Brothers: The Stastnys

Today's set of brothers are Slovakia's famous Stastny brothers: Peter, Marian and Anton.

Brothers: Bobby and Dennis Hull

In today's special brothers series we take a look at Bobby Hull and Dennis Hull.

Brothers: Henri and Rocket Richard. Oh Yeah, Claude, Too!

Maurice Richard and his much younger brother Henri Richard, both Hockey Hall of Famers, may be the best one-two brother punch in hockey history.

But did you know the Rocket and the Pocket Rocket had another hockey playing brother?

Claude Richard, dubbed the Vest Pocket Rocket, is pictured above to the left of his famous brothers. This rare photo of three Richards together on the ice came from training camp in 1959.

Claude was 16 years younger than Maurice, and one year younger than Henri. Claude never cracked the Montreal line up. He was said to be a good scorer in the Hull-Ottawa area where he played senior hockey. But he was too slow of a skater to play NHL hockey in the 1950s.

Brothers: Max, Doug and Reg Bentley

Pictured above are Brothers Max and Doug Bentley, two of the most celebrated players of their day.

Together with Bill Mosienko they formed the "Pony Line," powering the Chicago Black Hawks. All three having scored 200-plus career goals and earning enshrinement into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Max was nicknamed the "Dipsy Doodle Dandy" for his dazzling skating. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP in 1946 and won two consecutive Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer. He finished his career with 245 goals and 299 assists.

Doug was a Blackhawk from 1939-52 and like his brother, was an Art Ross Trophy winner (1943). A four-time All-Star, Doug finished his career with 219 goals and 324 assists.

During the Pony Line days Mosienko may have been an honorary brother, but Max and Doug did have another brother who played in the National Hockey League. In fact he played in Chicago for 11 games, scoring 1 goal and 2 assists before returning to Saskatchewan. Meet Reg Bentley.

Brothers: Phil and Tony Esposito

In today's brothers series we take a look at Phil Esposito and Tony Esposito.

Brothers: The Sutter Brothers

These fellows need no introduction. They are the Sutter brothers Brian, Brent, Darryl, Duane, Rich and Ron.

It still seems unbelievable as it sounds. Six brothers all from one family making it to the National Hockey League.

And if you ask any of them who was the best hockey player in their family, they will all mention Gary, the oldest brother who never made it out of Alberta and to the big leagues.

For the rest of July I will be featuring hockey's greatest brother combinations.

Why? Because I am leaving today on vacation, which will culminate with my brother's wedding. It seems like a natural fit!

I hope you enjoy my brothers series.

Going To The Chapel . . .

Hey look, it's Wayne Gretzky. This photo is 21 years old now proving marrying model/actress Janet Jones was no gamble.

The Gretzky wedding, like anything involving Gretzky, was bigger than life (click for video). It was Canada's royal wedding, with television coverage coast to coast and enough newspaper print to fill 100 scrapbooks. 1000s of people lined the streets.

So I'm going to the chapel in a couple of weeks, too. No, I ain't getting married! But my brother is. And I get to be the best man.

Today I leave on vacation. I am off hiking and camping through my usual stomping grounds, the Canadian Rockies, the first of two trips there. Then it is off to Edmonton so my girlfriend and her three kids can get some retail therapy. Then I'm going down to Vancouver just in time to throw on a tux, make a speech, and fly home.

To pass the time while I am away I have pre-scheduled daily posts with a very special and fitting feature. For the rest of the month we will be taking a look at hockey's famous brothers, complete with unique pictures and memories of each player.

I will have sporadic internet, but should there be any big news in the coming days, I will most likely not be posting on it until August.

So with that in mind. . . let's take a look at some of hockey's greatest brother combinations!

Joe Sakic To Retire

The classiest player of his generation will announce his retirement on Thursday.

Sakic was born July 7, 1969, in Burnaby, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. The son of Croatian immigrants, young Joe learned English as his second language (Serbo-Croatian was spoken in his home). As a result, he was a very soft-spoken youth, a trait he carried with him through to his hockey career.

Sakic turned a lot of heads during his junior career, culminating in a 160-point explosion and the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year award playing for the Swift Current Broncos in 1987-88. He made his NHL debut with the Quebec Nordiques the following season. Quebec traded Dale Hunter, their longtime tough guy, to the Washington Capitals to get Sakic in the 1987 Entry Draft.

Sakic joined a Nordiques team clearly on the decline. By 1988, Quebec had clearly fallen out of the top tier of NHL teams. The new decade saw the team's two franchise players, Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet, playing elsewhere. Sakic quickly found himself carrying les Nords all alone.

In spite of that, Joe performed remarkably well. He notched 102 points in 1989-90, not bad for a second-year player under any circumstance, but quite extraordinary considering he did it playing for a team that posted a pathetic 12-61-7 record. The next season, Quebec went 16-50-14 as Sakic scored 109 points, coming just two goals shy of a 50-goal season in the process (a distant second in scoring on the team, at 59 points, was a promising Swedish rookie named Mats Sundin).

Extraordinary numbers in the face of adversity, yet a lot of people didn't even notice. Why? The fact Joe was playing for a terrible team in a small market certainly didn't help matters, but Sakic also proved to be near fanatical about shunning attention, preferring instead to express himself with his trademark wrist shot. Some years later, one former teammate commented that Sakic, who despite being by this time well-established as a team leader, rarely made locker room speeches more profound than, "OK boys, the bus leaves at noon."

Sakic led the Nordiques in scoring in four of their final five seasons, with Sundin besting him by 11 points in 1992-93. The fortunes of the Nordiques changed dramatically after the blockbuster trade with Philadelphia for Eric Lindros, as did the personality of the team. When the franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche, it became known for outspoken, animate players such as Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux and Peter Forsberg, as well as its storied and often bitter rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings. Yet in marked contrast, it was the quiet Croatian-Canadian who wore the "C" for the Avs throughout. As of the 1998-99 season, only Detroit’s Steve Yzerman, another committed player known for leading by example, had been an NHL captain longer than Sakic. It wasn't until Joe’s Conn Smythe Trophy-winning performance with the Avalanche in 1996 when he finally got his due from the mainstream sports media.

Since then, Sakic has been the team player everyone wants to have. Neil Smith and the New York Rangers tried to lure him away in the 1997 off-season, but Colorado matched the Rangers’ offer sheet – and their multi-million dollar signing bonus up front – to keep him in Denver despite being in the middle of constructing a new arena at the time. It’s worth noting that it was Joe Sakic, not John Elway, who captained a Colorado-based team to a major sports championship first.

He would go on to win another Stanley Cup championship in 2001, the same year he won the Hart and Byng trophies. He was the hero in 2002 when he led Canada to the Olympic gold medal. He was named as the tournament MVP.

His 625 goals and 1,641 points in 1,378 games place him 6th all time in NHL scoring history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux.

Yet a story book ending was not in the cards for Sakic. A debilitating back injury - coupled with a freak snow blower accident - allowed him to play in only 15 games in his final season, and just 44 before that. Sakic desperately wanted to conclude his career with a chance to play in the Olympics in his hometown of Vancouver in 2010, but the injury would not allow him. When it became obvious he would not be able to play in the Olympics, he tried desperately to rehab his back enough to play in late 2009 season farewell games in Vancouver and in Denver. Again, no go.

Fate deals a hard hand sometimes. It's too bad Joe Sakic, like so many hockey players, never got to finish his career under his own circumstances. The classiest player of his generation leaves the game quietly, but this a first ballot Hall of Fame ticket waiting for him when he becomes eligible in 2012.

Remembering the Toronto Granites

I'm not sure why this piece came out now, but Neil Stevens of the Canadian Press has a nice piece remembering the 1924 Olympic gold medal champion Toronto Granites:

The odd thing about what nine hockey players did for Canada in 1924 was that, when they were doing it, they had no idea of the importance of their accomplishment.

The Toronto Granites had won the national senior championship and thus were selected to represent Canada in the hockey tournament during what was dubbed the International Week of Winter Sports in Chamonix, France, as a prelude to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Eight countries were entered and the Granites, coached by Frank Rankin of Stratford, Ont., outscored opponents 110-3 in five games to win the championship.

Dave Burrows - Hockey's Most Underrated Player No Longer

This is Sports Illustrated's 2009 Stanley Cup championship commemorative issue.

David Sabino dedicates part of the issue to the greatest players in Pittsburgh Penguins history. All the usual suspects are there: Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe up front; Stanley Cup winners Tom Barrasso and Marc Andre Fleury in net; and Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Ulf Sameulsson on defense.

There was one other player named on the blue line. Most people don't know of Dave Burrows, but I have long contended that he was one of the most underrated hockey players in history. It's great to see him get some recognition, finally.

Jihlava's Famous Holiks

Earlier this summer I mentioned that Bobby Holik retired. I am only getting around now to fully profiling Holik, largely because I wanted to include his entire family. His father Jaroslav Holik and uncle Jiri Holik are hockey legends in the Czech Republic. His sister, Andrea Holikova, defected to the West to become a top tennis player in the world. She would later marry Frantisek Musil, giving Bobby Holik a NHL playing brother-in-law.

Click the links above to learn more about each of the famous Holik family from Jihlava, Czech Republic.

Soviet Hockey Robots

One of the most amazing things about the old Soviet Union/Canada Cold War of hockey was that we knew so little about the Russian players we admired. We quickly learned that they were great hockey players, but nothing else. They were portrayed as robots, not as people. The only images we saw of them outside of hockey was in military gear.

Which makes my find earlier this year all that more amazing, to me anyways. It is a set of hockey postcards distributed in Russia back in 1984. It gives us a glimpse at the human side of these hockey robots/disciples of communism that we were expected to dislike.

Take a look at these great and much younger images of some of hockey's all time greats:

Vladimir Myshkin and Vladislav Tretiak

Alexander Maltsev and Sergei Makarov

Sergei Shepelev and Igor Larionov

Vyacheslav Bykov and Helmut Balderis


Andrei Khomutov and Sergei Skvortsov

Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Kapustin

Sergei Starikov and Viacheslav Fetisov


Vasily Pervukhin and Alexei Kasatonov


Vladimir Zubkov and Irek Gimaev


Zinetula Bilyaletdinov and Sergei Babinov

Mikhail Vasiliev and Sergei Zhluktov

Canada and Russia may be on a collision course for gold at the 2010 Olympics. The eternal rivalry between hockey's two top countries is nearing another amazing peak.

Nowadays we know the Russians quite well, and even like them better than many Canadian players. I hear of more kids wanting to be Alexander Ovechkin than Sidney Crosby nowadays. It's not like back in the 1970s and 1980s, when politics and society would never allow you to admire a Russian hockey player, even though we all secretly did anyways.

Hockey's Cold War may be back, but it will never be the same as the good ol' days.

Sunday Funnies

America's Best Hockey Player?

Happy 4th of July everybody.

While most of our American friends are watching baseball, having barbeques and watching fireworks, I thought it would be a good time to ask this question: Who is the best American hockey player of all time?

Brett Hull? Pat Lafontaine? Chris Chelios? Mike Modano? Neal Broten? Jeremy Roenick? Brian Leetch? Last year I listed my top 10. You tell me who you think is the best American hockey player of all time in the comments section below.

Also, here's a look at America's first two hockey superstars - Hobey Baker and Moose Goheen.

Canada Invites 46 To Summer Camp

Just one day after I speculated about who would be invited to Team Canada's 2010 Olympic Orientation Camp, Hockey Canada announced the list of invitees.

The roster consists of 46 players, including five goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 25 forwards. 40 of the players have senior international experience, either at the Olympics, IIHF World Championship or World Cup of Hockey/Canada Cup. 36 of the 46 players played for either the National Junior Team or National Men's Under-18 Team.

It is a bit of an big roster to work with, but hey this is Canada and there are a lot of worthy candidates to consider. The camp will run from August 24-27 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

Just to be clear, all players in the NHL (and beyond, for that matter) remain eligible for inclusion on the Canadian Olympic team. Just because a player is not at the orientation camp does not mean he may not be making the team. That being said, the 2002 and 2006 Canadian Olympic teams were comprised entirely of players who had been invited to camp.

Here's the roster broken down by position, with my commentary following.

Goaltenders - Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Cam Ward, Marc Andre Fleury and Steve Mason. The only surprise for me here is they went with more than 4 goalies. It seems to me that 4 is the perfect number to run practices and scrimmages, allowing for each goalie to get adquate time between the pipes. Mason had an incredible first year, but he will need to be every bit as good to start the upcoming season. Some people are noting the exclusion of veterans Chris osgood and Marty Turco. I don't think it makes a huge difference. If healthy, Brodeur and Luongo are on this team, leaving only the third goalie spot open. Chances are high that third goalie will never play anyways. Good on Canada for bringing the young guys for the future.

Defense - Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf, Marc Staal, Shea Weber, Francois Beauchemin, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Stephane Robidas, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook. Just five of these 16 defenseman have Olympic experience, but those are five are likely to make the team - Bouwmeester, Boyle, Niedermayer, Pronger and Regehr. Again, 16 seems like a bit of big number, and I'm surprised to see Robidas, Hamhuis and Beauchemin included. I like all three, but if they make the Olympic team it is because Canada's blue line is decimated with injuries.

Forwards - Sidney Crosby, Shane Doan, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash, Joe Sakic, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Milan Lucic, Patrick Marleau, Andy McDonald, Brendan Morrow, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Smyth, Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews and Dan Cleary.

Cleary may be the only surprise here, but the biggest surprise has to be the omission of Boston Bruins star center Marc Savard. Despite his gaudy offensive totals and his improved defensive game, he continues to get no respect. He may have been in tough to crack the top 13, but he should be at the camp.

Ryan Smyth's inclusion raised a few eyebrows, as many suspect he is past his prime and will not be included at the Olympic level any longer. I think it is a good move by Canada to bring him to the camp though, as his war stories from all his international experience will inspire the younger players.

I am particularly happy to see Milan Lucic at the camp. His game is still rough around the edges and he likely will not be at his prime until say the 2014 Olympics, but he is a big game player who can make an amazing impact with his physical play. Given the 2010 Olympics are going to be played on the "small" NHL regulation sized ice, Lucic could be a force.

I first suggested Lucic should be a candidate early last season. I asked around for some feedback from others and I was politely acknowledged. Jason Kay of The Hockey News said "we'll wait and see" and James Mirtle of The Globe & Mail bluntly replied with three words - "Not a chance."

Now I realize Lucic is still a real long shot. But given that the 2002 and 2006 Olympic teams were made up entirely of players who had been invited to the orientation camp, I have to think Lucic now has a chance.

2009 NHL Free Agency

I am in from camping for a little bit. I wanted to keep up with most of the NHL free agency news. No doubt you have too, following all the happenings on national television or on other top websites.

Here's just a few thoughts:

1. Daniel and Henrik Sedin stay in Vancouver. I can not emphasize enough how happy I am with this move. My long time readers know I am a life long Vancouver Canucks fan, and I also am a fan of the increasingly rare days when the core of a hockey team stayed together for a generation. I truly despise all the player movement that there is nowadays. Maybe I am just an old fogey talking, but I can't seem to form an emotional bond to a particular team when the key players are constantly changing. One season the player is supposed to be our hero, the next he is the arch enemy, and vice versa. The Sedins represent an emotional attachment for me and for many other Canucks fans. Many Canucks fans felt the same about Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, but for me the emotional ties have been lacking since Mike Keenan and Mark Messier chased Trevor Linden and Martin Gelinas out of town. I always want the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, but I want to see the Sedins factor in that significantly.

Of course, hockey decisions have to me made with the mind, not the heart. Taking the emotion out of it I do realize the Sedins are not quite at hockey's highest elite level with the Sidney Crosbys and Alexander Ovechkins. But in the summer of 2009, I truly believe keeping the Sedins was the smartest thing the Canucks could do.

The 2009 free agency pool really lacked star power. Of the big names to switch teams, I would only place Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Jay Bouwmeester ahead of the Sedins. Had the Canucks either let the Sedins go, they would be forced to enter the bidding war for Hossa and Gaborik, almost certainly overpaying. The Sedins are the Canucks top line, the heart of their offense. Replacing them would mark a huge cultural change. Some fans argue with merit that that change needed to take place, but there was no real replacements in line.

Hossa would have been a 12 year commitment. Gaborik would likely have been an $8M commitment, a ridiculous sum for such an injury prone player. In the Sedins the Canucks kept their top two forwards. They are very good on offense and quite solid on defense. They are remarkably durable, rarely missing a shift let alone a game. They can be counted for 160 points. They are very popular in Vancouver, a solid piece of any marketing campaign.

At $6.1M each, they come in at a cap friendly number for first line players. Five years is just about perfect for each party. The Canucks get them for the remainder of their prime years, but are not committed to their declining years. The Sedins will be 33 when they are next up for contract talks. That could give them one last shot at big cash call to finish their careers.

All in all, a good deal for both sides, and for the fans.

2. Tampa Bay Makes A Smart Move. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but for the first time in the Koules/Barrie/Lawton disastrous reign of error, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a real nice move signing Mattias Ohlund. After acquiring giant Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman with a no brainer of a draft selection, I kind of worried about Hedman (or any other young player) entering the Tampa Bay mess. But after watching Ohlund very closely for all of his career, I can certainly attest that there is no better defenseman to take Hedman under his wings. Ohlund is an extremely competent defenseman in all areas, though flashy in none. Even before this move I saw Hedman as a bigger version of Ohlund. Having Ohlund mentor Hedman is a very good thing for Tampa Bay Lightning fans.

The Bolts also got Matt Walker at $1.7M a year for 4 years. Walker impressed in Chicago after seemingly coming out of nowhere. I like Walker's play and intensity, but I hope his progress does not stall in Tampa. In Chicago he had gotten a lot of good coaching from Joel Quenneville. Coach Q is not only one of the best coaches in the game, but a former long time NHL rearguard himself, playing a similar style to that of Walker.

One question though - How is it any player can sign with a new team just 15 minutes after the deadline has passed? I suspect the Canucks allowed Ohlund to talk with any team in advance, out of respect for his many years of service. But does anyone really believe teams and players and agents aren't talking to each other before they are supposedly allowed to talk?

3. Colorado Snags Craig Anderson. It was hardly the biggest news of the day, but I think it may have been the savviest. Looking to improve their goaltending situation, the Colorado Avalanche are rolling the dice on Craig Anderson with a 2 year deal worth $1.8M per year. I really like Anderson, as he has shown in the past couple of seasons that he may be ready for the big time. He had a real strong season with at-times struggling Florida team last year. The Avalanche are weaker than the Panthers, so improving the blue line in front of him is necessary. But I think when we look back at the free agency signings a year from now we will be saying Craig Anderson was a real steal.

4. The Marians. I already touched on the Marians a bit in my Sedin commentary. Why any team signs any player to 12 year contracts I do not understand. I realize this is done to lower the salary cap number, but has no one noticed that NY Islanders goalie Rick Dipietro basically has not played in 2 years after signing a 15 year contract. The injury does allow for cap relief at some point, but in the mean time it becomes very hard to replace their contributions to the line up. As for Gaborik, he may be one of the top 5 most dynamic players in the NHL, and he will finally be set free from the stifling Minnesota system. I hope he does well, because it will be fun to watch. But history tells us he will miss a lot of time with injuries. At $7.5M a season that could be a costly gamble.

5. Montreal's new look. The new era in Montreal seems to be about overpaying. First they acquired Scotty Gomez in a trade. Forget about his ridiculously inflated $8M per year salary, they actually had to give up at least one good prospect in addition to solid player Chris Higgins to get him. Then they went out and landed his old New Jersey linemate Brian Gionta, who at 5'8" is hardly the remedy for the Habs size and grit problem. And they're paying him $5M a year even though his goal scoring totals have dwindled significantly since the lockout? Sharpshooter Mike Cammalleri may look good on Gomez's left wing. At $6M he better have a good season to earn that money.

That's a grand total of $19M a year for Canadiens' new first line. That will only add to unbelievable pressure in Montreal.

Some other quick observations:

- Substituting Martin Havlat for Gaborik in Minnesota was a smart move. They are in many ways identical players, but Havlat saves the Wild $2M to $3M a year.

- Brian Burke could only land Mike Komisarek, a nice addition and at a better price than I expected. There is always a premium on defenseman when it comes to free agency. Still, why is it so many star players avoid Toronto?

- Mike Knuble's big body presence will be a nice fit in Washington.

- Karlis Skrastins may be the most underrated player in the league. Good job Dallas

- Erik Cole's best days are behind him, but he still works really well with Eric Staal. Cole's $2.9M contract is much friendlier now.

- Edmonton tried to make some noise by signing the biggest name on the goaltending UFA list. The market was all theirs really, as not a lot of teams were looking for a starting goalie. There was not a lot to choose from, either. Still, Edmonton is now on the hook for 4 years of an aging Nikolai Khabibulin. He played very well last year, but has been up and down over his career. I don't like Edmonton's gamble. If they wanted a veteran goalie, they should have ponied up to keep Dwayne Roloson.

- Roloson is headed to the Islanders with a two year deal by the way. Remember what I said earlier about team's not learning from the Rick Dipietro contract. Signing Roloson must mean the Islanders are fearing Dipietro's days are done.

- Montreal also upgraded their defense signing Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill at decent numbers. Both are solid veterans, but, despite Gill's intimidating size, neither are punishing physical players. Montreal has lacked grit for years, and will continue to be a middle of the pack team until they get some sandpaper.

Tennis, Anyone?

Tennis is a great game. For me Tennis will always be about Boris Becker back in 1985, Snoopy, Mmm...Maria Sharapova and streakers.

This weekend is the finals of one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles - Wimbledon. The best tennis players in the world have taken to the grass at center court at the All England Lawn Tennis And Croquet Club, where they play tennis since 1800s but not croquet in over 100 years. This is 'The Championships' 132nd year!

Now, you might think it would be pretty hard to tie Wimbledon together with hockey history. But actually, it is very easy. One of the greatest hockey players of all time also happens to be a regular Wimbledon competitor and your 1954 Men's champion!

I want you to meet one of the most interesting hockey players/tennis players you'll ever get know.

Jaroslav Drobny

Center Jaroslav Drobny was born on October 12, 1921 in Prague, Czech Republic. He was a very industrious center with a good touch for the net. He was strong and very creative. Good skater. He began playing for CLTK (Cesky Lawn Tennis Klub) Prague as a youngster and went on to play 11 seasons in the Czechoslovakian league between 1938-49.

He represented Czechoslovakia 31 times, scoring 36 goals. He played in the 1939 World Championships, scoring 6 goals in 9 games, as well as 1947, winning a gold medal while he scoring 15 goals in 7 games. He also participated in the 1948 Olympics, scoring 9 goals in 8 games and capturing a silver medal.

He was described as "an excellent skater with great technique." He was a bit of a soloist, but was said to be be good at setting up plays after showing off his puck skills a little bit. Some hailed him as Josef Malecek's successor as the greatest Czech hockey star. Though he had many opportunities to join better club teams, he would never leave the small CLTK Prague team because his father was a caretaker at the arena.

Bruins Wanted Him In '49

So good was Drobny that he could have become the first European to play in the National Hockey League. In 1949 the Boston Bruins put him on their reserve list and offered Drobny $20,000 to cross the Atlantic. Drobny refused, preferring amateur hockey over the pro game, and unwilling to give up his chance to travel the world and play international tennis.

He Was Better At Tennis

Drobný was also a world class tennis player at this time and combined his hockey with the tennis. In the winter it was hockey, and in the summer it was tennis. He even began competing at Wimbledon prior to World War II.

Life Changed In Moments

But Drobny would soon make a desperate choice that would see his hockey career end.

It was during one of the tennis tournaments in 1949 that his life changed drastically as he decided to emigrate from Czechoslovakia. Drobný himself remembered that moment and the circumstances very well.

"On July 11, 1949 I travelled to Gstaad in Switzerland together with my friend Vladimir Cernik (whom he played in the Davis Cup together with) to participate in a tennis tournament there. Together with Cernik I figured that we would stay there for about a week. So I put 50 dollars into my pocket and really looked forward to the tournament because some of the worlds best tennis players were going to be there.

After two days when the tournament had already started we received a message from Prague that told us to withdraw from the tournament and get back home. We refused. We were in a very uncomfortable situation. The hosts of the tournament had invited us to play and we couldn't just let them down. We were one of the main attractions in the tournament and our absence could have meant financial losses for the organizer.

Later on two gentlemen representing the Czechoslovakian foreign ministry showed up in Gstaad. Again they told us to go back home, and they did it in a very arrogant way. When they went back home, Cernik told me that he would not return back to Czechoslovakia. I still hadn't made up my mind. I had never thought about defecting from my country. But my human instinct and fear struck me as I was thinking about it further. If I would return back home, would they ever let me play again ? Would I be able to travel everywhere that I wanted ? At that time I had a tennis tournament ahead of me in USA and I was afraid that they wouldn't let me go there.

Freedom At Any Price

I was afraid that I would never play abroad again. That they would not let me travel freely. And I didn't agree with the way politics and sports was mixed. So I finally told the organizer of the Gstaad tournament, a Mr. Scherz, that I wouldn't return back to Czechoslovakia. I decided to stay in Switzerland.

I worked two years in Switzerland as a hockey trainer but I wanted to go to USA where my girlfriend was. (Rita Anderson Jarvis whom he married later on). The problem was that I was traveling on Swiss documents since my Czechoslovakian passport was revoked. If I had come directly from Czechoslovakia then I could have stayed in USA. But in my situation I would have to wait five years for a permanent stay.

I of course was really missing my home. To be able and visit my local favourite pub or to eat moms donuts. I was all alone, My real friends were back home, my mom and dad. But that was the price I had to pay for freedom."

Off To Egypt, And Wimbledon

A couple of years later the left handed Drobný was invited by the Egyptian King Faruk and became an Egyptian citizen. He represented Egypt when he played tennis. He lost the Wimbledon final in 1949 in five sets, but in 1954 he won the Wimbledon title by beating Ken Rosewall. Drobný also won the French Open twice and the Italian Open three times. In total Drobny participated in 17 Wimbledon tournaments, always sporting his trademark tinted sunglasses as an old hockey injury affect his eye sight. He also participated in 43 Davis Cup matches, winning 37 of them.

Jaroslav Drobny was a world class hockey and tennis player who unfortunately was robbed of his best hockey years. Drobný was a truly legendary hockey player and an even bigger tennis star who chose freedom ahead of everything else.

Drobny died in 2001 at the age of 79.

(Special thanks to Patrick Houda)

Son of German Legend Coming To Canada?

The Windsor Spitfires traded up to land German forward Tom Khunhackl with the 24th pick in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft last week.



He is the son of German hockey legend Erich Khunhackl,a 6'5" giant who was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall-of-Fame in 1997 and was named Germany’s ice hockey player of the century in 2000.

“His dad was the Wayne Gretzky of Germany and he has the package,” his agent, Rollie Thompson, said.

There is no guarantee Khunhackl, who is eligible for the NHL draft in 2010, will come to North American for the coming season. Regardless, he is already highly regarded. The Red Line Report ranks him No. 4 among Europeans for next year’s draft and International Scouting Service has him at No. 5.

Camping - Gordie Howe Style

As an avid camper, I think I have to add a new travel destination to my bucket list - the Gordie Howe Campground.

The campground has 135 serviced sites. With a green canopy of trees, with shrubs, flower beds and planters splashing the grounds with colour, it is a great getaway from the bustling metropolis of nearby Saskatoon.

Motorhomes, trailers, folding campers, fifth wheels, truck campers and tenters are all welcome. On-site amenities include laundry facilities, free showers, confectionery, vending machines, firewood and the new must-have, wireless internet.

I'll bring the marshmallows!

I'm heading out camping at my usual favorite spot - Kleanza Creek. I have pre-scheduled a couple of very interesting pieces in the days ahead, including hockey's tie-in with Wimbledon.

In the mean time I have no shortage of likely new reading for you. Over the past 4 or 5 weeks I have been busy adding 40 player profiles of a wide variety to the collection. Most of these did not get a mention on the front page:

Modern Era
Alexandre Daigle
Derian Hatcher
Kevin Hatcher
Kenny Jonsson
Jorgen Jonsson
Valeri Bure
Bobby Holik
Andrei Nikolishin
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Frank Musil
Jiri Hrdina
Scott Young
Doug Hicks
Tom Bladon

WHA
Andre Lacroix
Danny Lawson
Ron Ward
Serge Bernier

Original Six
Rudy Migay
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Gary Aldcorn
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International
Jiri Holik
Jaroslav Holik
John Mayasich
Bill Cleary
Anders Myrvold
Jan Peka
Konstantin Loktev
Chick Zamick
Bohumil Modry
Blake Watson
Alexei Guryshev
Gustav Jaenecke
Rudi Ball

It's Canada Day!

It's Canada Day! Canadians may be going to the beach, firing up the barbeques and spending time with the family.

Oh yeah, and thinking about hockey.

It certainly will not be hard, even for a summer's day. After all, it is the opening day of NHL free agency. All eyes will be watching their favorite teams, with particular interest in this country on Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

There are no shortages of websites covering all the goings on of the day. But I will be spending the day wondering about Team Canada for the upcoming Olympics.

Last week Canada named their coaching staff, and they will be naming their orientation camp invitee list any day now. The question I am wondering about on this Canada team is who will be at that camp in late August.

Reports have as many as 44 players invited to camp, which is a bit of an awkward number for scrimmages. Let's assume a roster of 26 forwards, 14 defensemen and 4 goalies.

Goalies - Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo are locks for the camp, if not the final team. Cam Ward will almost certainly be there. The fourth goalie to get the call - let's go with Marc-Andre Fleury. He did win the Stanley Cup less than a month ago, after all. Four goalies is manageable for practices and games. Any more is just cumbersome

Defense - Scott Niedermayer, Dan Boyle, Jay Bouwmeester, Shea Weber, Chris Pronger, Robyn Regehr, Duncan Keith, Mike Green, Brent Seabrook, Brent Burns, Dion Phaneuf, Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, Braydon Coburn and Drew Doughty. That leaves off a couple of veterans like Ed Jovanovski and Dan Hamhuis, who are unlikely get the call anyways. This allows Team Canada to better get to know the youngsters. I want to see Marc Staal there, too.

Forwards - There is no need to distinguish between the various forward positions. Canada will likely load up with centers anyways. For this orientation camp they are looking bring in the best 24 forwards possible - Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Rick Nash, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Shane Doan, Brendan Morrow, Marc Savard, Simon Gagne, Joe Thornton, Joe Sakic, Patrick Marleau, Jason Spezza, Jonathan Toews, Derek Roy, Mike Cammalleri, Brad Boyes, Alexander Burrows, David Bolland and Jordan Staal.

What do you think? Should someone be added? If so, who should be removed? Let me know in the comments section.