From 1938 to 1949 Drobný played center in the Czechoslovak ice hockey league.
He was a Silver medalist with the Czechoslovak ice hockey team in the 1948 Olympics.
In the final match, Czechoslovakia and Canada tied goalless but Canada won the gold medal due to a better overall goal average.
Drobný scored 9 goals in 8 games at the Olympics.
Jaroslav Drobný was also a member of the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team which won the gold medals at the 1947 World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague.
He scored 15 goals in 7 games in the tournament including a hat-trick in the decisive victory over USA which gave his country its first ever World Championships title.
In 1997, Drobný was inducted in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame.

Drobný could have become the first ever European player to start in the National Hockey League when the Boston Bruins put him on their reserve in 1949.
Apparently, he was offered $20,000 to come over to play for Boston but he refused, preferring to remain playing amateur ice hockey and retain the flexibility to play tennis during the summers.
The first European to play in the NHL eventually became Ulf Sterner from Sweden when he started for the New York Rangers for the first time on 27 January 1965.
From 1938 to 1949 Drobný played center in the Czechoslovak ice hockey league. He was a Silver medalist with the Czechoslovak ice hockey team in the 1948 Olympics. In the final match, Czechoslovakia and Canada tied goalless but Canada won the gold medal due to a better overall goal average. Drobný scored 9 goals in 8 games at the Olympics. Jaroslav Drobný was also a member of the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team which won the gold medals at the 1947 World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague. He scored 15 goals in 7 games in the tournament including a hat-trick in the decisive victory over USA which gave his country its first ever World Championships title. In 1997, Drobný was inducted in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame.
Drobný could have become the first ever European player to start in the National Hockey League when the Boston Bruins put him on their reserve in 1949. Apparently, he was offered $20,000 to come over to play for Boston but he refused, preferring to remain playing amateur ice hockey and retain the flexibility to play tennis during the summers. The first European to play in the NHL eventually became Ulf Sterner from Sweden when he started for the New York Rangers for the first time on 27 January 1965.
Jaroslav Drobný