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With the world commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall this week, TSNs Dave Naylor explores the story of hockeys famed Stastny brothers. Shoes Outlet Store . Stastny premieres tonight at 6pm et/3pm pt on TSNs SportsCentre. Marian Stastnys eyes fill with tears and his deep voice struggles for the words to aptly describe the day, more than 34 years ago, when he knew his life would never be the same. Marian and his younger siblings, Peter and Anton, were starring at the 1980 European Championship in Innsbruck, Austria. Before the tournament was over, his brothers needed to talk to him but Marian had no idea what was coming. No idea that he was about to learn he might never see Peter and Anton again, that he would be returning behind the Iron Curtain without them to a life he would not recognize. And then he learned the secret his brothers had been keeping from him, that Peter and Anton were defecting to Canada and the NHL without him, understanding that Marian couldnt go since his wife and three children remained back in Czechoslovakia. I said `did I hear you well? Youre not coming back? What are you trying to do? Marian says, his face recreating the look of fear and confusion it must have worn more than three decades ago as it dawned on him what was about to happen. The 61-year-old then recalls the fever that washed over him, the likes of which he had never experienced before or since. It was the worst moment I had to go to in my life so far because I realized it will be over for me and I cannot go with them because I didnt have my family with me … My kids, my wife. All these years later, after engineering his own escape from Czechoslovakia in 1981 and making Quebec City his permanent home since retiring from the NHL in 1986, Marian Stastny still wrestles with trying to comprehend the choice his brothers made. I never understood, he says. I dont understand it even today. What Marian Stastny had no trouble understanding was what he was about to face upon returning to Czechoslovakia after his brothers defected. He was kicked off the national team, told he could not practice his profession as a lawyer and shunned by nearly everyone. His punishment was a lesson to anyone else who might have similar ideas as those of Peter and Anton: if you defect, those you leave behind will pay the price. Peter and Anton had escaped by jumping into a car that drove them through the night to Vienna where they took room in the Intercontinental Hotel, waiting for instructions on when to proceed to the Canadian embassy. With spies and secret police in tow, the Stastnys were whisked through the streets of Vienna as if something out of a James Bond movie, first to the Canadian embassy and then the airport bound for Amsterdam and then Montreal. It was an incredible story of escape, with Anton and Peter going from being under the thumb of the Soviet-backed government of Czechoslovakia to living out their dreams of freedom and playing the game they so dearly loved alongside the worlds best. All, however, while carrying the burden of what Marian was sustaining back home. I felt really responsible for all the misery that he had to go through, said Peter. They punished him miserably, they made him nobody, nothing. They isolated him… he lost all his friends because you talk to him `hi Marian, you were called to the police station… so gradually with psychological terror, he was completely isolated. Marian Stastny begged for an opportunity to resume the life he had known before his brothers defected, but to no avail. He petitioned the government to allow him and his family to join his brothers in Canada on humanitarian grounds since there was nothing left for him in Czechoslovakia. It all went nowhere, leaving him with just one option. Using forged documents to escape via Hungary, Marian, his wife and three children managed to make it to Canada as well in 1981, where he was reunited with his brothers in Quebec City. I still have it in my mind right now, when they walk through those doors… Marian, his wife and three children, said Anton. You get something like lungs back in your body, before you felt like you dont breathe as youre supposed to. And once reunited, the three played like four, their ability to instinctively know where each other was on the ice helping turn them into one of the best lines of the 1980s and perhaps the best brother line in NHL history. It was a remarkable journey for the three who grew up among six siblings with their parents in a two-bedroom flat not far from Bratislava Castle and the centre of the city. It wasnt the dreariest of the communist housing projects, but it was very simple nonetheless. Out back in the area between the buildings was something called a yama, which essentially was a dip in the land that would fill naturally with water in the fall. In the winter, it would turn to ice. And so the Stastny brothers, who would one day form one of the greatest NHL lines of the 1980s, began here. They would play all day, from sun-up to sun-down, eventually joining their national team, allowing people beyond their borders to learn about, as Quebec Nordiques president Marcel Abut put it, there is a mother in Czechoslavakia who got a son who is a star on the left side, another son who is a star in the centre, and another one who is the star on the right wring… I said `thats it, we have to go and pick them up. How do we do this? And so began the quest to get the Stastnys out of Czechoslovakia and the remarkable journey that saw two of them separated from one in a world where politics and sports did not mix. How different their story would have been if Marian had never managed to escape with his family, had the communist governments of Eastern Europe not all crumbled, allowing them to reunite with friends and family left behind. During this week which marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Stastnys provide a reminder of both the triumphs and the challenges presented by that chapter in European political and sports history. Wholesale Yeezy 350 . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. Wholesale Vapormax China . It has been eleven years, eight months, and 261 days since I played my last CFL game.STANFORD, Calif. – Serena Williams finally realized what happened days later, when she was allowed to get ahead of bed. Williams said she was barely aware of how sick she was as she tried to play through a viral infection that caused her to lose equilibrium during a womens doubles match with sister Venus at Wimbledon. It was only later, when she was able to clear her head, that she realized the seriousness of her situation. Doctors wouldnt let her leave her room, so she got some much-needed rest before resuming a full schedule that included a working vacation and a movie shoot. Discount Air Max 90. Looking comfortable and relaxed, the worlds No. 1 player said shes ready to renew her pursuit of excellence on the court. The worlds No. 1 ranked player meets the Czech Republics Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday in the second round of the Bank of West Classic. ‚ ‚ ‚

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NEW YORK — Even as the NBA prepares for a draft that could be headlined by freshmen, Commissioner Adam Silver remains committed to keeping them in college. Yeezy Boost 700 Cheap . So much so that NCAA President Mark Emmert was invited to discuss his involvement with owners. Silver is moving cautiously on potential changes to areas such as the lottery format and playoff structure, but [...]

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FALUN, Sweden – Canadas Alex Harvey rediscovered his magic to win gold at the World Cup cross-country skiing finals Saturday. Nike Air Force 1 07 Homme Pas Cher . The 25-year-old from St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., narrowly held off Norways Martin Johnsrud Sundby to win the mens 30-kilometre race. „This has been the best season of my life,“ Harvey said. „Obviously we didnt [...]

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With the NHL Draft coming up on June 27 and free agency opening on July 1, discussions between NHL general managers are already heating up towards a busy off-season. Paul Hornung Super Bowl Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Parting Ways Richard Labbe of La Presse reports that the Montreal Canadiens will not be offering a new [...]

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