JIRI HOLIK appeared at no fewer than 17 major international tournaments for Czechoslovakia over the course of his career. Holik skated a total of 319 games, a national record, for Czechoslovakia in all international competitions.

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Despite his team’s disappointing 4-3 loss to the Soviet Union in the final match at the 1976 Innsbruck Games, the veteran Czechoslovakia forward JIRI HOLIK still had cause to feel like an Olympic champion.

In fact, the 31-year-old Dukla Jihlava winger had just accomplished what no other player in history ever had — a fourth medal for ice hockey at the Winter Olympic Games.

Interesting enough, Holik made his Olympic debut for Czechoslovakia in 1964 in the Austrian city of Innsbruck and, ultimately, ended his career at the Winter Games in 1976 in the very same arena at the foot of the Tyrolean Alps.

Holik, after two seasons in West Germany for SB Rosenheim, also completed his playing career in Austria with AT Stadlau Wien (Vienna) in 1981.

In a bit of irony, Holik’s opposite number in the de facto Gold Medal Match at Innsbruck in 1976, USSR goaltender VLADISLAV TRETIAK, became the next player to pocket four Olympic medals at the 1984 Sarajevo Games.

Defenseman IGOR KRAVCHUK, who competed for the Soviet Union, Unified Team as well as Russia at the Winter Games, is the only other player to have ever totaled four medals for ice hockey at the Olympics.

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Several skaters from both squads at the de facto Gold Medal Match of the 1976 Innsbruck Games eventually headed west to play some more hockey at the tail end of their careers.

The authorities in Czechoslovakia, who had been allowing aging players to compete in Western Europe since the late 1960s, adopted a new transfer policy involving the professional National Hockey League in the summer of 1981.

Thus, former Czechoslovak national team players IVAN HLINKA and JIRI BUBLA joined the Vancouver Canucks hockey club who skated their way to the 1982 Stanley Cup finals before bowing to the-then two-time defending NHL champion, the New York Islanders. 

The following season, the 1982-83 schedule, MIROSLAV DVORAK put on the shirt of the Philadelphia Flyers, Jarosloav POUZAR checked in present for the Edmonton Oilers and MILAN NOVY went to the Washington Capitals.

Later, MILAN CHALUPA, after a total of three Winter Olympic Games for Czechoslovakia had a short cup of coffee for the Detroit Red Wings in 1984-85.

All were preceded by the backup goalkeeper for Czechoslovakia at Innsbruck, however. Tesla Pardubice netminder JIRI CRHA had defected the Iron Curtain following the 1978-79 and turned up in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in February of 1980. Then 29, Crha became the first Czechoslovak to ever bolt the domestic league and jump directly to an NHL club.

Crha and Chalupa were later long-time teammates for EHC Freiburg in West Germany.

The Czechoslovak Ice Hockey Federation had, after the 1969-70 season, discontinued the practice of allowing NHL participation to Czechoslovak players. JAROSLAV JIRIK had been the lone player sent to the St. Louis Blues for a single year, most of which was spent in the minors with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League.

Clearly, the Crha Case was of at least some influence to the the Czechoslovak authorities.

As for the rest of the silver medalists at Innsbruck, almost all spent were permitted to play at least a little in Western Europe eventually.

FRANTISEK POSPISIL, defenseman and captain of the Czechoslovakia national team, representing the title-winning host nation at the medal ceremonies for the 1972 IIHF World Championships in Prague.

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One of the most curious episodes in the history of ice hockey at the Winter Olympics coincided with the 1976 Innsbruck Games in Austria.

Following the third leg of the final round-robin the 31-year-old Czechoslovak captain, FRANTISEK POSPISIL, was among the players chosen at random to provide a sample to International Olympic Committee officials for anti-doping tests.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA, expected to challenge the Soviet Union for supremacy in the Tyrolean Alps, had just defeated their Warsaw Pact allies and northern neighbors POLAND 7-1 to remain unbeaten and untied. Pospisil, appearing at his third Winter Olympic Games, scored no goals in the match but did provide one assist.

The team physician of the Czechoslovak ice hockey squad, DR. OTTO TREFNY, immediately admitted that Pospisil had been given codeine to combat a viral infection. An outbreak of influenza had descended upon the Olympic village in Innsbruck and several of the Czechoslovak puck men had been affected. Later, it was disclosed that morphine, in addition to codeine, had been found in Pospisil’s sample, as well.

The International Ice Hockey Federation had formulated an anti-doping policy in the summer of 1969 and a drug-testing policy was initially implemented at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan. Two years later, at the 1974 World Championships in Helsinki, the IIHF had its first doping cases to contend with. Both center ULF NILSSON of Sweden and goalie STIG WETZELL of Finland had tested positive for the banned substance of ephedrine over the course of the tournament.

At Helsinki, the IIHF penalties were severe as both players upon failure were immediately expelled from competition and suspended from international play for eighteen months. The matches affected by the positive drug test results — Sweden’s 4-1 victory over Poland and host nation Finland’s 5-2 upset of Czechoslovakia — were overturned. In each instance, a 5-0 defeat for the offending player’s team went into the record books.

At the 1976 Winter Olympic Games, however, Pospisil’s failed drug test was, indeed, handled differently by the IIHF and IOC officials in Innsbruck.

The player Pospisil was allowed to continue to compete in the ice hockey tournament. The team doctor Trefny was, initially, banned from the Olympics for life. Czechoslovakia was stripped of its 7-1 win over Poland and instead assigned a 1-0 defeat; the Poles, significantly, were not given the corresponding victory in the standings at Innsbruck.

“The flu epidemic cannot be used as an excuse for breaking the rules,” announced PRINCE ALEXANDRE DE MERODE, the president of the IOC’s medical committee.

“Instead of punishing people who have taken medicine against the flu, the commission should have taken steps to stop the flu,” responded the coach of the Czechoslovakia ice hockey team, KAREL GUT.

Apparently unaffected by the Pospisil affair, the Czechoslovaks defeated their neighbors from West Germany 7-4 in the fourth round to set a winner-take-all showdown with their Eastern-bloc arch-rival, the Soviet Union.

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New York Times — Tuesday, February 11, 1964.

AP — Radio Prague reported a weekend demonstration at Brno today in dissatisfaction with Czechoslovakia’s third place showing at the Winter Olympics.

The report said that “excited and dangerous demonstrations” had taken place in front of the apartment of the team’s trainer and that his wife had been threatened.

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CZECHOSLOVAKIA had blown the silver medal on the tournament’s concluding day to Sweden at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Having won five of their first six matches, the Czechoslovaks needed only a draw against the Swedes, who entered the final proceedings with a mark of four wins and two losses. After capturing the silver medal at St. Moritz in 1948, Czechoslovakia returned home from the next three Olympic ice hockey competitions empty-handed.

A 3-1 victory over Canada on the strength of third-period goals from JAN KLAPAC, JIRI HOLIK and JOSEF CERNY, who ended up on the media All-Star squad in 1964, had raised hopes for the Czechoslovaks in the Tyrolean Alps.

SWEDEN, surprise winners at the 1962 IIHF World Championships in Colorado Springs, had other ideas, however.

Sweden’s attack was powered by the two joint top point-scorers at Innsbruck, SVEN “Tumba” JOHANSSON (8 go 3 as, 11 pts) and ULF STERNER (6 go 5 as, 11 pts). Johansson, a bronze medalist for Sweden at Oslo in 1952, was competing at his fourth Winter Games. In the very last match of the 1964 Olympic tournament, the Swedes stormed to leads of 3-1 after one and 6-2 at the conclusion of the two on the way to a sound 8-3 triumph over Czechoslovakia.

Thus, Sweden finished in second place — no matter which tie-breaking formula was employed — and secured just their second set of silver medals in their nation’s history.

Sweden originally won the silver medal at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games in St. Mortiz, Switzerland.

Swiss goaltender GERARD RIGOLET wanders far out of his goal to play the puck against Canada at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Austria. In spite of 61 saves from Rigolet, Switzerland still lost 8-0 to Canada at Innsbruck. Rigolet, who saw no shortage of action in Austria, also stopped 88 shots as the Swiss fell 15-0 to the USSR at the Innsbruck Games.

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A narrow 3-2 loss to the Soviet Union had left CANADA in a three-way tie for second place with Czechoslovakia and Sweden; all three teams finished the final round-robin of the 1964 Winter Olympic Games with records of five wins and two losses.

Canada were under the impression they had done enough to earn the bronze medal.

Under the pre-arranged formula as agreed to by the International Ice Hockey Federation with the International Olympic Committee, the tie-breaker between the three teams should have involved goal differential in the games contested only between those three teams. In that instance, Canada would have placed third :

• + 3 — (1-1 w-l, 9-6 gf-ga) — Sweden 
•    0 — (1-1 w-l, 4-4 gf-ga) — Canada 
•  - 3 — (1-1 w-l, 6-9 gf-ga) — Czechoslovakia 

President JOHN “Bunny” AHEARNE, however, called an emergency meeting of the IIHF Council. For reasons not officially explained, it was decided to change the tie-breaker format to goal differential involving all games played in the final round-robin at Innsbruck. This decision dropped Canada into fourth place :

• + 31 — (5-2 w-l, 47-16 gf-ga) — Sweden
• + 19 — (5-2 w-l, 38-19 gf-ga) — Czechoslovakia
• + 17 — (5-2 w-l, 32-17 gf-ga) — Canada

The official announcement by the IIHF changing the tie-breaker came ten minutes before the commencement of the medal ceremonies for ice hockey at the Innsbruck Games.

The OLYMPIA EISHALLE in the Austrian city of Innsbruck is the only arena in the world to have ever hosted two ice hockey tournaments at the Winter Olympic Games. In the background of the photo would be the Tyrolean Alps.

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The IXth Winter Games held at Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964 marked the first time in history the ice hockey tournament at the Olympics was held in an indoor arena.

Located in the Pradl district of  the city of Innsbruck, a picturesque 7,800-seat arena, known officially as the OLYMPIA EISHALLE, was purpose-built for and opened to commence the 1964 Winter Olympics.

For the sport of ice hockey, the Olympia Eishalle first hosted two qualification matches — Canada’s 14-1 trampling of Yugoslavia and Switzerland’s 5-1 defeat of Norway — two days before the official start of the Innsbruck Games on January 27, 1964.

The following clip contains color footage leaving a good feel for what it was like from what appears to be the second level inside the Eishalle on opening day as white-shirted CZECHOSLOVAKIA oppose dark-shirted WEST GERMANY on January 29 :  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OLwd8y9jtk&feature=PlayList&p=39223EECA14DEC79&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

The eventual bronze medalist Czechoslovaks, in part behind a pair of goals from VLASTIMIL BUBNIK, handed their neighbors to the west a sound 11-1 thrashing at the Eishalle in Innsbruck on the opening day of  the final-round tournament at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Canada left wing TODD HLUSHKO (7) hits Sweden defenseman MAGNUS SVENSSON (8) head-on in the Gold Medal Match at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

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Without question one of the hardest hits in the history of the Gold Medal Match occured at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Almost half way through the ten-minute overtime and shortly after the Canadians break out following a defensive zone faceoff, two-time Canadian Olympian FABIAN JOSEPH (8) steers a pass at center ice into the Swedish corner.

Sweden defenseman KENNY JONSSON (19), the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 1993 1st round draft pick (# 12 overall), retreats to retrive the puck. After having looked to his left and collecting the puck, the BK Rogle Angelholm rearguard starts to his right :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYuTQcxnXpQ

Arriving at that moment to deliver a devastating hit is TODD HLUSHKO (7), the one-time Washington Capitals 12th round draft pick (1990, #240 overall) and for Baltimore Skipjacks winger in the American Hockey League.

The force of the blow left Jonsson temporarily unconscious and Sweden’s coach, CURT LUNDMARK, enraged.

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Todd Hlushko later skated 79 National Hockey League games (8 go 13 as, 21 pts, 84 pim) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penquins over the course of six seasons before finishing his career with five years in the German elite league competing for the Cologne Sharks, Mannheim Eagles and Hannover Scorpions.

Left : HAKAN LOOB holds the trophy after Sweden’s triumph at the 1987 IIHF World Championships in Vienna, Austria.

Right : former Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup left wing, MATS NASLUND. 

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In 1986, the very same year that the International Ice Hockey Federation formally ratified the use of professional players at the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee voted to cease the practice of the Summer and Winter Games competing in the same calendar year and instead decided to separate the two events.

The new policy was formally enacted with the XVII Winter Olympic Games held in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.

The Lillehammer Games also marked the only time in modern history that an Olympics was staged within two years of a preceding event as compared to the normal four-year break.

It was approaching a decade since professional ice hockey players were welcome at the Winter Olympic Games when the Lillehammer Games got underway. As had been the case since the Calgary Games in 1988, the competing countries staffed their national teams with as many ex-NHLers as they saw fit. Once again, many former NHL players participated at Lillehammer in 1994, including one-time elite-level skaters such as Sweden’s HAKAN LOOB and MATS NASLUND as well as PETER STASTNY for Olympic debutants Slovakia.

However, once again, the National Hockey League clubs refused to release their players en masse for Olympic participation.

New Jersey Devils defenseman PAUL MARTIN will not be skating at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver later this month.

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The UNITED STATES has announced that a pair of defensemen originally named to their Winter Olympics squad for the 2010 Vancouver Games have been replaced due to injuries that have not healed.

PAUL MARTIN of the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs rearguard MIKE KOMISAREK have been replaced on the U.S. roster by Anaheim Ducks defenseman RYAN WHITNEY as well as TIM GLEASON of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Martin has played just nine games for the Devils this season after having his forearm broken by a shot last October. A former 2nd round draft pick (# 62 overall) out of the University of Minnesota, the 28-year-old blueliner has totaled 110 assists the past four NHL seasons for New Jersey. Martin has represented the United States at three major international tournaments (17 ga, 1 go 8 as, 9 pts) on the senior level.

Komisarek injured his shoulder on the second day of the New Year and has his rehabilitation has not progressed. In fact, the 28-year-old former first round pick of the Montreal Canadiens (2001, # 7 overall) from the University of Michigan could be looking at season-ending surgery. Komisarek has appeared for the United States just once, at the 2006 IIHF World Championships (7 ga, 0 go 1 as, 1 pts).

The two substitute players selected by USA Hockey led by General Manager BRIAN BURKE  are very much similiar in style to the two injured players they replace.

Whitney, the Pittsburgh Penquins’ 2002 1st round choice (# 5 overall) from Boston University, is a puck-moving defenseman who has amassed 126 assists over the past four NHL seasons. The 26-year-old is more of a goal-scorer than Martin having tallied 34 goals in the past four years, a total almost twice that of the New Jersey Devil for the same period. Although Whitney has played for the United States at the World Junior Championships, the Anaheim Duck has never played before at a major senior international event.

Gleason, a former Ottawa Senators’ first round draft choice (2001, # 23 overall), is a stay-at-home type more in the mold of Komisarek. At 6′0″ 217 lbs, the Michigan native does bring four inches and 26 pounds less to the U.S. blueline than the Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman would have. Gleason skated for the United States once, at the 2008 IIHF World Championships (6 ga, 0 go 1 as, 1 pts).

Forwards JOHN DEVANEY (15, left) and KEVIN PRIMEAU (21, right) park in front of Holland's goal during Canada's 10-1 romp of the Dutch on the opening day of Red Group play at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Both Devaney and Primeau registered a goal for Canada in the match.

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Five days short of twelve full years, on February 12, 1980, the national ice hockey team of CANADA again stepped out onto Olympic ice at the Winter Games in Lake Placid.

Canada were drawn into the Red Group and scheduled to meet the Olympic new-boys from NETHERLANDS in their noteable return match.

Holland were actually enjoying their finest period of ice hockey in the history of their nation. The Dutch had triumphed at the C Pool of the 1978 IIHF World Championships and then promptly again won the B Pool of the 1979 IIHF event in Galati, Romania; no team in history had ever achieved this before.

The Netherlands were paced by Canadian-born JACK DE HEER, who had led the 1979 B Pool in scoring, as well as another native Canuck, one-time Boston University forward DICK DECLOE of EG Dusseldorf, who was a goal-scoring machine in the West German Bundesliga for years.

Despite the fact that, not including players under contract in the minors, 420 of Canada’s best players were busy skating for professional National Hockey League clubs, for the Dutch at Lake Placid it was still no treat to face the country that had invented the sport of ice hockey.

Holland did score a first period goal through CORKY DE GRAAW, a 28-year-old Dutch national who had skated 72 games (20 go 44 as, 64 pts) for the Long Island Ducks in the old Eastern Hockey League during the 1971-72 season eight years earlier.

Nonetheless, Canada had built a 4-1 advantage at the conclusion of the first two periods heading into the final twenty minutes of play : 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN1jDIJz9ck&feature=related

After first dumping the puck into the Dutch defensive zone, Canada’s GLENN ANDERSON (9) moves into a dangerous position at the edge of the circle on the left to accept a centering pass from JIM NILL (12).

Although Anderson is at first denied by Holland’s 27-year-old Canadian-born goaltender TED LENSSEN, the Edmonton Oilers’ 1979 fourth round draft pick (# 69 overall) from Denver University is still able collect the rebound and execute the spin-o-rama-slapshot to perfection.

An excited Anderson’s goal announces the start of a six-goal onslaught for Canada on their way to a 10-1 defeat of the Netherlands at Lake Placid.