Bohumil Modrý (24 September 1916 – 21 July 1963) was a goaltender for the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team which won the silver medal at the 1948 Olympics and the 2 gold medals - at the 1947 World Championship and at the 1949 World Championship.[1] He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2011.

Bohumil Modrý
Personal information
Born(1916-09-24)24 September 1916
Prague, Austria-Hungary
Died21 July 1963(1963-07-21) (aged 46)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1948 St. Moritz Ice hockey
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1947 Prague Ice hockey
Gold medal – first place 1949 Stockholm Ice hockey

Career edit

Modrý played his club hockey with LTC Praha (LTC Prague), which suffered four defections at the 1948 Spengler Cup in Davos. He was still a player with LTC Praha, and travelling as a delegate with the 1950 Czechoslovakia national team in March, when he and his teammates were arrested by the communist authorities. The Czech national team were stopped on Saturday 11 March at Prague Airport while preparing to travel to London to defend their title at the 1950 World Championship tournament (reason: reporter's visas, but it was lie). On Monday 13 March they were arrested after the party on 12 March. Party was provide in the "Gold Pub", U Herclíků, Pštrossova 192/24, 110 00 Praha 1 – Nové Město and personally Modrý was not there. They were frustrated and in the pub they hates communist party (but secret police - STB - was there also). Some of them were charged with making plans to defect to the West. In October 1950 Modrý and ten other players were convicted of treason . Modrý received the longest sentence, 15 years in prison, as the supposed leader of the potential defection plan (together - 11 people ~ 74 years and 8 months).

Modrý served his prison time in Pankrác Prison in Prague and Bory Prison in Plzeň. He also served some of his time as a forced laborer in the uranium mines in Jáchymov.

Modrý served 5 years of the 15 year sentence, dying in his hometown of Prague 8 years after his release (1955) from incarceration.[2]

He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2011.[3][4]

References edit

  1. ^ Sports Reference
  2. ^ Tal Pinchevsky, Breakaway: From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL (John Wiley & Sons, 2012) pp36-38
  3. ^ "Modrý a Troják byli uvedeni in memoriam do Síně slávy IIHF". Sport.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Bye is joined by Lundström, Modry, Trojak, Tureanu and Numminen". International Ice Hockey Federation. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

External links edit