Jan Kasper

Czechoslovak ice hockey player Jan Kasper had a prolific career that spanned two decades with him playing in more than 330 league games. Kasper had the most success with Kometa Brno in the mid-to-late 1950s, winning five league titles (1955–58, 1960) and finishing third in 1959. He represented Czechoslovakia in 86 international matches including multiple editions of the World Championships and Olympic Games. At the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Games the ice hockey tournament served as both the World and European Championships, resulting in Czechoslovakia winning bronze at the latter with their fifth place finish at the Olympics. The same format was retained for the 1960 Squaw Valley Games where Czechoslovakia finished fourth, therefore winning a silver at the European Championships. He was finally part of the team that won gold at the European Championships when Czechoslovakia won the 1961 tournament. Kasper finished his career as a player-coach in Austria in 1970 and was inducted into the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.