Vladimír Nadrchal

One of the world’s top goalies in the late 1950s and 1960s, Vladimír Nadrchal joined HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice in 1950 and played with them through 1957, when he moved to Brno, playing with that team, which had several names, through the 1974-75 season. He ended his career after two seasons with TJ Železárny Prostějov, retiring after 1976. With Brno, he won eight Czech League titles (1958, 1960-66). Nadrchal was the first Czech goalie to wear a mask. At the international level, Nadrchal played at two Winter Olympics (1964, 1968), winning a silver medal in 1968 and a bronze medal in 1964. He competed at five World Championships, in 1958-59, 1961, 1965, and 1967, winning silvers in 1961 and 1965 and a bronze medal in 1959. In 1958 Nadrchal was chosen as the best goaltender at the Worlds.