Václav Nedomanský

Nedomanský was born in Hodonín in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in the present-day Czech Republic. He grew up in an apartment that his mother lived in for 60 years. In addition to playing hockey, he also played basketball, tennis, and football. Apparently, he also played briefly for Slovan Bratislava, once scoring a goal for the B team. He studied biology and the faculty of physical education for the country. 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. The 1972 team won the Ice Hockey World Championship over the Soviet Union for their first championship since 1949. At the time, any victory for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, a satellite state in Soviet sphere was considered a great one for the nation. So impactful was the victory by the Czech team over the Soviets that tennis legend Martina Navratilova cited it as one of her catalysts for her defection in 1975.

Nedomanský wished to play in North America and defect. Unfortunately, he could not defect to the NHL due to an agreement the league had made with the International Ice Hockey Federation that prevented European players from playing there. However, the World Hockey Association, looking to get the best possible players to not play for the NHL, managed to entice him to play for them, with John F. Bassett of the Toronto Toros helping Nedomanský and his family get to Canada by way of flight from Zurich, Switzerland in 1974. Government officials soon began to try and erase Nedomanský from the homeland's memory, which ranged from telling teammates that he died in a car accident to scrubbing his image from team photos. When he played in an exhibition game against the Soviet Wings years later, the Russian broadcast only referred to him by his number. He saw his father only once more in 1984, when he was granted a visa to travel to Canada, with the two Nedomanskýs spending two weeks together before his father died of a terminal illness. He was not able to return to his home country until 1991, shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain, whereupon he visited his mother at her apartment. Nedomanský 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 while also being awarded the Paul Deneau Trophy for sportsmanship in the 1975–76 season. Despite wanting to be traded to Winnipeg or…

Nedomanský has been married twice and has had three children.

Often called "Big Ned", Nedomanský served as the pioneer for Czech and Slovak players to idolize for his courage and play, such as Peter Šťastný, Patrik Elias, and Bobby Holik. The winter stadium in Hodonín bears the name of Nedomanský. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997. Prior to being a noted scout, David Conte first heard about Nedomansky from a Czechoslovak defector when he was working at a winery as a youth as the one that "everyone wanted to wear" his number 14 jersey. Conte eventually met Nedomansky in the late 1980s and again in the 1990s when the two were scouts (Conte for the New Jersey Devils, Nedomansky for Los Angeles) and later worked together for the expansion team Vegas Golden Knights. Conte, with the help of analytics staffers, helped to make a pitch for Nedomansky being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame that compared him to other European greats that resulted in his eventual induction. Conte reflected on Nedomansky being inducted in 2019:

This is an honor that represents so much more than a statistical summary. His defection gave hope to players behind the iron curtain. The migration of great European players enriched our game so much and gave way to the growth of the game globally. His character gave us all an example of dignity and class. He has been an inspiration and example to the world of hockey. This recognition reflects that. Personally, I congratulate Vaclav. I feel richer for knowing him, and I know the Hall is richer for…