Miroslav Fryčer

Miroslav Fryčer (27 September 195927 April 2021) was a Czech ice hockey forward who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Quebec Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and Edmonton Oilers from 1981 to 1989. After retiring, he served as head coach of Orli Znojmo in the Austrian-based Erste Bank Hockey League. He was often referred to by his nicknames of Mirko or Miro. He defected to Canada via Bern, Switzerland, in 1981 when he was with the Czechoslovak national team from the team hotel, together with his parents, his then-wife and their 10-month old daughter. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Quebec Nordiques before the 1981–82 season. He finished his debut season with the second-most hat-tricks in the league with five. He scored four of the Leafs' eleven goals in a 11–9 win over the Edmonton Oilers in January 1986. He finished third in the NHL in hat-tricks (3) that year. At the conclusion of the 1987–88 season, in which the Leafs won only 21 games, both Fryčer and Börje Salming pointed the finger at Brophy for the team's dismal performance. Fryčer, requested to be traded, About a month after the outburst, new Leafs general manager Gord Stellick confirmed that Fryčer would not be returning to the team the following year. He was subsequently traded to the Detroit Red Wings on 10 June 1988 for Darren Veitch. and Brophy was indeed dismissed as head coach that same month. Fryčer was traded mid-season to the Edmonton Oilers on 3 January 1989. He played 14 games for the franchise (contributing 5 goals and 5 assists),

Post-playing career After retiring from professional hockey, Fryčer served as head coach of HC Vítkovice, and coached in the Czech Republic and in Italy. He later released an autobiography in 2018 titled My Wild Hockey Life, which detailed his defection and his struggle with health problems partly brought on by alcohol abuse early in his career.

Career statistics Sources: Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1977–78 TJ Vítkovice CSSR 34 12 10 22 24 — — — — — 1978–79 TJ Vítkovice CSSR 44 22 12 34 — — — — — — 1979–80 TJ Vítkovice CSSR 44 31 15 46 78 — — — — — 1980–81 TJ Vítkovice CSSR 34 33 24 57 26 — — — — — 1981–82 Quebec Nordiques NHL 49 20 17 37 47 — — — — — 1981–82 Fredericton Express AHL 11 9 5 14 16 — — — — — 1981–82 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 4 6 10 31 — — — — — 1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 67 25 30 55 90 4 2 5 7 0 1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 10 16 26 55 — — — — — 1984–85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 25 30 55 55 — — — — — 1985–86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 73 32 43 75 74 10 1 3 4 10 1986–87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 29 7 8 15 28 — — — — — 1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 38 12 20 32 41 3 0 0 0 6 1988–89 Detroit Red Wings NHL 23 7 8 15 47 — — — — — 1988–89 Edmonton Oilers NHL 14 5 5 10 18 — — — — — 1989–90 EHC Freiburg GER 11 4 13 17 19 — — — — — 1990–91 EHC Freiburg GER 33 18 23 41 48 — — — — — 1991–92 EV MAK Bruneck ITA 17 19 15 34 16 6 0 2 2 12 1991–92 EV MAK Bruneck AL 18 9 24 33 21 — — — — — 1992–93 ESV Königsbrunn GER-3 — — — — — — — — — — NHL totals 415 147 183 330 486 17 3 8 11 16

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1977 Czechoslovakia EJC 6 2 5 7 12 1978 Czechoslovakia WJC 6 2 1 3 2 1979 Czechoslovakia WC 1 0 0 0 2 1979 Czechoslovakia WJC 6 1 0 1 8 1980 Czechoslovakia OG 6 1 2 3 7 1981 Czechoslovakia WC 8 1 2 3 0 Junior totals 18 5 6 11 22 Senior totals 15 2 4 6 9