Background
Josef Mikoláš was born to a single mother and had three younger siblings.
Josef Mikoláš was born to a single mother and had three younger siblings.
Despite this he later attended a coal mining apprentice school in Ostrava and worked as a coal miner after he finished lieutenant
Altogether he played in 29 matches for the national team 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.
He lived in Ostrava and started his ice hockey career here.
Josef Mikoláš started playing for ice-hockey team Pracovní zálohy Ostrava in 1956, but soon he came to another Ostrava team, VŽKnight of the Order of the Garter 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 1959 he was elected the best Czechoslovak goaltender of the season. His career culminated in 1961, when he was nominated into the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team for the World Ice Hockey Championships in Geneva, Switzerland.
They drew with Canada 1–1 and finally took silver due to Canada"s better overall score.
In 1962 the World Championships took place in Colorado Springs, United States of America, but the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia boycotted the tournament. 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 in spite of the fact that he did not wear any face protection.
In his time only some goaltenders experimented with home-made masks, but he refused to use any.
Throughout his career he lost eight teeth and suffered a broken cheekbone, double fracture of his lower jaw and 35 sutured injuries. As the most painful he described a shot of Karel Gut, which cost him four teeth at one moment.
Altogether he had about eighty stitches all over his head He tried wearing a goaltender mask only a short time before the end of his career.
Soon after the World Championships in Sweden Mikoláš"s career started declining.
Then he returned to Ostrava but in 1970 he finally finished his ice hockey career and worked as a sports journalist. He had three daughters. On 20 March 2015, he died after an illness.