1969 Czechoslovakia Vaclav Nedomansky Jersey

July by the Numbers travels behind the Iron Curtain for jersey #14.

The Prague Spring began in early January of 1968 when Alexander Dubček came to power in communist Czechoslovakia, beginning in a period of liberalization in which Dubček attempted to grant greater freedom by loosening restrictions on the media, art, speech and travel. These reforms did not go over well with the Soviets, who eventually invaded Czechoslovakia and it's capital of Prague with approximately 750,000 troops from the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary and Poland) on August 20, 1968 which resulted in 108 Czech and Slovak deaths and 500 injuries to primarily civilians. Despite being arrested and taken to Moscow, Dubček was allowed to remain in office and was returned to Prague a week later.

Soviet tanks invade Prauge

Dubček remained in his position until April of 1969 when he was forced to resign following the Czechoslovak Hockey Riots, which too place in response to the 1969 World Hockey Championships.

Originally scheduled to be held in Prauge, the 1969 World Championships were moved to Stockholm, Sweden due to the invasion and began on March 15th, when the Czechs defeated Canada by a resounding 6-1 score. Sweden beat Finland 6-3 and the Soviet Union destroyed the United States with a 17-2 pummeling also on day one which would prove vital later in the tourament. Entering the tournament the Soviet Union had won the last six World Championships as well as the last three out of four Olympic Games.

On March 21st, the Czechs and Soviets met in day six of the tournament with the Soviets at 4-0 with a 34-6 edge in goals scored up to that point, while the Czechoslovakians were 3-1 following a 2-0 loss to Sweden.

To the Soviet team this was just another hockey game, but not to the Czechs. With 70,000 Red Army soldiers still occupying their country, it was about much more than just hockey.

“We said to ourselves, even if we have to die on the ice, we have to beat them,” said team captain Jozef Golonka many years later. “We received hundreds of telegrams from fans back home when we arrived in Stockholm. Almost all of them said: ‘Beat the Soviets. You don’t have to beat anyone else. Just beat the Soviets.’”

Following a scoreless first period, defenseman Jan Suchý scored his fifth goal of the competition at the 13 minute mark of period two to put the Czechs on top. Josef Černý added a second goal at the seven minute mark of the third period while legendary goalkeeper Vladimir Dzurilla held the Soviets at bay for a 2-0 shutout, sending thousands of Czechoslovakians into the streets back in Prague in celebration.

The Czechs then wrapped up three more wins until they were matched up against the Soviets for the second time, as the tournament format was for each of the six teams to face the other five two times each. The Soviet Union meanwhile marched through their three subsequent games as expected, setting up the rematch with both teams now at 7-1.

Jiří Holík opened the scoring at 15 minutes to put the Czechs ahead 1-0 after one. Vaclav Nedomanský gave the Czechs a 2-0 lead in the first minute of the second, but Valeri Kharlamov responded for the Soviet Union two minutes later and Anatoli Firsov tied the game at the 13 minute mark.

Josef Horešovský delighted the Czech fans with a go-ahead goal at the nine minute mark of the third period before Jaroslav Holík sent them into rapture with another Czech score just two minutes later. Alexander Ragulin got one back for the Soviets with less than two minutes to play, but it was not enough as Czechoslovakia held on for a 4-3 win, becoming the first team to ever defeat the Soviet Union twice in a single IIHF tournament.

Once again, a reported half a million Czechoslovakians took to the streets across the country in what was first a celebration of their hockey team's victory, but, particularly in Prague, evolved into a protest against the Soviet military which had continued their occupation of Czechoslovakia since the previous August.

From Time Magazine April 11, 1969:

Overcome by a vicarious sense of triumph, a huge and excited crowd swarmed into Prague’s Wenceslas Square. One happy hockey fan carried a poster that read BREZHNEV 3, DUBČEK 4. The crowd chanted, “We’ve beaten you this time!” Someone shouted, “The Russian coach will go to Siberia!”

Those particular protests turned violent when not only Soviet military units were attacked and their vehicles burned, but the offices of the Soviet airline Aeroflot were ransacked.

The uprising was suppressed by the Czech military, which was now under control of hardliners from the Communist Party, and the events were used as a pretext to oust the remaining leaders of the Prague Spring from power, Dubček in particular.

Heading into the final two days of the tournament, Czechoslovakia led with an 8-1 record, while the Soviet Union, thanks to their two losses to the Czechs were 7-2 and Sweden was 6-2 after a pair of losses to the Soviet Union. Sweden climbed into a tie with the Soviets thanks to taking their turn pounding the winless United States 10-4.

On March 30th, the Czechs let the gold medal slip from their grasp following a 1-0 loss to Sweden while the Soviet Union made it a three way tie atop the standings at 8-2 thanks to their 4-2 win over Canada. Since the Czechs beat the Soviets twice who beat the Swedes twice who beat the Czechs twice, the medal placings were decided by goal differential, giving the Soviet Union the gold with a +36, the Swedes silver at +26 and the Czechs bronze at +20, which mattered little to the fans back at home following their joy at beating the country of their occupying forces not once, but twice. ”You sent us tanks, we send you goals” was the celebratory cry.

The events of the Prague Spring and subsequent invasion, as well as the fact his grandfather died in prison that year, are preserved by Jaromir Jagr's choice of #68 in remembrance.

Today's featured jersey is a 1969 Czechoslovakia Vaclav Nedomansky jersey as worn in the emotionally charged 1969 World Championships when Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union twice, thrilling the Czechs back at home who were still under occupation.

While many would expect Czechoslovakia to wear red, they have in fact, worn blue off an on during their history, including periods of use in the 1930's, 40's and 50's as well as from 1965 to 1974 before a permanent change to red jerseys in 1975.

This striking jersey is an all-time classic, with the simplicity of the striping, lace up collar, heraldic main crest as well as the unique font for the numbers, which are then drop shadowed and outlined, a treatment which is also carried over to the CSSR lettering on the back, which is then radially arched, an early precursor to player names on the back, which did not become a regular part of NHL jerseys until the mid 1970's.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins Jaromir Jagr jersey which features Jagr's instantly recognizable #68 in memory of the Prague Spring.

In today's video section, scenes from the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August of 1968.

Here is a special treat, footage of Czechoslovakia beating the Soviet Union at the 1969 World Championships, showing footage from the game as well as the heroes welcome the received when they returned home.

1992 Czechoslovakia Jan Caloun Jersey

Jan Caloun was an offensive talent from Czechoslovakia who first made a name for himself at the European Junior Championships in 1990 with 7 points in 6 games. He then graduated from the HC Litvinov junior team to the senior club, which participated in the Czech Extraliga.

As a 19 year old, Caloun he impressed with 28 goals and 47 points in 50 games. The next season he was limited to 37 games, but averaged a point per game with 32 goals and 37 assists. During the postseason, he contributed 13 points in 9 games. He was also a member of the Czechoslovakia National Team at the 1992 World Junior Tournament where he scored 8 of the Czech's 28 goals in 7 games to lead the tournament in goals.

Following the season, Caloun was selected 75th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

He remained with HC Litvinov for two more seasons, scoring 44 goals and 67 points in 47 games in 1992-93 to lead the team in scoring and the league in goals at the age of 21. He also made his debut at the World Championships that year, earning a bronze medal playing for the newly formed Czech Republic, which had separated itself from Slovakia on January 1st of 1993.

After one final season with Litvinov, still averaging more than a point per game with 42 in 38 games, Caloun came to North America and was assigned to the Kansas City Blades of the IHL. There he picked right up where he left off in Europe, scoring 34 goals and 39 assists for 73 points in 76 games to lead the Blades in scoring as a rookie.

Bizarrely, despite finishing 16th out of 17 IHL clubs, the Blades qualified for the playoffs with 76 points, 44 points behind the league leading Denver Grizzlies, with only the Indianapolis Ice with 72 points failing to qualify for the postseason.

The Blades opened the playoffs against the 4th place Detroit Vipers and stunned them with a 4-3 win in Detroit during the decisive Game 5 of their opening round series. Next up for the Blades was the 3rd place Peoria Rivermen, whom they dispatched in 5 games.

The 4th place Kalamazoo Wings were up next, and once more the feisty Blades eliminated a club who finished much higher than them in the standings, this time with an easy 7-3 win in Game 7 on the road once more to advance to the Turner Cup Finals where their Cinderella run finally came to and end to the 1st place Denver Grizzlies. During their 21 playoff games, Caloun came second in team scoring with 13 goals and 23 points.

He returned to Kansas City for another season in 1995-96 and topped his goal total from the year before, with 38 goals in 15 less games, as Caloun was called up by the Sharks on March 18th for their game against the Boston Bruins. It was a memorable debut for Caloun that evening, as he scored on his first shot on goal in the NHL with an important goal, on the power play no less. The goal was the Sharks second of the game after spotting the Bruins a 3-0 lead before coming back to eventually tie the game 3-3.

Two nights later the dream start to Caloun's career continued when he scored his second NHL goal at 2:11 of the second period in his first shot of the game to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead over the Winnipeg Jets. At exactly the same 2:11 mark of the third period, Caloun remarkably scored on his next shot of the game, giving him 3 goals on 3 shots since being called up. The Sharks eventually won the game 7-1 over the Jets.

The Sharks next game came on this date in 1996 versus the Calgary Flames on the road. After the Flames scored first, Caloun's remarkable start continued, when the NHL rookie scored 7:23 remaining in the third period on a one-timer to tie the game on Caloun's first shot of the game, giving him an incredible 4 goals on the first 4 shots of his NHL career! The streak would later end, as his second shot on goal of the game was saved by Calgary's Rick Tabaracci. The Sharks eventually won the game in overtime thanks to Caloun's equalizer.

Caloun would eventually score a noteworthy 8 goals in 11 games for the Sharks that season. Despite that initial promise, Caloun was assigned to the Kentucky Thorougblades of the AHL for 1996-97 and led the club with 86 points in 66 games, 26 more than his next closest teammate. Caloun was also called up for a pair of games with the Sharks that season but could not duplicate his amazing offensive production of the year prior.

With the handwriting on the wall concerning his future with the Sharks, Caloun signed to play with HIFK Helsinki of the Finnish SM-Liiga for 1997-98 where he led the club in scoring with 48 points, good for third overall in the league. He would go on to lead the league in playoff scoring with 17 points in nine games as HIFK captured the league playoff championship.

In February, Caloun was a member of the Czech Republic Olympic Team which captured the gold medal in Nagano, Japan, the first Olympics which featured NHL players.

Caloun, simply tore up the SM-Liiga following season, amassing 81 points in just 51 games to lead the league in scoring by a full 23 points over his next closest challenger. He repeated as the top scorer in the playoffs as HIFK again returned to the finals.

Following the Finnish season, Caloun participated in his second World Championships and contributed 4 goals in 6 games as the Czechs captured the gold medal as tournament champions.

In 1999-00 Caloun led HIFK in scoring for the third consecutive season. His 72 points in 44 games placed him second in the league scoring race.

He returned to North America at the start of 2000-01, where he joined the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets of the newly expanded NHL, which created roughly 50 new jobs for players with the addition of Columbus and Minnesota. In 11 games, Caloun scored three assists before securing his release, which allowed him to rejoin HIFK in time to play 24 games that season.

For 2001-02, he joined the Espoo Blues for the next three seasons, leading the Blues in scoring all three seasons and the entire league in 2002-03 for his second SM-Liiga scoring title.

His 2004-05 season was an unsettled one, as he competed for four different clubs, Severstal Cherepovets (5 games) and Sibir Nobosibirsk (1 game) of the Russian Hockey League and a return to familiar territory with HC Litvinov (24 games and 39 points) and Slovan HC of the Czech second division for a pair of games. His next home was HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga. In 2005-06 he led Pardubice in scoring with 39 points in 48 games.

After one more season with Pardubice he rejoined Slovan HC for the next two seasons, the first of which was in the Extraliga and the second one down in the second level after being relegated.

For 2009-10, Caloun remained in the Czech second division with HC Vrchlabi and scored 13 goals and 27 points before he retired as a player after 19 seasons, 940 games, 515 goals and 499 assists for 1,014 points at all levels combined.

Today's featured jersey is a 1992 Czechoslovakia National Team Jan Caloun jersey from the final year of participation by Czechoslovakia in international hockey prior to dividing into the Czech Republic and Slovakia with the start of 1993.

This jersey is made by Tackla and features the familiar Tackla diamond shapes on the shoulders. Tackla a made jerseys for the member clubs of the IIHF in international tournaments from 1988 through 1995, although the final two years they were branded with large Reebok logos on the shoulders.

Today's video section begins with Caloun's return to HIFK after leaving the Blue Jackets and returning to Finland.

This next interview with Caloun, a Czech being interviewed by a Finn, is conducted conveniently in English.