Decades before the NHL experienced globalization as we know it, Stan Mikita blazed an uncertain path from a foreign land to a Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Black Hawks. He could not speak English, but it was though when he talked to the puck, it listened attentively.

"If you had written a script and tried to sell my story for a director for a movie, he'd have laughed at you," Mikita said. "Not believable enough. Can't happen. Too much of a stretch."

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