František Tikal


František Tikal was a Czechoslovak ice hockey defenseman. He played 17 seasons in the Czechoslovak Extraliga for HC Sparta Praha and won two national titles. Internationally he played 59 games for Czechoslovakia, including 15 at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, and earned an Olympic bronze medal in 1964, placing fourth in 1960. He was named the best defender of the tournament at the 1964 Olympics and 1965 World Championships. At the 1960 Games he played one game against his twin brother Zdeněk, who fled to Australia in 1948. In 2004 Tikal was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.