Ice hockey great Zabrodsky dies at 97

PRAGUE: Czech ice hockey legend Vladimir Zabrodsky, a silver Olympic medallist and two-time world champion, died at the age of 97 on Friday, the Czech Ice Hockey Association (CSLH) said.

“Vladimir Zabrodsky was not only a leading personality of his generation but also one of the most remarkable personalities of ice hockey history,” CSLH head Tomas Kral said. Zabrodsky won silver at the St Moritz Olympics in 1948 and gold at world championships in 1947 and 1949. A prolific center forward, he scored 158 goals in 94 games for former Czechoslovakia, which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

In 1965, Zabrodsky left the communist-ruled Czechoslovakia to live in Sweden. He ranked third only behind NHL stars Dominik Hasek and Jaromir Jagr in a 1998 CSLH poll choosing the player of the century in what is the most popular sport alongside football in the Czech Republic.