/1973 Galt Hornets - Dynamo Moscou 3-8 (0-2,1-2,2-4)

Classement : 1 Sélection Prague (TCH) 10, 2 Dynamo Moscou (URSS) 8, 3 Galt Hornets (CAN) 6, 4 Kingston Aces (CAN) 3, 5 Timrå (SUE) 2, 6 Owen Sound Downtowners (CAN) 1.

 

[Theokritos]

Československý sport, April 1974, before the 2nd match-up of CSSR vs. USSR, interview with Vyacheslav Gavrilin, writer for “Krasivaya Zvezda” (Moscow).

For the record, the name of the paper is Krasnaya Zvezda ("Red Star"), the main outlet of the Soviet Ministry of Defense. Colonel Vyacheslav Gavrilin was the sports editor of that paper.

 

[DN28]

Jan Suchý and other European defensemen from mid-60s to early 70s

Sorry for taking me so long to contribute further in this thread. Increasing working commitments made it difficult to actually sit down and spend a few hours on posting new hockey history info. However, now I finally forced myself into writing a longer profile mainly about Jan Suchý’s prime. Suchý is probably the last well-known CSSR player of whom I felt the need to post my archive findings. This post also includes some secondary information about the state of Czech and other Euro d-men in the roughly 1965-1971 period. It doesn’t include anything about Suchý’s post-car accident career, since I’ve already covered that topic elsewhere.

1964-1965
Suchý’s first international season. I find nothing particular about him. František Tikal (WHC ‘65 All-Star and 1965 Directoriate’s Best Defenseman) was still considered by far the best Czechoslovak defenseman at this point. Suchý didn’t get a vote in tournament’s all-star voting. Coach Vladimír Kostka even wrote in winter 64-65 after the CSSR trip to Canada that Tikal could easily play in the NHL. It’s truly a shame that Tikal’s legacy have been tarnished by no one other than his 1965’ D partner in the CSSR lineup – Jan Suchý. Anyway, moving on…

1965-1966
I would cautiously refer of Suchý as the best Czechoslovak defenseman at this point. Not only that his league scoring jumped but he showed a great WHC performance. In the league, Suchý’s 32 points was good enough for the 13th place in the overall scoring (and of course the most among d-men). Dukla Jihlava (= Suchý’s team) improved in the standings and lost the title to ZKL Brno only through worse goal-differential.

But also Kopaná-Hokej magazine declared Jan Suchý, Stanislav Prýl and Jiří Holík as the three best CSSR players at the 1966 WHC, while Stadion magazine considered Jiří Holík as the best Czechoslovakian at the Ljublana 1966’ Championship… Suchý was the only CSSR d-man who did not register a single goal or assist so whatever the source of praise for his perfomance was, it surely hadn’t come from his offensive rushes.

1966-1967
Suchý probably became the best Czechoslovak player during this season. Dukla Jihlava won their first title and launched a dynasty lasting until 1974. Suchý was again the highest scoring d-men (he’d be one always from 1966 to 1970) while Dukla allowed the least amount of goals by a good margin.

I have two sources which together paints the picture. First, František Žák, former league player who observed the WHC ’67 in person, named Jozef Golonka and Jan Suchý as the only couple of players who did not disappoint.

Second, I have found Arkady Chernyshev’s list of best players at the Vienna 1967’ Championship in the Kopaná-Hokej interview. The list is following:



KH: “Which WHC players were the best to you?”

AC: “In goal – Martin. This Canadian is without a doubt the best goaltender over the last years. I would nominate our Konovalenko as the second goalie, and as a third – the American Wetzel.

Davydov was the best amongst defensemen. He played greatly in all the games and was almost flawless. That is very important in such esteemed tournament. Ragulin deserves a high praise too. From other teams’ defensemen, I would pick the Canadian Brewer and the CSSR player Suchý.

Firsov showed an outstanding game in the offense. He was certainly the best. I would name Starshinov as the second best. What a fantastic warrior who can play on the ice exactly what interests of the collective dictate. I would put the Swede Nils Nilsson on the third place, and on the fourth – Jaroslav Holík from the CSSR.”

So that’s two individuals that separately exalt Jan Suchý after otherwise horrible team performance by the Czechoslovaks (4th place at the WHC).

Furthermore, we do have already here a smaller, less-known award for the best Czechoslovak hockey players called Anketa internacionálů (can be loosely translated as The Poll of the Former National Team Players). I haven’t still found enough time to look more into this, but from what I remember, I believe the award results came from approximately 10 voters and the award was granted according to yearly – not seasonal (!) – performance. Jan Suchý is listed to win this award in 1967, which presumably means that circa 10 former players thought of him to be the CSSR player for the 2nd half of 66-67 and for the 1st half of 67-68 season.

…All this is to say that from the evidence at hand, I think we can cautiously give Jan Suchý a retro Golden Stick for the 1967 season.

A sidenote: under the information available, Suchý was likely contacted by an NHL team (Detroit Red Wings) for the first time during the summer of 1967.

1967-1968
Here’s where the real ride begins. Not only that Suchý is now playing his own league but he enters a discussion for the best player in Europe. His peak play happened in 1968-1971 and at the OG ’68, Suchý won the d-men all-star voting.

Czechoslovakia won silver but managed to upset the USSR 5:4 in quite an exciting spectacle. The game was definitely won in large part through clever coaching of Pitner&Kostka but as far as the individual players’ contributions go, Jan Suchý with his two-way game was arguably the best player on ice (hinted by the head of the CSSR hockey association Zdeněk Andršt in post-game interview).

From now on, we can see a consistent pattern with Suchý’s career – the ability to always play his best in deciding games. Thriving in the clutch Suchý also demonstrated in the League 1-2 months later. Although the 1960’s CSSR League did not offer any playoffs, a luck would have it that the previous champions (Dukla Jihlava and ZKL Brno) faced each other in the last round as the final game of the season. Jihlava was ahead 2 points but Brno would win the league with any win… The game ended with a 3:3 tie. How did the press evaluate the game?

“Big battles give birth to heroes. The Jihlavian Suchý becomes one in deciding league match between ZKL and Dukla. He stopped countless actions, blocked 17 shots with his own body, by himself several times endangered and once scored on Nadrchal. Jan Suchý is clearly the best hockey player of the season.”

To prove that Suchý wasn’t just a skater who got hot in high-pressure games but disappeared in low-key games, I will show you this list:



The list shows the final account of the best Czechoslovak players based on league games only. Reporters of Kopaná-Hokej magazine named the top goalie, d-man and forward after every game from the 67-68 season. Number behind the name reveals how many times a player was considered to be the best at his position in a particular game. 1968’ results transcripted from the picture above:

“WRITERS EVALUATED:

Lacký – Suchý – Nedomanský

In the contest of journalists for the best players of the game, here is the final ranking:

Goaltenders: Lacký (23 ‘firsts’), Termer (19), Holeček (17), Kočí (16), Nadrchal (13), Dzurilla (12), Hovora, Wohl, Mikoláš and Valášek (11) etc.

Defensemen: Suchý (31), Pospíšil (25), Gregor (11), Ondřasina, Machač, Šíma and M. Beránek (10), Tajcnár (8), Masopust and Berek (7), etc.

Forwards: Nedomanský (13), Havel (11), Bavor and Černý (10), Ševčík, Jar. Holík and Hrbatý (8), Golonka (7), Jiří Holík and Hlinka (6) etc.”

What is absurd is that Suchý was declared the top d-man 31 times while playing 36 league games. It was 86% guaranteed that Suchý was going to be the best defender whenever a hockey game started and his lead over the rest is massive. I would also point out impressive result by Pospíšil suggesting he may have been a clear 2nd best Czech D already at this point in time, despite his otherwise a bit disappointing Olympics.

Jan Suchý would have been a landslide winner of a Golden Stick trophy for the best Czechoslovak hockey player if the voting was conducted already in spring of 1968.

A sidenote: I was surprised to find out that 34 y/o František Tikal, playing basically his last season, was still viewed as a sure thing for the National team lineup! Only thing which prevented his nomination was an injury/illness.

1968-1969
Now this was one of the best seasons from any European player ever. Defenseman Suchý famously ran through the finish line as the League’s leading scorer – 1 year before Bobby Orr achieved such feat in NHL. Suchý scored 56 points (30+26) in 34 games according to official game records. He created unofficial record of all-time high number of points scored in a single league game – Dukla won 14:3 over České Budějovice on 8. 2. 1969, and Suchý contributed with 9 points (5+4).

Statistically, the 1969’ edition of Dukla Jihlava is likely the most dominant Czech or Slovak team in history. 29 wins, 6 losses, 1 tie, 59 points out of 36 games and a goal-differential of 206:83 – no other team has fared better before or since. Four Dukla players occupied the top-10 scoring rank, three Dukla players appeared on the top-5 scoring list. Just to give you an idea of Suchý’s fame, here are the two headlines from the Československý sport from this time:

“Half of the Champion is Suchý”

“Forwards, learn from Suchý!”

Now to turn the focus on international stage, what else have I found? For the 69’ season specifically, you can find some praise about Suchý’s physical game. Coach Vladimír Kostka highlighted rising quality of CSSR defense’s physical game in winter 68-69 after several clashes with Canadian squads. Czech d-men were at this point considered better than Canadian ones because, while perhaps less stronger, they avoid penalties. In fairness, Kostka noted the physicality of all Czech d-men, not of Suchy concretely, but a sentence later he wrote that Suchý had been statistically the best d-man of that series…

Anyway, Suchý won WHC ‘69 all-star voting with 144 votes out of 150 ballots. He also received ‘69 Directoriate’s Best Defenseman award. CSSR finished the championship only third after worse goal-differential than Sweden and Soviet Union (all three teams had equal amount of points). Czechoslovaks might have come ahead if it wasn’t for Suchý’s injury causing him to miss the last game vs. Sweden. Still, Suchý was probably again the best player on ice in crucial 1st game against the Soviets which was won 2:0 (Suchý scored the first goal, assisted to second goal).

By the end of the season, Suchý won the inaugural Golden Stick award for the best CSSR player. It’s fortunate that for this season we also have a one-off poll for the best player in Europe where Suchý obtained by far the most votes too.

1969-1970
A season where you start to notice some criticism of Suchý. It appears that he sometimes enjoyed attacking and carrying the puck up ice way too much. In any case, reading the late 60s/early 70s contemporary press almost makes you think that there were only two major topics: rule change allowing forchecking in all 3 zones and… everything about Suchý.

There is no sense in spending too much time on the League here, since there was nothing overly new under the sun. Dukla with Suchý as the leading player landed another victory. I’d only point out that this season saw the emergence of František Pospíšil as the Europe’s next “modern” defenseman. Pospíšil did not play as a false wing like Suchý or Lennart Svedberg from the Swedish NT, but he managed to put up similar scoring numbers like Suchý domestically (not internationally though). While Suchý blazed with speed and possessed enormous creativity in all three zones, Pospíšil was a genius passer who excelled in transition and especially in counter-attacking type of play. Suchý’s portion of points came more from goals while Pospíšil’s came largely from assists. Both were obviously great in defensive zone but their style differed. I think Suchý relied more on his speed and when he lost it, he just couldn’t find his former glory. Pospíšil distinguished himself through elite positioning. Coupled with elite conditioning and later a good strength made him to last longer than Suchý and add some impressive 30+ y/o seasons in the 2nd half of the 70s. I have also found out both had a rather weak shot. Suchý especially couldn’t do anything with his slapshot from longer distance, but it caught me as a surprise that Pospíšil’s slapshot was below-average as well. It couldn’t have been matched with shots of CSSR d-men such as Horešovský or Machač – unsurprisingly precisely these two were Suchý’ and Pospíšil’s D partners in the National team. Suchý was RD and Pospíšil LD, which then begged the question why not to create a superelite first D pair? The cooperation was tried but miserably failed – both equally liked to control the flow of the game and to have the puck on their stick a lot.

Jiří Hertl (one of the leading coaches in Czechoslovakia, Hertl’s specialties were goaltending seminars, Junior National team and oversight of league statistics) in his early 1970' review of candidates for the Golden Stick award in the Gól magazine:

“I have four big candidates – Nedomanský, Dzurilla, Černý and Suchý. (…) Jenda Suchý is slowly starting to annoy some spectators, which have been irritated by [Suchý’s] risky game in the offensive zone. But I value him highly. Perhaps I have good nerves or I trust more that it is all well thought-out teamwork with wingers. He has scored 19 goals already and just as much assists and to naysayers, who blame him for some goal allowed through a risky play, I’d like to remind that he’s recorded 37 appearances on ice when goal was allowed, while 62 appearances on ice when goal was scored, and this should only testify in his favor.”

Vladimír Kostka (National team coach) in his early 1970' review of candidates for the Golden Stick award in the Gól magazine:

“František Pospíšil is our best defending defenseman. He reaches a world class level in defensive positioning. Plays hard, balanced and calmly. Does not lose his playing composure even in the toughest situations.”

“Jan Suchý has an individualistic conception of an offensive defenseman. Offensive activity has propped him up on the first place in our scoring charts. He has enormous playing imagination and a sense for immediate resolving of situations even outside of defensive zone.”

Now I’d like to move on to the WHC 1970. Suchý won All-Star D voting again convincingly by 78 votes from 87 ballots. Though he was not granted Directoriate’s best D award – much to a surprise of not only the recipient (Svedberg) but also to a surprise of Suchý himself. From daily coverage of Československý sport you get a feeling as if Suchý was the main star of the tournament. Jan Suchý became a frequent conversational topic in post-game interviews or press conferences.

Roland Stolz (former Swedish player and a star defenseman of the early 1960s hockey) in an interview with Pavel Novotný during the Stockholm 1970’ Championship published by Československý sport:

PN: “Which defenseman do you consider the best here in Stockholm?”

RS: “There is a very simple answer to this question. Yours Suchý. I don’t consider him just a best defenseman, but also the tournament’s best player overall. Svedberg too is a good defenseman but he can’t perform at peak level in every game. Suchý can.”

Anatoli Tarasov when asked by a Československý sport’s writer about the earlier CSSR-Sweden game:

“…I cannot allow myself not to say a word on Jan Suchý. This player to me is realization of the ideal hockey player. How he can react to situations, how he changes the spot as needed, how smartly he can attack.. That’s just amazing.”

Now to cool off the temperature a bit, here’s what Mike Daski (Detroit Red Wings chiefscout for Europe) said in an interview with Pavel Novotný during the Championship published by Československý sport:

PN: “Which players have impressed you the most this year in Stockholm? Would any one of them have a chance to play in the NHL?”

MD: “Last year, we invited to our camp Svedberg from the Swedish squad, and the Finn Ketola. I have my sight on other players from Sweden, Lundström and young Hedberg, which we would like to try out. Svedberg proved himself in our camp, I hope that he will accept our invitation this year too, furthermore that he will later catch on the opportunity to play in the NHL. I´d be also interested in some of the players of the CSSR team, though they have already been on negotiation lists of different professional clubs (Nedomanský New York Rangers, Jiří and Jaroslav Holík in Boston Bruins, Horešovský in Saint Louis Blues), that´s why they are inaccesible for us."

PN: “Ours Jan Suchý has been generally evaluated as the one of the Championship’s best players in Stockholm. What is your opinion on his game?”

MD: “He’s truly excellent player for European hockey even though he’s not in as good form as he was last year. Nonetheless, he is too much offensively focused for a professional hockey style and he leaves free spaces in his defense.”

What did Suchý himself have to say about his style of play at the championship? An interview with Pavel Novotný published by Československý sport:

PN (introduction): “Defenseman of our National team, Jan Suchý, is in the centre of attention in Stockholm. Coaches of foreign teams speak about him, he’s generated a large publicity in Swedish newspapers. His extraordinary hockey skills are being appreciated, he is called the best defenseman in the world, on the other side, negative remarks about his game and manners are emerging as well.
(…)
There is also a lot of talks whether your constant effort for attacking does not weaken the team in defense which is your position.”

JS: “It’s my playing style and I hardly unlearn it now. I’m not alone who goes forward a lot. Even Franta Pospíšil engages in offense very often. Teammates at home in Dukla count with my rushes and can always solidify defense in time. It hasn’t always worked out here. It’s just a matter of cooperation, quick assessment of the situation. If I go to counter-attack, forward somewhere behind me should secure defense because I at that moment actually overtook his role. Only Holíks do that automatically because they’re used to it. Others can’t react quickly enough.”

At the end of the ’70 season, Suchý received his 2nd Golden Stick for the best CSSR player. It’s an incredible shame that that 1969 poll of Československý sport wasn’t conducted again. Writers back in 69 had actually stated that they intend to run such voting annually. Would Suchý be able to win it again? Tough to say, since his play and play of his National team declined compared to 1969, but Firsov battled through injuries and missed games, and Maltsev was a young phenom but too one-dimensional vis-à-vis Firsov and Suchý. Hard to say…

Otherwise, it's also possible that comparisons of Suchý-Orr started right after this season. Very first analogy of the “European Bobby Orr” was found in the Gól magazine, summer of 1970. Writer Pavel Rýpar reported on the 1970’ NHL season and Jaroslav Jiřík (1st Czech playing in NHL), who had played 3 games for St. Louis in 69/70, added some comments in the article. It was no one other than Jiřík who said:

“He [Orr] reminds me of Honza Suchý. Orr keeps getting in front and when he’s on the ice, Boston sometimes allows unnecessary goals, but he also scores more goals only by himself. He plays a lot, sometimes double-shifts, coach puts him on power-plays. He just has everything any hockey player can only dream of: perfect skater, physically unusually strong, with ‘European’ technique and ‘Canadian’ shooting: Amazing hockey player.”



Suchý has watched a good amount of NHL during various National team’s trips. What was he actually thinking about NHL and Orr? Here’s a clip from Suchý’s autobiography co-written with David Lukšů, Aleš Palán and published in 2008/2015 (p. 161-162):

“We enjoyed professional overseas hockey only in television. We kept watching sports channels even for 24 hours. What else to do when you’re stuck in Winnipeg with -40 degrees outside?... It didn’t seem to me that there would have been a big difference between ours and Canadian hockey. It was just more blown up through media and advertisement in overseas. Old Holík, who went to see his son to America, used to say that some of those games are completely unwatchable.

The level of overseas hockey in my opinion improved only after the arrival of Europeans – it’s not so brutal and trivial anymore. Today, when the NHL even tightened the penalties for roughing, suddenly technical players have a chance too. It wasn’t like that in our time.

I observed mainly defensemen then, who had the only task: get the puck and advance it along the boards; if a forward received it or not was already his thing to worry about. I told myself that if I was playing like that with Holík, he would kill me. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were the biggest attractions at the time of our trips, but I guess I had just seen the games that hadn’t gone so well for them. To me, Bobby Orr shined above everyone else: huge defenseman who skated forward a lot. Just like me.”

1970-1971
An important part in Suchý’s resumé since he was able to demonstrate over the course of entire domestic and international season that he’s capable of acting more as a shutdown stay-at-home d-man. Suchý’s league points fell down to 27 while playing 41 games, which was not even in the top 20. Suchý recorded 43, 56 and 44 points in 34-36 games in previous three seasons and he always competed with forwards for the scoring title. This wasn’t the case now as Suchý’s mere 8 goals scored was even less than what he scored in previous seasons including the 1965 (10 goals in 32 games). Suchý also led the league in +/- and remarkably registered lone 6 PIMs in the entire season. Suchý wasn’t exactly prototype of a clean, low-PIM d-man – this data was more of an exception. Jiří Hertl’s column in Gól magazine also revealed that Suchý had spent the most ice-time on PK of any player this season. Dukla Jihlava won fifth title in a row.

Low-scoring type of game continued to the 1971 WHC. Suchý scored 5 points in 10 games in Switzerland, when he had been >ppg in two previous championships. From a Russian source posted on this forum by Sanf 5 years ago, Suchý’s role changed, he was now tasked to play like a “quarterback, true defender”. Suchý won the All-Star D voting for 4th time in a row, Directoriate’s best D award was handed over to him for a 2nd time now too.

Suchý and the CSSR team played what suited them more – a rigid, Left-wing-lock defensive system where a team rather waits for an opponent to make a mistake. CSSR earned silver medal but did outperform the golden Soviets in their match-ups. First one ending 3:3, second one ending with a clear 5:2 win for the Czechs with Suchý once again the man of the game.

Anatoli Tarasov after the second USSR-CSSR game quoted by the TIP magazine:

“What a sensation when the Czechoslovak team lost the first championship match with the USA team. Well, even a bigger sensation was that this squad managed to put itself together so quickly after unsuccessful start. The 3-goal victory in Geneve in the battle with our team was absolutely the highest point of this reality. And it was totally fine. One man has stayed in front of my eyes, whose performance from this game I will never forget in my life – Jan Suchý. I rank him amongst the best players of our time. His sense for a play, his brilliant technique, his positioning, all of this is inimitable.”

Despite all of this, Jan Suchý did not consequently win a third Golden Stick, coming in close 2nd behind František Pospíšil who himself was progressing. Pospíšil scored 42 points in 36 reg. season games, which meant 5th place on the overall scoring chart. With his 32 assists Pospíšil even led the League in 1971. Pospíšil also contributed further with 7 points (2+5) from 9 games in the playoffs, which followed in April after the WHC ended. Pospíšil’s domestic play was equally great as Suchý’s, if not even greater. Pospíšil’s international play was by my account very good too, but completely overshadowed by Suchý’s talent to rise in high-pressure moments.

I’ll finally conclude this post by perhaps the most interesting piece yet. Translated article of Miloslav Charouzd (a 1950s NT player, then a prominent hockey columnist) published in Gól magazine after the 1971’ Bern & Geneve Championship, who reflects on the modern type of offense-oriented defenseman emerging in the early 1970s personified by Bobby Orr in North America and Suchý, Svedberg and Pospíšil in Europe. The article also somewhat confirms a contempory lack of high quality puck-moving Soviet d-men that could perform at a similar level as the mentioned Czech and Swedish defenders.



“A Hockey Player’s Year

Ing. Arch. MILOSLAV CHAROUZD

SUCHÝ attacks in Europe, Bobby ORR attacks in Canada!

A look at the job of hockey defenseman has lately been slowly – but steadily – changing. To defend the zone in front of goalie – that used to suffice in the past. Today, the active defensive game of the whole team requires effective help of defensemen even in the offensive zone, and often a defenseman must also be the initiator of a quick counter-attack.

Experts’ opinions on these offensive game occurences of defensemen are not as clearly unanimous though. One camp still sees the core of defenseman primarily in an actual defending and destroying the actions of an opponent. This way of defense has been practised typically by the Swedish teams. That is why Nordlander, Carlsson, Milton – but more others, except for Svedberg – operate mainly in own defensive zone. On the contrary defensemen of the most of Soviet teams have employed more aggressive way of attacking defense. This playing activity of Davydov, Kuzkin and even those of the youngest generation – Lutchenko, Tsygankov – excels especially in the area around the offensive blue line. After retrieving a rubber it is then an outright duty of a Soviet defenseman to pass to a forward in motion. USSR defensemen adhere to this type of game all too stereotypically, and their defenseman only very rarely participates in an offensive action – conversely as we can very frequently watch on Suchý or Pospíšil. Namely both of these our defensemen can immediately engage into offensive action, if the on-ice situation calls for an opportunity for a rapid thrust forward, which they always decisively and with no mercy execute.

This art of ‘deciphering the situation’ on the ice in the best and fastest way, and realizing such solutions, which are worthy of a hockey persona, has been a privilege of real hockey ‘masterminds’ on the back-end – whether it was Míla Pokorný from LTC Prague in post-war era nicknamed then as a “wandering defenseman”, or Karel Gut later, or Honza Suchý nowadays.

Hockey times are changing not only in Europe but also in Canada. Boston Bruins’ Bobby Orr, one of the youngest and yet most valuable NHL defenseman, has brought revolutionary offensive elements into already traditional defensive game of Canadian professionals. He even became the king of shooters and passers with his literally offensive game, and rivals have been personally covering him as the most dangerous forward of the team.

So do these outstanding offensive defensemen neglect their defending duties? Not even their detractors can conclusively say that – even though they still have certain objections. But hockey has again advanced in its development one step further and one fact is more than clear: Offensive defensemen also this season set the pace in all hockey matured countries. Bobby Orr stars in Canada, Svedberg is the most highly appreciated in Sweden, and with us even the two of the best players have recruited from duo of defenders Pospíšil – Suchý. Moreover, it is necessary to add the outstanding Finish defenseman Koskela to these names as well. Only Soviet hockey has no significant individual in defense after Sologubov’s departure. Generally though, the evolution suggests that many defensemen haven’t yet used up every options offered by the game. Options in current hockey discovered so far and demonstrated only by magnificient talents.”

 

[Theokritos]

Jan Suchý and other European defensemen from mid-60s to early 70s

Fantastic work! No doubt this post will be revisited & mined in a lot of dicussions in the future.

 

[ChiTownPhilly]

1968-1969
Now this was one of the best seasons from any European player ever... Just to give you an idea of Suchý’s fame, here are the two headlines from the Československý sport from this time:
“Half of the Champion is Suchý”
“Forwards, learn from Suchý!”
... Suchý won WHC ‘69 all-star voting with 144 votes out of 150 ballots. He also received ‘69 Directorate’s Best Defenseman award. CSSR finished the championship only third after worse goal-differential than Sweden and Soviet Union (all three teams had equal amount of points). Czechoslovaks might have come ahead if it wasn’t for Suchý’s injury causing him to miss the last game vs. Sweden.
By the end of the season, Suchý won the inaugural Golden Stick award for the best CSSR player. It’s fortunate that for this season we also have a one-off poll for the best player in Europe where Suchý obtained by far the most votes too.

Two questions- neither of them about the numbers- (though heaven knows I appreciate the numbers):

1) In that famous 2nd game against the Soviet squad, I'm aware that certain players covered up the red star on the CSSR uniform. [If recollection serves, they were four in number.] I believe Havel & Suchý were two- who were the others? [I have memory that Havel later said that the National Lion should have a crown of royalty on its head- not a red star that presses downward.]

2) What is the origin and meaning of Vladimir Dzurilla's nickname "Maco?" Translation tools have proven un-helpful with this one. I wonder if it has a meaning I don't know, or if it's just a meaningless appellation, like "Kaner" for Patrick Kane.

[Dating myself somewhat, in my younger years, "hey, mac!?" meant the same thing as "dude?!" a generation later, or "yo, bro?!" later than that.]

 

[DN28]

Two questions- neither of them about the numbers- (though heaven knows I appreciate the numbers):

1) In that famous 2nd game against the Soviet squad, I'm aware that certain players covered up the red star on the CSSR uniform. [If recollection serves, they were four in number.] I believe Havel & Suchý were two- who were the others? [I have memory that Havel later said that the National Lion should have a crown of royalty on its head- not a red star that presses downward.]

2) What is the origin and meaning of Vladimir Dzurilla's nickname "Maco?" Translation tools have proven un-helpful with this one. I wonder if it has a meaning I don't know, or if it's just a meaningless appellation, like "Kaner" for Patrick Kane.

[Dating myself somewhat, in my younger years, "hey, mac!?" meant the same thing as "dude?!" a generation later, or "yo, bro?!" later than that.]

I've seen claims about quite a few players covering that red star. I don't think it has been settled actually. But from what I remember, besides Havel and Suchý, there was almost certainly Jaroslav Holík (who is claimed to be the originator of this form of protest). Maybe also Jaroslav Jiřík, Jozef Golonka.. I'd say those are the names most mentioned.

"Maco" is a specifically Slovak expression. I'm usually well versed in Czech-Slovak language differences but I am not certain about this one.. If I had to say, I think Maco is a friendly, "domestic" expression for a bear.. Maybe a good translation would be a "teddy bear"..

 

[Overrated]

Two questions- neither of them about the numbers- (though heaven knows I appreciate the numbers):

1) In that famous 2nd game against the Soviet squad, I'm aware that certain players covered up the red star on the CSSR uniform. [If recollection serves, they were four in number.] I believe Havel & Suchý were two- who were the others? [I have memory that Havel later said that the National Lion should have a crown of royalty on its head- not a red star that presses downward.]

2) What is the origin and meaning of Vladimir Dzurilla's nickname "Maco?" Translation tools have proven un-helpful with this one. I wonder if it has a meaning I don't know, or if it's just a meaningless appellation, like "Kaner" for Patrick Kane.

[Dating myself somewhat, in my younger years, "hey, mac!?" meant the same thing as "dude?!" a generation later, or "yo, bro?!" later than that.]

As a native speaker of Czech I'd also think "maco" is likely a reference to his size but can't be sure.

 

[alko]

I've seen claims about quite a few players covering that red star. I don't think it has been settled actually. But from what I remember, besides Havel and Suchý, there was almost certainly Jaroslav Holík (who is claimed to be the originator of this form of protest). Maybe also Jaroslav Jiřík, Jozef Golonka.. I'd say those are the names most mentioned.

"Maco" is a specifically Slovak expression. I'm usually well versed in Czech-Slovak language differences but I am not certain about this one.. If I had to say, I think Maco is a friendly, "domestic" expression for a bear.. Maybe a good translation would be a "teddy bear"..

Exactly, "maco" is a big nice bear, you want to hug.

Covering red stars was a thing. At that time, they could go to jail for such thing. This appeared in the second.
After the first one (2:0 win CSSR) our players refused to shake hands Soviet players. After the game, someone said: "It should be the loosing side, that should us shake the hands".