Luděk Čajka was a Czechoslovak

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenceman

Defenceman (ice hockey)

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

.

Čajka was drafted 115th overall by the New York Rangers

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

 in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft

1987 NHL Entry Draft

The 1987 NHL Entry Draft was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The National Hockey League teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the reverse order of the 1986–87 NHL season and playoff standings. This is the list of those players selected.-Selections...

 but never played in North America. He played in the Czech Extraliga

Czech Extraliga

The Czech Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. As of 2009, it is ranked by the IIHF as the third strongest league in Europe....

 for TJ Gottwaldov, HC Dukla Jihlava and HC Zlín

HC Zlín

PSG Zlín is an ice hockey team in the Czech Extraliga. Their home arena is Zimní stadion Luďka Čajky in Zlín. They won the Extraliga in 2004. They were formerly known as HC Hamé Zlín.- Club names :* 1928 - SK Baťa Zlín* 1945 - ZK Baťa Zlín...

 (formerly Gottwaldov). He also represented Czechoslovakia in the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships

1987 World Ice Hockey Championships

The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd ice hockey European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition....

, winning a bronze medal.

On January 6, 1990, Čajka suffered severe spinal injuries after colliding with Anton Bartanus of VSŽ Košice and crashing into the boards in an icing

Icing (ice hockey)

Icing in ice hockey occurs when a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines, the opposing team's goal line being the last, and the puck remains untouched. It is, however, not icing if the puck is shot from behind the halfway line into the goal, or when the shot must be played by the...

 situation during Zlín's game against VSŽ Košice

HC Košice

Hockey Club Košice is a professional ice hockey team playing in the Slovak Extraliga and is one of the most successful hockey teams in Slovakia and the former Czechoslovakia.-Honours:* Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League* 1985–86, 1987–88...

. The injury left Čajka paralyzed and in a coma where he died on February 14, 1990. Zlín's stadium was renamed Zimní stadion Luďka Čajky in his honor.

His death led to the development of automatic, or "no-touch" icing where the violation is called automatically once the puck crosses the goal line.

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