Rudy Tajcnár

Rudy Tajcnár was a defenseman, often called “Slon” or “The Elephant,” who had a difficult life off the ice. He started his career with Dukla Košice in 1966, but played most of his Czechoslovakian career with ŠK Slovan Bratislava, being with them from 1968-77. He then came to North America, drafted by the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). He would play two games with the Oilers in 1979 but mostly played with their farm clubs, notably the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Spokane Flyers of the Pacific Hockey League (PHL), where he was a league 2nd-team All-Star. Returning to Europe in 1979, he finished out his career in Switzerland, playing two years each with Ambrì-Piotta and HC Ascona, retiring in 1983.

Tajcnár played at the World Championships in 1971-72, winning gold in 1972 and silver in 1971, and winning a bronze medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Shortly after the 1972 Worlds, he was involved in a fistfight in a bar with several policeman and spent parts of four years in a psychiatric clinic, missing the 1972-73 season and he never played internationally again. Tajcnár had a drinking problem and in 1979, he was involved in a fight in Manhattan (New York) while trying to help a friend and was stabbed nine times in the abdomen. He died in 2005 from a heart attack, aged only 57.