Václav Nedomanský

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image = Rantasila, Nedomansky.jpg

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Nedomanský (right) with Czechoslovkia in 1970

| position = Centre

| played_for = Slovan Bratislava
Toronto Toros
Birmingham Bulls
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues
New York Rangers

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 210

| ntl_team = TCH

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|3|14}}

| birth_place = Hodonín, Bohemia and Moravia

| career_start = 1962

| career_end = 1983

| halloffame = 2019

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{flagicon|Czechoslovakia}} Czechoslovakia }}

}}

Václav Nedomanský (born 14 March 1944) is a Czech former ice hockey forward. Nedomanský is best known as the first Czechoslovak hockey player to defect to North America to play.{{cite web |last1=Peng |first1=Sheng |title=Meet 'Big Ned': The international hockey legend you never knew - TheHockeyNews |url=https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/meet-big-ned-the-international-hockey-legend-you-never-knew |website=TheHockeyNews |publisher=The Hockey News |access-date=30 October 2018 |date=15 September 2016}} He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. He is also a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame (1997), Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame (2002), Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (2008) and was named into the IIHF All-Time Czech Team (2020).

Playing in Czechoslovakia

Nedomanský played for Slovan Bratislava of the Czechoslovak Extraliga for twelve seasons. In 1968, he was a member of the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team which won silver medals at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble and bronze medals in 1972 at the Winter Olympics in Sapporo. He also played for Czechoslovakia in nine IIHF World Championships, and was named top forward at the 1974 World Championships.{{cite book |last1=Pinchevsky |first1=Tal |title=Breakaway: From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL--The Untold Story of Hockey's Great Escapes |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781118096215 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSKp2SXjzUEC&q=top+forward+at+the+1974+world+championships+hockey&pg=PT15 |access-date=30 October 2018 |language=en}} He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/player/vaclav-nedomansky-8449809|title=Vaclav Nedomansky Stats and News|website=National Hockey League|access-date=4 July 2023}}

Career after defection

Nedomanský defected in 1974 to Toronto via Switzerland.George Gross, "Czech Hockey Star Defects to Canada", front page of The Toronto Sun 18 July 1974 (Vol. 3, No. 182). See also pp. 3 and 32–33. He was not able to return to his home country until after the fall of the Iron Curtain.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

He played just over three seasons in the World Hockey Association with the Toronto Toros and the Birmingham Bulls, peaking with 56 goals and 98 points for Toronto in 1975–76. He also won the Paul Deneau Trophy for sportsmanship in 1975–76. He then signed as a free agent with the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings in 1977. Nedomanský played five seasons for Detroit, posting highs of 38 goals and 74 points. He retired after one final season with the St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers in 1982–83.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Nedomanský coached in Germany and Austria from 1987 to 1991.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

He was born in Hodonín in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in the present-day Czech Republic.{{cite web |title=Šlo mu všechno, k čemu se postavil. Slaví Nedomanský, hokejový velikán|url=https://www.idnes.cz/hokej/extraliga/vaclav-nedomansky-narozeniny-75.A190314_105534_hokej_ald|publisher=iDNES.cz|language=cs|date=2019-03-14|access-date=2023-10-27}} The winter stadium in Hodonín bears his name.{{cite news |title=Hodonínský zimní stadion ponese jméno legendárního Nedomanského|newspaper=Hodonínský Deník |url=https://hodoninsky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/hodoninsky-zimni-stadion-ponese-jmeno-vaclava-nedomanskeho-20140722.html|publisher=Deník.cz|language=cs|date=2014-07-23|access-date=2023-10-27 |last1=Turek |first1=Petr }}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
1960–61 \| SHK Hodonín \| CZE-2 \| —	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1961–62 \| SHK Hodonín \| CZE-2 \| —	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—
1962–63 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| —	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1963–64 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 31	20	7	27	— \| —	—	—	—	—
1964–65 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 32	31	10	41	— \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1965–66 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 36	39	14	53	— \| —	—	—	—	—
1966–67 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 36	40	20	60	22 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1967–68 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 36	34	15	49	10 \| 8	5	6	11	—
1968–69 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 36	27	20	47	— \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1969–70 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 36	29	13	42	23 \| —	—	—	—	—
1970–71 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 33	31	15	46	— \| 7	7	3	10	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1971–72 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 35	35	21	56	— \| —	—	—	—	—
1972–73 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 34	22	17	39	— \| 11	4	4	8	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1973–74 \| Slovan ChZJD Bratislava \| CSSR \| 44	46	28	74	— \| —	—	—	—	—
1974–75 \| Toronto Toros \| WHA \| 78	41	40	81	19 \| 6	3	1	4	9
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1975–76 \| Toronto Toros \| WHA \| 81	56	42	98	8 \| —	—	—	—	—
1976–77 \| Birmingham Bulls \| WHA \| 81	36	33	69	10 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1977–78 \| Birmingham Bulls \| WHA \| 12	2	3	5	6 \| —	—	—	—	—
1977–78 \| Detroit Red Wings \| NHL \| 63	11	17	28	2 \| 7	3	5	8	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1978–79 \| Detroit Red Wings \| NHL \| 80	38	35	73	19 \| —	—	—	—	—
1979–80 \| Detroit Red Wings \| NHL \| 79	35	39	74	13 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1980–81 \| Detroit Red Wings \| NHL \| 74	12	20	32	30 \| —	—	—	—	—
1981–82 \| Detroit Red Wings \| NHL \| 68	12	28	40	22 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1982–83 \| St. Louis Blues \| NHL \| 22	2	9	11	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
1982–83 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 35	12	8	20	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| CSSR totals ! 388 !! 354 !! 180 !! 534 !! — ! 26 !! 16 !! 13 !! 29 !! —
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| WHA totals ! 252 !! 135 !! 118 !! 253 !! 43 ! 6 !! 3 !! 1 !! 4 !! 9
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 421 !! 122 !! 156 !! 278 !! 88 ! 7 !! 3 !! 5 !! 8 !! 0

=International=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em"

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Year

! Team

! Event

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

1965

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 7

| 4

| 2

| 6

| 2

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1966

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 7

| 5

| 2

| 7

| 8

1967

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 7

| 1

| 2

| 3

| 14

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1968

| Czechoslovakia

| OLY

| 7

| 5

| 2

| 7

| 4

1969

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 10

| 9

| 2

| 11

| 10

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1970

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 10

| 7

| 17

| 11

1971

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 10

| 7

| 17

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1972

| Czechoslovakia

| OLY

| 6

| 8

| 3

| 11

| 0

1972

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 9

| 6

| 15

| 0

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1973

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 10

| 9

| 3

| 12

| 2

1974

| Czechoslovakia

| WC

| 10

| 3

| 13

| 4

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan=3 | Senior totals

! 93

! 80

! 39

! 119

! 55

References

External links

{{icehockeystats|legends=13828}}
[https://coldwarconversations.com/episode132/ Cold War Conversations - Czechoslovak hockey star defects to Canada (132)] An interview with Václav's son Vashi Nedomanský, who talks about his father's defection from Czechoslovakia to Canada.

Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:Birmingham Bulls (WHA) players

Category:Competitors at the 1970 Winter Universiade

Category:Czech ice hockey centres

Category:Czechoslovak defectors

Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada

Category:Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people

Category:Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Austria

Category:Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada

Category:Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States

Category:Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in West Germany