Czech Hockey Player Defects

Miroslav Ihnacak, considered one of the top wings in Czechoslovakian hockey, has defected to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and is waiting in Vienna for a permit from the Canadian immigration department, the team said today.

But Canadian officials gave no sign of quickly approving a permit for Ihnacak, and team officials said the 23-year-old hockey star may be in danger in the Austrian capital because he is so close to the Czechoslovak border. Ihnacak, whose older brother Peter defected in 1981 to play for Toronto, left during the weekend for Vienna, where he contacted team officials who drafted him in the eighth round in 1982.