One of the greatest czechoslovak ice-hockey players of the 1940's and 1950's. Captain of golden Czechoslovak teams from World championship in 1947 and 1949. Known for his ability of leading the puck single-handedly. With the famous Czechoslovak club LTC Praha (Lawn Tennis Cercle Praha) he was teaching Russians how to play ice-hockey (1948). Along with Vaclav Rozinak and Stanislav Konopasek formed the elite formation of LTC Praha and Czechoslovak national team.
Soon before the departure to London for the World championship in 1950, Zabrodsky and his 12 teammates from national hockey team were arrested by communists. In mendacious political trial they were accused of treason against communism (they thought they want to emigrate), physically tortured and then sentenced from 8 months to 15 years of inprisonment. For example the goalie Bohumil Modry was sentenced to 15 years of labour in uranium mine (meant death penalty, he died on after-effects several years later). Others were Augustin Bubnik (14 years), Stanislav Konopasek (12 years), Vaclav Rozinak (10 years), Vladimir Kobranov (10 years), etc. Vladimir Zabrodsky was the only one from team, who was not sentenced. Instead of it he was only banned from national hockey team. This led to suspicion, that it was him, who informed against his teammates, that they want to emigrate from communistic terror in Czechoslovakia. In 1965 he managed to emigrate to Sweden, where he coached Swedish teams Leksand, Rögle and Djurgården. He is still living in Sweden.
(Jan Jech)
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