Modra, Bogumil

Bohumil Modry was born on September 24, 1916 in Prague .

He began his hockey career in 1936, in the team " LTC Prague ", in the period 1937-1949, 11 times became the champion of the Czechoslovak Hockey League.

From 1937 to 1949 Modry played for the national hockey team of Czechoslovakia . In 1948, he became the silver medalist of the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz . In 1947 and 1949, he won the World and European Championships.

After the 1948 Olympic Games, Modry received offers from NHL clubs that interested him. The then Czechoslovak minister, Vaclav Kopecky, promised to release Modra to Canada, should he win the 1949 World Cup in Sweden . Modry brilliantly played in the championship, helped the Czechoslovak national team to win gold medals, but Kopecky, who was the most important ideologist of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia at that time, did not keep his promise and forbade Bohumil Modra to leave the country. In January 1950, Modra announced the completion of appearances for the national team. The Czechoslovak team was supposed to defend the champion's title at the 1950 World Championships in Great Britain , but after the government’s decision not to take part in it at the last moment (the reason for this was the refusal of a British visa to Czechoslovak radio reporters) most of the team members were arrested where they gathered to discuss this event and, according to the investigation, they conducted anti-government conversations and shouted out anti-communist slogans ^[1] .

Bohumil Modra, who was not even a member of the team, together with 11 hockey players of the Czechoslovak national team, was accused of espionage, betrayal of the motherland, undermining people's democratic foundations and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In conclusion, he worked at the uranium mines in Jáchymov . In 1955 he was pardoned under an amnesty and released. But the work at the uranium mines at the time of the conclusion affected the health of the legendary goalkeeper and in 1963, at the age of less than 47 years, he died. In 1968 he was posthumously rehabilitated.

He is a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame (since May 15, 2011) and a member of the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame (as of November 4, 2008).

• 2-time world champion (1947 and 1949)
• 3-time European champion (1947-1949)
• 2-time silver medalist of the European Championship (1938 and 1939)
• Olympic silver medalist (1948)
• Bronze medalist of the World Championship (1938)
• 6-time champion of Czechoslovakia (1937–1938, 1946–1949)
• 5-time champion of Bohemia and Moravia (1939–1940, 1942–1944)
• 3-time winner of the Spengler Cup (1946-1948)

• Czechoslovak Championship - 56 games
• Team Czechoslovakia - 71 game ^[2]
• Total career - 127 games

In September 1940, he married Erica Weiserova ^[3] . They have two daughters: Blanka and Alena.

1. ↑ They taught the Soviet Union to play hockey, then they were arrested ... | Radio Prague (Russian) . Radio Praha. The appeal date is December 18, 2018.
2. ↑ Starty hráčů: Reprezentace | Hokej.cz - web českého hokeje (Neopr.) . Hokej.cz. The appeal date is December 18, 2018.
3. ↑ Jan Rychtář. Digitální knihovna (Neopr.) . www.digitalniknihovna.cz. The appeal date is December 18, 2018.

• Profile on the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame website
• Bohumil Modra on eliteprospects.com