Ivan Hlinka

Ivan Hlinka ( born January 26, 1950 in Most, † August 16, 2004 in Karlovy Vary ) was a Czech ice hockey player and coach.

Hlinka, who was nicknamed Chief, graduated as a player 256 matches for Czechoslovakia and scored 132 goals. He participated in 11 World Championships and two Olympic Games. His successor as national coach was Vladimír Růžička.

Career as a player

Ivan Hlinka began at age six playing in the youth team of Litvinov Hockey. At sixteen he was appointed player in the league team of CHZ Litvinov. With 20 years Hlinka was team captain and appointed to the national team of Czechoslovakia. During his athletic career, he studied in Prague at the business school and was enrolled at the Faculty of Sport in the degree program as a team coach. As a player he was with the Czechoslovak team three times Hockey Champions: 1972 in Prague ( Czechoslovakia ), 1976 in Katowice ( Poland ) and 1977 in Vienna ( Austria ). Hlinka played in 11 World Championships ( 1970-1981 ) and the Canada Cup in 1976 for Czechoslovakia. There are also two participations in the Olympic Games. He won a bronze medal in 1972 in Sapporo and 1976 in Innsbruck a silver medal.

From 1977 to 1980 Hlinka was captain of the Czechoslovakian national team and won the 1978 award Zlata Hokejka ( German: Golden Hockey Stick ). In that year he was also elected to the Center of the All-Star team at the Ice Hockey World Championship in 1978.

In the Czechoslovak Hockey League Hlinka played a total of 15 seasons, and completed 525 games in which he scored 342 goals. In 1981 he went for two years in the North American NHL, where he was engaged until 1983, when the Vancouver Canucks. His active career as a player, he finished after a two -year commitment with the Swiss club EV train in 1985.

Career as a coach

After finishing his playing career in 1985 Hlinka coach at CHZ Litvinov and stayed with two interruptions, until 1998 to this position. From July to November 1989, he was coach of German first division club EHC Freiburg.

In 1991 he was first coach of the national team, initially for the team of Czechoslovakia, from 1993, for the Czech Republic. Under his leadership the team in 1992 finished third at the Olympic Winter Games and the Hockey World Cup. After two unsuccessful years, he resigned in 1994 after the seventh (and worst result of a Czechoslovak or Czech national team at the World Championships at all) and went a commitment in Italy. In 1997 he was again the national team, which finished in third place under his leadership in the World Cup in Germany. In 1998 the institution designated by many to be the golden era phase of Hlinka's career: the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan was followed by winning the World Cup 1999.

In 2000, Hlinka was engaged by the Pittsburgh Penguins and was the first European coach in the NHL at all. After a few unsuccessful games in the series commitment was resolved in early 2001 and Hlinka returned to the Czech Republic. 2001, he became general manager of the Czech national team. After the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he coached for one season, the Russian team HK Avangard Omsk.

He was introduced as a player in the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2002. In the same year Hlinka became an honorary citizen of his home town Louka u Litvínova.

In May 2004, Hlinka was again appointed the coach and the team should be after the poor showing at the World Cup in Germany lead to a better performance in the World Cup of Hockey. In August 2004, he was honored for his life's work, as Hlinka was presented during the ceremony of the golden hockey stick the title Czech hockey legend. Upon returning from this event his car crashed near Karlovy Vary fault head-on with an oncoming truck. Hlinka was initially conscious, but his condition worsened and he later succumbed to his injuries on 16 August 2004. There was criticism of the attending physicians. The investigation found that Hlinka was not wearing, showed, however, that the seat belt would not be able to save his life.

In his honor was renamed the ice rink of HC Litvinov in Zimni stadium Ivana Hlinky after his death.