Mihal, Vlad

HE WAS BORN IN 1956, in Bratislava Czechoslovakia and began ice skating at the age of six and hockey at the age of ten for HC Slovan Bratislava. Between 1975 and 1980 he played for the army team 'Dukla Topolcany' and represented Czechoslovakia in a junior tournament (U20). He was 25 years-old when he moved to Australia in 1982 during the National Ice Hockey League era. He played for the Adelaide Tigers in the local league where he was six times top point scorer in the A-grade — 1983, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994. He was selected for the South Australian state team each year between 1982 and 1995, winning Goodall Cups in 1986, 1987 and 1991. After a break, he returned again between 2000 and 2002 when he was in his forties.

In 1983, the year after he arrived in Australia, he played for the NIHL's Payneham Flyers in the Slapshot tournament in New South Wales. A representative player for Australia in the 1986 and 1987 World Championships, he won gold in Perth, a member of the undefeated team that won Australia's first international ice hockey medal and set a new scoring world record. Retired from playing in 2002, he has been a martial arts instructor for the past 17 years and now works as a security guard. He has been married for 30 years and has a son who is a pilot, and a daughter, Samara, who plays ice hockey. A little legendary in Adelaide where he is fondly remembered as a playmaker with good hands, Vladdy Mihal was still running trainings for C-grade ice hockey players each week in 2016.