Josef Malecek

The greatest czechoslovak forward in mid-war period. He was respected as the best european forward in his times. Josef Malecek was what we call a "hockey brain". He excelled in movement and puck skills and constantly dazzled the crowd with his talent. Another czechoslovak star Vladimir Zabrodsky described him, that it was nearly scary how much talent he had. In whatever sports he was doing, he excelled in it. Josef Malecek was a complete athlete. He was also playing tennis, football, athletics and field hockey. After European Championship in 1931, in which he became the best goal scorer, NHL team New York Rangers offered him a proffesional contract. He refused it. In the mid-war rich Czechoslovakia, that was nicknamed as "the little America" (USA), there was not any reason to leave his country. Most of the time he was playing in elite formation with Jiri Tozicka (F) and Karel Hromadka (F). In Czechoslovak league he scored over 1000 goals during 30 seasons. He was also a successfull tradesman and popular in society. He run his own hockey shop. When communists made the coup d´état in 1948, he emigrated to Switzerland. In 1955 he moved to USA and start working as commentator in Radio Free Europe. He became the honorary chairman of Czechoslovak athletes abroad. He lived in Bay Port, Long Island until his death on September 26,1982. Unfortunately, by that time, his hockey heroics were long forgotton. In 2003 he was finally inducted in the IIHF Hall of Fame. (Jan Jech)