I wanted to live my life my way, not how someone else told me to
Stáhnout obrázek
Jaroslav Krupička was born on March 15, 1946, in Havlíčkův Brod to Jaroslav Krupička and Miroslava Krupičková. Since childhood, he had a positive relationship with sports and began playing hockey as a young boy. He regularly played for the junior team Jiskra Havlíčkův Brod and later for TJ ZKL Brno. At the age of seventeen, he transferred to the Prostějov hockey team, from where he moved to the then renowned VTJ Dukla Jihlava, where he also served his military service. After leaving the barracks without permission, he was transferred to VTJ Dukla Litoměřice, where he spent the rest of his military service. In 1968, he transferred to the first league CHZ Litvínov, where he experienced the August occupation of Czechoslovakia. He went on a planned trip to Germany and Italy with this team, but in February 1969, he left the group and emigrated. He went to Switzerland, where he met his wife a few days later. They applied for asylum there and never returned to Czechoslovakia. After his emigration, he was banned from playing hockey for 18 months, during which time he actively trained, and after the expiry of the specified period, he joined the Swiss first division club EHC Kloten. In 1972, he received an offer to play in the newly founded North American hockey competition WHA – for the Los Angeles Sharks, and later transferred to the New York Raiders. After returning to Switzerland, he began playing for SC Bern, with whom he won the Swiss hockey league four times. During this time, he also helped hockey players Richard Farda and Václav Nedomanský emigrate. He spent the end of his hockey career playing for HC Servette Geneva in the first division and then for HC Sierre in the second division. After retiring from professional hockey, he began working for Budweiser and, thanks to this experience, he then opened his own company exporting Budweiser beer. At the time of filming (2025), he was living permanently in Switzerland.
