The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
BEFORE ALEXANDER MOGILNY, before the Stastnys, there was Vaclav Nedomansky.
Nedomansky was the first Communist-era hockey star to push back against the Iron Curtain by defecting to North America in 1974. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been surprising. ‘Big Ned’ was doing things his way well before he fled Czechoslovakia for the World Hockey Association’s Toronto Toros at 30.
Five years earlier in 1969, Czechoslovakia was set to square off against six-straight World Championship winner USSR in Stockholm. Back home, the Czech masses were simmering because of the Soviet occupation of their country. This was perhaps the most emotionally charged tilt in hockey history. “The Russians knew there was something political about this game,” Nedomansky recalled. “If you ran into them in the arena, they would not look at us or say ‘Hi.’ ”
Emotions boiled over on ice. When Jan Suchy opened the game’s scoring for Czechoslovakia in the second period, a celebrating Big Ned intentionally shoved the Soviet net off its moorings. “It was just emotions. High emotions and happiness.”
It was an explosive statement by the newly anointed hero. He rang up a team-leading nine goals in 10 tournament games. Czechoslovakia topped USSR twice in the event, 2-0 and 4-3, the first time the Soviets had dropped two games to the same opponent in an IIHF event.
About half a million Czech fans took to the streets to celebrate the victories. In some cities, particularly Prague, partying turned to protest of the Soviet occupation. But the oppressors swiftly stamped it all out.
Read Now: Red Wings Emerging as Potential Landing Spot for Oilers’ Connor McDavid
By the summer of 1974, the Soviets had “normalized” the Czech government. And 30-year-old Nedomansky, considered by many the best player outside the NHL, wanted to go west, which, of course, wasn’t permitted at the time. So he requested a visa for a “family vacation” in Switzerland. For a celebrity like him, that was easy enough. In Bern, he contacted the Toros and the NHL’s Atlanta Flames. The next day, both GMs – Toronto’s A.J. ‘Buck’ Houle and Atlanta’s Cliff Fletcher – flew in to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Communist officials, who had already turned down overtures for Nedomansky’s legal release, grew suspicious. They sent agents after Nedomansky, his wife Vera, and three-year-old son Vashi.
It was too late. Nedomansky had already signed a lucrative fiveyear deal totalling $750,000 with Toronto and was on his way to North America. The Czech hero’s own people countered by erasing him from their history books and threatening arrest. So Nedomansky closed that chapter of his life. “I did not think I would come back anyway,” he said. “I didn’t really care. I was a free man. I could develop not only as a hockey player, but as a person.”
Playing in Canada had its own pressures for the “Phil Esposito of Europe.” Despite 97 goals his first two WHA campaigns, whispers about Big Ned’s lack of aggressiveness and physicality rolled from Toros ownership on down. Nedomansky, a strapping 6-foot-2 center, said, “I played and grew up in a different system. It was developed on skills, playing fast, quickness, creative passing. In North America at that time, half of the players on a team weren’t very good… they were there for fighting.”
More Red Wings: Notable Changes Reportedly Coming For Future Red Wings Seasons
Nedomansky’s most singular skill also made him stand out. “Everybody was using the slapshot. And I would go more with the wrist shot,” he said. After three seasons in the WHA and part of a fourth, Nedomansky was 33 when traded in 1977 to the Detroit Red Wings in a rare WHA-NHL swap. He scored just 11 goals and 28 points in 63 games, but then flourished. He paced the Red Wings with 38 goals and 73 points the next season, then 35 goals and 74 points his third season there.
Nedomansky played in the NHL for another three years – joining St. Louis and the New York Rangers after 364 games with Detroit – but was a shell of his former self. He retired at 39, then pursued a coaching career in Germany.
Time has not dimmed the now 72-year-old Nedomansky’s defiance. “Maybe five years ago, (the Czech Republic) told me the bad stuff was erased and everything was normal. But I didn’t really care. When I jumped the Communist system, I was stripped by the government of my nationality. So I stay with that. I am a Canadian and American citizen.”
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
I DID NOT THINK I WOULD COME BACK, BUT I DIDN’T REALLY CARE. I WAS A FREE MAN – Vaclav Nedomansky
This stubbornness served him well recently when he was diagnosed with lower abdominal cancer. He was given a 50-50 shot of survival. “My son (Vashi), when he saw that, he said let’s (tell your story).” For more than four decades, the IIHF Hall of Famer has shied away from publicity, “I didn’t really like to talk about myself much.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Nedomansky beat the odds. Now healthy, he’s ready to talk. He’s collaborating with Vashi, a successful film editor, on Big Ned, a documentary spanning his trailblazing career. It’s due out in 2017. In addition, he served as a scout for Team Europe’s World Cup entry and after more than two decades scouting for Los Angeles and Nashville, he has joined the Las Vegas NHL team.
Nedomansky doesn’t carry regrets, not even about making his NHL debut so late. “I just tried to observe and make decisions… sometimes, they were good, sometimes, they were not good. But that’s the way I am.”
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
