František Musil (born December 17, 1964), more commonly known in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

as Frank Musil, is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who spent several seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

, and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. Musil is currently an amateur scout for the Sabres and assistant coach for the

Czech national ice hockey team The Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. Since 2021, the team has been officially known in English as Czechia. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in history ...

Playing career

Musil was selected in the second round of the

1983 NHL Entry Draft The 1983 NHL entry draft was the 21st NHL entry draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 8, 1983. The NHL entry draft is the primary means by which players arrive in the National Hockey League. The St. Louis Blues ...

, 38th overall, by the

. He played on 1985 Gold Medal winning IIHF Men's World Championships for Czechoslovakia. In addition to playing in various professional European leagues, Musil played 797 games in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, for Minnesota as well as the

and

. Musil's draft position fell, but not because of talent, as there was some uncertainty whether he would be able to escape

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, then a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

country. Musil obtained a holiday visa and travelled to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

with his girlfriend. Leaving her at the resort, Musil met with Minnesota General Manager

Lou Nanne Louis Vincent Anthony Nanne (born June 2, 1941) is a Canadian-born American former National Hockey League defenceman and general manager. He played in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars between 1968 and 1978 and then serve ...

and player agent Ritch Winter, who had arranged for an American work visa. Winter and Nanne used the work visa to fool the border guards, who were unaware that Musil was a defecting hockey star. Thus, in the summer of 1986, Musil arrived in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and began his NHL career that fall. Musil retired from hockey at the end of the 2000–01 season, and was hired by the Oilers as a scout. Musil is married to former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player Andrea Holíková, who is the sister of former NHL player

Bobby Holík Robert Holík (born January 1, 1971) is a Czech-American former professional ice hockey center who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Holík is the son of Jaroslav Holík, a Czechoslovak ice hockey world champion in 1972 and ...

. Musil's son,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, is a professional hockey player who has played in the NHL for

. His son Adam was selected by

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

as the 94th pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. His daughter, Dana, played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for the University at Buffalo Bulls.

Awards

*World Junior Championship medals- silver (1982, 1983), bronze (1984) *World Championship medals- silver (1983), gold (1985), and bronze (1992)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musil, Frank 1964 births Buffalo Sabres scouts Calgary Flames players Czech ice hockey defencemen Detroit Vipers players Edmonton Oilers players Edmonton Oilers scouts HC Dukla Jihlava players HC Karlovy Vary players HC Dynamo Pardubice players HC Sparta Praha players Indianapolis Ice players Living people Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players Ottawa Senators players Ice hockey people from Pardubice Lausitzer Füchse players Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Czechoslovak defectors