Josef Mikoláš

Josef Mikoláš (, 23 January 1938 – 20 March 2015) was a Czechoslovak ice hockey goaltender of the 1950s and 1960s. His biggest success came in 1961 when he helped the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team win silver medals at the World Ice Hockey Championships in Geneva, Switzerland and in 1963 when they took bronze in Stockholm, Sweden. Altogether he played in 29 matches for the national team.

Early life Josef Mikoláš was born to a single mother and had three younger siblings. When he was a small boy, he suffered from several serious illnesses, including pneumonia and rickets. When he was five years old, he still could not walk. Despite this he later attended a coal mining apprentice school in Ostrava and worked as a coal miner after he finished it. He lived in Ostrava and started his ice hockey career here.

Ice hockey career Josef Mikoláš started playing for ice-hockey team Pracovní zálohy Ostrava in 1956, but soon he came to another Ostrava team, VŽKG Vítkovice, who were playing in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League, the highest league in former Czechoslovakia. He quickly got recognition for both his goaltender's skills and courage with which he faced the shots, although he was not wearing any head protection in that time. In 1963 they took bronze at the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.

Injuries Josef Mikoláš was acknowledged for his courage, with which he faced the puck although he did not wear face protection. In his time only some goaltenders experimented with home-made masks, but he refused to use any.