The Swedes in Ostrava, the Soviets in Brno, Canada in Bratislava. In 1959, the world hockey championship was literally the whole of Czechoslovakia. The unique championship was hosted by eight cities. The home team celebrated bronze in Štvanice, while Kladno watched the historic events. The teams of East and West Germany met here for the first time at the World Cup. This is the fourth part of the series “When Prague wrote hockey stories”.
It was a great glory for Kladno. The winter hockey stand was renovated, got a new roof and welcomed the stars of the World Cup. Although the boys from Kladno had to celebrate the title of domestic champions in the Prague asylum, it was still a big event that Kladno became one of the host cities of the world championship.
What about the fact that the organizers only moved the group here for placement. Even so, on March 11, 1959, seven thousand spectators squeezed into the stands.
They witnessed a historical event. For the first time, the representatives of East and West Germany faced each other at the championship. Even though it was a number in the final standings, the teams experienced a lot of this match with political overtones.
“There was practically no way that we could honor the GDR. In that case, I suggested that we leave the ice before the national anthem,” the captain of the Federal Republic of Germany team, Markus Egen, revealed with a distance.
But he needn’t have been afraid. While the East relied primarily on Dynamo Weißwasser players, the West had a team skeleton built on hockey players who also had experience on the international stage.
This is probably why the GDR had no chance and received a 0:8 allocation from the Federal Republic of Germany. “We won against them three games in a row. We were supposed to meet again in 1961 at the world championship, but we didn’t play the game. The leadership of the union was too afraid of political connections,” added Egen.
At that time, the legends of Kladno hockey were racing on the ice of the Štvanice stadium during the final group. The team was built on the Czechoslovak champions of the time, who were also led by their coach Vlastimil Sýkora in the national team.
When we add names like Karel Gut or Jozef Golonka to that, it was clear that winning a medal is a must in the already covered Prague arena.
But the Czechoslovaks did not have it easy. After losing to the Soviets and the USA, they needed to beat the favorites from Canada by two goals in the last game. Although they already had a certain gold, in the basic group, they won a high 7:2 in the home selection.
However, when Miroslav Vlach punished the game without Javorový leafs’ goalkeeper Miroslav Vlach at 4:3, a euphoria of enthusiasm erupted in Prague. Sýkora was carried on the shoulders of the players and they hung bronze medals around their necks.
2024-04-16 12:33:14
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