Ivan Hlinka

Ivan Hlinka
Born	January 26, 1950 Most, TCH
Died	August 16, 2004 (aged 54) Karlovy Vary, CZE
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	HC Litvínov (Czechoslovakia) EV Zug (Swiss) Vancouver Canucks (NHL) HC Dukla Trenčín (Czechoslovakia)
National team	Czechoslovakia
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1966–1987

Ivan Hlinka (January 26, 1950 – August 16, 2004) was a Czech professional ice hockey player and coach. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in Czech ice hockey history. A big center, his playing style was comparable to Phil Esposito, often scoring with shots from the slot.

Playing career

Hlinka began to play ice hockey at a young age. When he was six years old, he was playing HC Litvínov's youth team. He played in Czechoslovak league for the first time when he was 16.

At the age of 20, he became a captain Litvínov's men's team and played in the Czechoslovak national team for the first time. He played 256 games as a member of the Czechoslovak national team and scored 132 goals in international games. He also played in 544 games in Czechoslovak league and scored 347 times. Hlinka was named the Golden Hockey Stick winner as the country's top player in 1978.

Hlinka helped the Czechoslovak team to win world titles in 1972, 1976, and 1977. As a member of the Czechoslovak team, he won an Olympic bronze medal in 1972 and a silver medal in 1976.

He played in the inaugural Canada Cup tournament in 1976, the international tournament in which the best available players competed for their countries (most notably, players from the NHL). Canada defeated Czechoslovakia in the best-of-three final two games to nothing, with scores of 6–0 and 5–4. Darryl Sittler scored in overtime of the second game to secure Canada's victory. The following year, he was named the national team's captain, a position he held from 1977 to 1980.

In 1981, Hlinka and fellow Czech Jiří Bubla joined the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. This started the Czech migration to the NHL. They were the first Czechoslovak players to compete in the NHL with the permission of their country's authorities. (Jaroslav Jiřík played legally in NHL in 1969–70 season but only three games.)^[1] Playing in his first NHL season, Hlinka set a Canucks record for the most points by a rookie with 60 (it was later tied by Pavel Bure in 1991–92).^[2] During the subsequent 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canucks advanced to the Finals against the New York Islanders. In a losing effort (Vancouver lost the series in four straight games), Hlinka and Bubla became the first Czechs to ever play in the Stanley Cup Finals. The following season, Hlinka improved to 63 points over 65 games. In his two years in the NHL, Hlinka totalled 42 goals and assisted on 81 others in 137 games.

Hlinka returned to Europe to finish his playing career due to problems with his back in 1983. He played in Swiss team EV Zug until 1985, when he returned to Litvínov where he started his coaching career.

Ivan Hlinka

Medal record
Representing  Czechoslovakia
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
	1972 Sapporo	Team
	1976 Innsbruck	Team
World Championships
	1971 Berne/Geneva	Team
	1972 Prague	Team
	1973 Moscow	Team
	1974 Helsinki	Team
	1975 Munich/Düsseldorf	Team
	1976 Katowice	Team
	1977 Vienna	Team
	1978 Prague	Team
	1979 Moscow	Team
	1981 Gothenburg/Stockholm	Team

Coaching career

After his return to Czechoslovakia, Hlinka began to coach in “his” Litvínov; later he coached temporarily in Freiburg, Germany.

He also became very famous for his trick in the 1986–87 season. Litvínov was in last place in the standings of the Czechoslovak league. Hlinka, already 37 years old, began to play again. Litvínov immediately improved its game and went unbeaten in Hlinka's first eight games (6 wins, 2 ties). Altogether, he played 19 games and got 23 points.

In the 1990s, he was coach of Czechoslovak and later Czech national teams. His teams won bronze medals at the Albertville Olympics and the World Championships in 1992 and 1993. He left the national team after an unsuccessful World Championship in 1994.

He came back in 1997 and his team won the bronze medal at the World Championship again. Hlinka became a national hero when his team won the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics; the first time that the NHL agreed to release its players for the Games. The triumph was celebrated by the whole nation. The dominance of the Czech hockey team in the world was confirmed one year later when Hlinka's team won the World Championship again.

In 2000–01, Hlinka returned to the NHL as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was the second European ever to coach in the NHL (following Alpo Suhonen). His first season also coincided with Mario Lemieux's return to the NHL, and together they made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals, knocking off the higher seeded Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres along the way before falling to the New Jersey Devils. The next season was not successful, as the struggling small-market Penguins had traded their superstar, Jaromir Jagr. Hlinka himself was criticized by Lemieux for not taking classes in the summer to improve his English and that contributed to the frosty relationship between them. He was fired four games into the 2001–02 season and returned to Europe.

In 2001–02, he worked as general manager of Czech national team and, in 2002–03, he coached Russian team Avangard Omsk for one season.

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season							Post Season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
PIT	2000–01	82	42	28	9	3	96	3rd in Atlantic	Lost in Conf. Finals
PIT	2001–02	4	0	4	0	0	(69)	5th in Atlantic	(fired)
Total		86	42	32	9	3

Hlinka's death

Hlinka was supposed to be once again head coach of the Czech national team in the 2004–05 season. However, he died on August 16, 2004, at the age of 54 near Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, when his car collided with a truck while driving above the speed limit (about 110 km/h, speed limit is 90 km/h). The truck suddenly appeared in his lane. Its driver claims he had to avoid a collision with an animal. More likely (the court was inclined to believe this), he turned from the main road and made a left at an intersection where it was prohibited. Hlinka was not using a safety belt. According to experts, the safety belt would not have helped him.

Acknowledgement and awards

• Czechoslovak Player of the Year (1977–78)
• All-Star Centre at the 1978 IIHF World Championship
• Inducted to the IIHF Hall of Fame (2002)
• Czech Ice Hockey Legend (2004)
• Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament for national U18 ice hockey teams named after him
• Ivan Hlinka Stadion, arena of HC Litvínov is named after him

Records

Vancouver Canucks team record for most points by a rookie (60). – Tied with Pavel Bure

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1966–67	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		14	4	0	4	—		—	—	—	—	—
1967–68	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		32	15	14	29	—		—	—	—	—	—
1968–69	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		36	21	17	38	—		—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		33	17	17	34	20		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		36	20	20	40	—		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		36	31	23	54	—		—	—	—	—	—
1972–73	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		36	24	11	35	—		—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		39	27	27	54	—		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		44	36	42	78	—		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		30	25	18	43	6		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		42	39	19	58	—		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		43	32	39	71	30		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	HK Dukla Trenčín	Czech		8	2	3	5	0		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		23	15	17	32	14		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		33	14	16	30	8		2	1	1	2	0
1980–81	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		40	21	31	52	38		28	5	15	20	—
1981–82	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		72	23	37	60	16		12	2	6	8	4
1982–83	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		65	19	44	63	12		4	1	4	5	4
1983–84	EV Zug	NDB		41	46	43	89	—		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	EV Zug	NDB		39	30	43	73	—		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	CHZ Litvínov	Czech		19	5	18	23	12		—	—	—	—	—
Czech totals				544	348	332	680	—		30	6	16	22	—
NHL totals				137	42	81	123	28		16	3	10	13	8

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1970	Czechoslovakia	WC		4	0	0	0	2
1971	Czechoslovakia	WC		10	4	2	6	2
1972	Czechoslovakia	OLY		6	5	3	8	2
1972	Czechoslovakia	WC		5	2	3	5	0
1973	Czechoslovakia	WC		8	2	1	3	0
1974	Czechoslovakia	WC		10	9	4	13	2
1975	Czechoslovakia	WC		6	2	4	6	2
1976	Czechoslovakia	OLY		5	3	3	6	7
1976	Czechoslovakia	WC		10	7	8	15	4
1976	Czechoslovakia	CC		7	2	2	4	12
1977	Czechoslovakia	WC		10	9	3	12	5
1978	Czechoslovakia	WC		10	4	10	14	4
1979	Czechoslovakia	WC		8	3	5	8	6
1981	Czechoslovakia	WC		8	0	3	3	0
Senior totals				107	52	51	103	48

Career coaching statistics

• World Championships: 1 gold (1999), 4 bronzes (1992, 1993, 1997, 1998).
• Olympics: gold (1998), bronze (1992)

Quotes about Hlinka

• “It's not that he was just a coach, but he was sort of like Herb Brooks was for America.” – Tomas Vokoun
• “Ivan Hlinka was a tremendous ambassador for the game of hockey.” – Craig Patrick, general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins
• “He was a real high-quality player. He probably never got the billing over here he should have. You look back on his hockey career on both sides of the pond and he had quite a resume.” – Tiger Williams

Quotes of Hlinka

• “We had a small problem that we didn't know whether Jarda Jágr would go fifth or Vláďa Růžička would go fifth but then, I would say, a respect overpoised because when Vláďa Růžička said he wanted to go fifth, then Džegr said he would go fourth. Patýs was a bit surprised when we democratically elected him to go because he hadn't played at the end and I believed he can score with a techniques somewhat.” – About a penalty shooting against Canada at Nagano Olympics.
• “It doesn't happen very often at us but we had a bigger will to win than Canada had.” – After a win against Canada at Nagano Olympics.
• “I got information about numbers of people standing at various places at home in the beginning of the game. So we thank them that they crossed their fingers for us, it was probably somehow worthy and we will be proud again that we are Czechs and it will not be just because of the hockey.” – After a win of golden Olympic medals at Nagano Olympics.

References

1. International Hockey Legends: Jaroslav Jirik
2. Sportak, Randy (2004-08-17). "Crash claims Czech coach". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2011-12-24.

External links

• Ivan Hlinka's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Ivan Hlinka's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Ivan Hlinka's player profile at NHL.com

Ivan Hlinka at Find a Grave

• Hockey History: Ivan Hlinka