Stanislav Konopásek

Stanislaw Konopásek was a member of both the 1947 and 1949 World Championship winning Czechoslovakian teams and gained a silver medal in the 1948 Olympics in St. Moritz. In March 1950 the national team were about to board a plane to London, where they were due to defend their world title, when Konopásek and his team mates were arrested by the state security police and taken for interrogation. Allegations were made that the team had discussed defecting to the west during a 1948 tournament in Switzerland and that some players would defect during the 1950 World Championships. Eleven players were found guilty and sent to prison and Konopásek received a sentence of twelve years. He was released after five years and returned to play ice hockey until the age of forty. Konopásek went to coach in Czechoslovakia and Poland. He was a left winger who scored 69 goals in his 50 national team appearances.