Quite a remarkable life story. Smuggled out of then-Czechoslovakia and raised by an aunt and uncle in Ontario.
One of the lesser-known stories of the 1972 Summit Series was a post-series exhibition game against the Czechoslovakian National Team in Prague. Mikita got to play before his parents and siblings.
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a little reading on Stan Mikita should be mandatory for all the young 'uns here
a regular in the league leader board in PIMs, all the while racking up Art Ross trophies, reinvents himself as a gentleman at age 26 and picks up back to back Hart and Lady Byngs in the process
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SI: How did it become Stan Mikita’s Donuts? Why him?
Mike Myers: A lot of Wayne’s World is a transposing of my growing up in the suburbs of Toronto. One of the things that we would do is go to Tim Horton’s donuts out in Scarborough. It’s very flat and suburban. We needed a location for Wayne and Garth to hang out. We needed to [put the] people [in] the world, because it was in the basement on the TV show [Saturday Night Live]. We needed to have it be Wayne’s world, outside of the basement, so we thought Tim Horton’s, [but] because it was Chicago, [it] could be Stan Mikita.
As a kid, I remember there were certain teams and players that we liked to call defoliants, i.e., they would destroy the Leafs. Stan Mikita was one of those guys who seemed to always score a clutch goal against us. And he was a fantastic centerman. He’d often get a Gordie Howe hat trick—a goal, an assist and a fight. We just wished he played for the Leafs, basically. He said he’d allow us to use [his name and likeness] for Stan Mikita’s Donuts, and that he’d come down and be part of the film. I was humbled in his presence. I didn’t know what to say, because I get very star-struck around hockey players. It was just a fantastic experience.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement: “Stan Mikita was a Chicago original. One of the greatest players ever to take the ice, this product of war-torn Czechoslovakia immigrated with his family to Canada before making his mark — and his home — in Chicago. His fierce competitiveness and toughness belied a creative and innovative style that made him a fan favorite. Amy’s and my thoughts are with the Mikita family, and the Chicago hockey community, as we say farewell to this icon.”
Stan Mikita has died after a long illness
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