Ján Starší

Ján " Jano " Starší ( born October 17, 1933 Sokolce, Czechoslovakia ) is a former Slovak ice hockey coach and player, two-time German champion as a coach and one of the internationally most successful coach of the Czechoslovakia.

Career as a player

Ján Starší began his career as a player in 1945 at the ŠK Liptovsky Mikulas. In 1952 he moved to the top Slovak club HC Slovan Bratislava. Another stop was the HC Sparta Prague, where he played 1954-1956, before he completed another ten seasons at Slovan Bratislava. With Slovan he was five times vice-champion of Czechoslovakia. In the 1959/60 season with 26 goals, he was also top scorer in the first league. Up to end of his career Starší played 300 league games in 14 seasons the 1st League in which he scored 267 goals.

Even in the national team of Czechoslovakia, the prolific striker has been very successful: He participated in the Olympic Winter Games in 1960 and five world championships and scored in a total of 73 international matches 29 goals. He also won two bronze and a silver medal at the world championships. In the early 1960s he was among the top players of his country and was among other things, Vladimír Dzurilla, Karel Gut, Jozef Golonka and Gustav Bubník on the ice. After derWeltmeisterschaft in Stockholm in 1963 he ended his international career.

Career as a coach

Even more successful than the player was the coach Ján Starší, who studied at the University of Bratislava sports, doctorate and later there rose to become lecturers. After this period of training in Czechoslovakia, he began his coaching career in 1966 at the hockey department of FC Bayern Munich, which he led to the Bundesliga in 1967. He then returned to his home and cared 1968-1973 HC Slovan Bratislava as head coach - this club is the only one with whom he won a title.

In 1973 he was taken from the Hockey Association of Czechoslovakia under contract and he coached with Karel Gut the national team. The two coach won the 1976 and 1977 world titles and reached the 1976 Olympic silver medal in Innsbruck and four silver medals at the World Championships. 1979 separated the most successful coaching duo of Czechoslovak history, both coaches switched to German teams. Karel Gut has been committed by the EV Landshut and won the German championship with this. Starší however, signed a contract with SC Riessersee and was with the Garmischern 1981 German Masters. In 1982, he was ordered back to Czechoslovakia and became a member of the Council of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic coach. He also worked as a lecturer at the University of Bratislava. Along with Frantisek Pospisil he coached from 1985 again the national team and won with this the bronze medal at the World Championships in 1987.

In 1988 he returned to Germany and managed the SB Rosenheim. Even in the first season he won with his new team the league title in 1989. After the fall of champion coach went back to Slovakia and helped build the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. Since then, he is a consultant for this association and its local club, the HC Slovan Bratislava, works. He also plays tennis as a hobby.

1997, Dr. Ján Starší was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in the category manager. He was honored with induction into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. A year later he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Slovak second class, the wheel Ludovita Štúra excellent. 2009 was followed by induction into the Hall of Fame of his service to Germany if the German ice hockey. The eulogy for receiving holding his former player Ernst Höfner, with the 1981 and 1989 German Masters and today is National Coach of the DEB offspring.

Awards and achievements

As a player

• Bronze medal at the World Championships 1959
• European Champion 1961
• Silver medal at the World Championships 1961
• Bronze medal at the World Championships 1963
• Quintuple Czechoslovak runner

As a coach

• Silver medal at the 1974 World Cup
• Silver medal at the World Championships 1975
• Gold medal at the World Championships 1976
• Silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 1976
• Gold medal at the World Championships 1977
• Silver medal at the 1978 World Cup
• Silver medal at the World Championships 1979
• German champions in 1981 with the SC Riessersee
• Bronze medal at the 1987 World Championships
• German champions in 1989 with the SB Rosenheim

Honors

• Inclusion in the IIHF Hall of Fame 1997
• Inclusion in the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002
• Wheel Ludovita Štúra II class 2003
• Induction into the Hall of Fame in 2009 Germany