When it is sometimes said that athletes fight for the whole nation, it is a certain exaggeration. But in 1969, during the hockey world championship in Sweden, this was literally the case. Hockey then became a symbol of Czechoslovak resistance against the Soviet occupation.
“That time was bad, what can we say, we were prepared for it, and we were all looking forward to the world championship in Prague, that was a given, that’s why we trained, but when those Russian idiots invaded here, it came from the communists to the (hockey) association that something could come of it, which was completely clear,” recalls Jan “Gusta” Havel, a member of the national team and forward of Sparta Prague, guest of the fourth episode of the Ice Bearers podcast series.
Go through the main topics covered in the interview.
How he got to Sparta for a week
Jan “Gusta” Havel started playing hockey in Cologne. He caught the attention of Sparta Prague during a match with the B team in Štvanice, which Kolín won 5:4 and Havel scored two goals. “Slávek Herstus came to me at that time and said that they would come to see me from Sparta to Pašinka,” says Havel. That also happened. One day, the eighteen-year-old Havel was returning home with a basket of grass when a delegation from Prague stopped by. “I put the stretcher on the ground and started knocking when I saw Zábrodský for the first time in my life, which I only saw him in a photograph, not on TV, actually in the newspaper,” he describes the first meeting with his hockey role model Vladimír Zábrodský. Both sides agreed on the transfer to Prague, but after a few days everything was different. “Unfortunately, I only lasted a week. It was just before the war and the KSČ in Cologne de facto stunned me, plus of course they told Sparta, this doesn’t exist, because there will be a league here in Cologne and we won’t let such a player go. So, after 14 days of training at Sparta, they sent me back,” he adds.
Photo: ČTK, Getty Images, Seznam Zpravy
Ice Bearers
Ice Bearers podcast series by hockey historian and member of the design committee of the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame Tomáš Kučera, in which he presents the most interesting moments of the rich Czech and Czechoslovakian hockey history and interviews those who created this history directly on the ice. Released as a Water Bearer bonus series.
Hockey war
As a talented hockey player, Havel caught the attention of the military Dukla Jihlava. However, he did not last long, because of a fight during a match with greasers, he was transferred to Dukla Litoměřice. During his debut in the league, he scored 31 goals in the season. “It’s maybe lucky that you get hit, as they say, with a hammer in the head, and on the other side a star shines on you and you start to climb up and people start to notice you,” he evaluates his league debut. Havel has already returned to Jihlava for the next army year.
Second attempt to transfer to Sparta
Even for the second time, the negotiation with Kolín about the transfer to Sparta was not easy. A series of negotiations and sharp discussions ended in a compromise. Havel trained with Sparta, but played matches for Kolín. “Then there was an agreement between Kolín and Sparta that I would play matches in Kolín and after a year they would let me go, but I had to fulfill five things of the transfer at the time. Where you had to be married, have a family, be employed and there were probably two more. Which I fulfilled everything, but it was worth it to me,” he recalls of the difficult period. After this season, Kolín was promoted to the top league, but Havel had a transfer stamp and thus became a full member of Sparta.
Double defeat of the USSR at the World Cup in 1969
After the invasion of the Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops in August 1968, the following hockey world championship, which was eventually held in Stockholm, Sweden instead of Prague, was the first major sporting confrontation between the two countries. It was more than just a sporting result. “People asked you at every step, do anything, but give it to them,” recalls Havel of the difficult time. The Czechoslovak national team faced the Soviets twice at the championship and won both matches. First 2:0, then 4:3. Due to the loss to Sweden in the last match, the Czechoslovak national team finished in third place, but that didn’t bother anyone much. The main goal was achieved. And according to Havel, the retrospect was even greater euphoria in the country than after winning the Olympic Games in Nagano. “When we drove to Prague, we passed through villages or small towns, people stopped us, I won’t exaggerate, ten times for sure, but where we had to stop – cakes, a drink, an autograph, we got back on and we drove on,” he recalls the enthusiastic welcome on return.
Stories from the history of hockey
Foto: Getty Images
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List News has prepared a series of articles on the history of hockey championships. Where was hockey passion born, when were the Czechs champions? Unknown stories from the history of this sport.
Pasted stars on national jerseys
Before the second mutual match, one of our hockey players declared in the dressing room that the Czech lion always had a crown on his head, not a five-pointed star. And a spontaneous reaction followed – some players took black insulation and pasted the star symbolizing the communist regime on the national emblem in the middle of the jersey. In an atmosphere of understandable fear, some eventually changed their minds and took off the tapes, however film footage and photographs still confirm that at least the pair of Jaroslavs – Jiřík and Holík – kept this improvement even into the matches themselves. It was a very brave and symbolic act, no one could have guessed what the Kremlin-instructed power lords would draw from it upon their return.
And after returning to Czechoslovakia, Havel also had to explain. “I was with General Antonín Kapek, or the director of the ČKD, then he became the secretary of the bureau (ÚV KSČ), where I went as captain of the Sparta team once a week to say how the team was doing or something similar. So he called me, gave me a reward of 5000 on the table and told me, here you will have a reward. And how were you at the World Cup?” Havel remembers the unpleasant questioning about the stars stuck on the jerseys. He resisted the pressure, but the punishment came. “He dropped 5,000 on the table, there is no reward, and what about you? So you won’t play, you won’t even play in the league, you’ll get a suspension,” adds Havel to the verdict, which eventually softened to the point where he could play in the league for Sparta, but not represent.
You can also listen to the entire interview in the audio version in the Nosiči ledu podcast:
Ice Bearers
Sound design: David Kaiser
Podcast series Seznam Zpráv, in which Tomáš Kučera describes the most interesting moments of our rich hockey history and interviews those who were personally present at the greatest successes.
Every Thursday – from 21 March – to be listened to as a bonus episode of the related podcast Nosiči vody on Podcasty.cz, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast applications.
Feedback is welcome at the e-mail address [email protected].
2024-04-14 07:30:00
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