Capitals Announce Defection of Czech

WASHINGTON —  Michal Pivonka, after two years of clandestine meetings with a Washington Capital official, has defected from Czechoslovakia to play for the National Hockey League squad, the team announced Tuesday.

Pivonka, 20, a 6-foot 1-inch center, was the Capitals’ third-round choice in the 1984 draft. He arrived secretly in the United States in the last week with his fiancee, Renata Nekvindova, also 20.

“Pivonka has always indicated from our very first discussion that he would like to play in the best league in the world, and he felt that was the National Hockey League,” said Jack Button, the Capitals’ director of personnel and recruiting. Asked how Czechoslovakia reacted to the defection, Button said: “We haven’t talked to them, and they haven’t talked to us--and I don’t expect them to, either.”