František Pospíšil

František Pospíšil (2014)

František Pospíšil (2015)

František Pospíšil (born April 2, 1944 in Unhošť ) is a former Czechoslovak ice hockey player who played for Poldi Kladno and the Czechoslovak national team on the position of defender for many years .

Career

František Pospíšil began his career with Poldi Kladno in 1961. He remained loyal to this club until 1978 and won the Czechoslovak championship four times with this club between 1975 and 1978 . In 622 games in the first division of Czechoslovakia for Kladno he scored 134 goals and was awarded the Zlatá hokejka in 1971 and 1972 , the most important Czechoslovak ice hockey trophy for players. After this successful period, Pospíšil was allowed to play for EV Landshut in the ice hockey Bundesliga , where he ended his career in 1979.

František Pospíšil had even greater successes than at club level in international championships. With the Czechoslovak men's selection , he won three medals at the Olympic Winter Games and ten medals at world championships . His first appointment to the national team was for the ice hockey world championship in 1967 and from then on he took part in the world championship every year. A year later he was appointed to the squad for the 1968 Winter Olympics and won the silver medal. In 1972 and 1976 (silver) further Olympic competitions followed. At the Olympics, he tested positive for doping after taking nasal drops. The 7-1 win against Poland was then counted as a 0-1 defeat for his team. Also in 1976 he took part in the Canada Cup . In the national team he formed a defender duo with Oldřich Macháč for many years and scored 25 goals for Czechoslovakia in 262 international matches.

After his career as a player, Pospíšil worked as a coach: Between 1979 and 1983 he coached the men's team of his home club, Poldi Kladno. In 1983 he was signed by the CHZ Litvínov , where he was head coach for two years. From 1986 he worked as an assistant coach of the Czechoslovak national team under head coach Dr. Ján Starší . At the same time he was the head coach of the Czechoslovak U20 team , with which he won several medals at the Junior World Championships.

In 1999 he was honored with the admission into the IIHF Hall of Fame (category player).

Achievements and Awards

• Czechoslovakian champion 1975-78
• Winning two silver and one bronze medal at the Winter Olympics
• Gold medal won at the 1972, 1976 and 1977 World Cups
• Winning the silver medal at the 1968, 1971, 1974 and 1975 World Cups
• Bronze medal won at the 1969, 1970, 1973 World Cup
• 1982 silver medal at the U20 World Junior Championship ( as a coach )
• 1983 silver medal at the U20 World Junior Championship ( as a coach )
• 1984 bronze medal at the U20 Junior World Championship ( as a coach )
• 1985 silver medal at the U20 Junior World Championship ( as a coach )
• All-Star Team of the 1972, 1976 and 1977 World Cups
• Award for best defender at the 1972 World Cup, 1976
• Winning the Zlatá hokejka in 1971 and 1972
• Induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999
• Admission to the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame

Web links

• František Pospíšil at eliteprospects.com (English)
• František Pospíšil at rodi-db.de
• ČSSR 1972 Player Bios
• František Pospíšil in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )