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August 9, 2007
GN.054
Arguably the most important figure in Czech hockey, and undoubtedly one of the best players in his
country’s history, Ivan Hlinka was a teenage hockey star, making his debut in the Czechoslovak league at the
tender age of 16.
By 20 he was the captain of his Litvinov team and a member of the Czechoslovak national team, for whom he
played 256 games with, scoring 132 goals. Hlinka won IIHF World Championship gold medals in 1972, 1976 and
1977, and was runner-up at the inaugural Canada Cup tournament in 1976, where he was named Top Forward. He
also won a pair of Olympic medals, in 1972 (bronze) and 1976 (silver). Hlinka was captain of the national
team from 1977-80
In his Czechoslovak league career he scored 347 goals in 544 games, and was named the league’s top player
for the 1977-78 season. Following the 1980-81 season, Hlinka and fellow Czech Jiri Bubla joined the NHL’s
Vancouver Canucks, where, in 1982, the pair became the first Czech players to play in a Stanley Cup Final,
losing in four straight to the New York Islanders. They also became the first Czech citizens to play in the
NHL with the permission of the Czech authorities. To this day Hlinka co-holds the Canucks’ franchise record
for points in a season by a rookie, with 60.
After two seasons in the NHL, Hlinka returned to Europe to finish his playing career, retiring following
the 1984-85 season with EV Zug in Switzerland.
With his playing days over, Hlinka returned to Litvinov as head coach, where he actually made an on-ice
comeback during the 1986-87 season with his team languishing at the bottom on the Czechoslovak league
standings. He played 19 games and racked up 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists), impressive numbers for a
37-year-old who hadn’t played competitively in almost two years.
In the early 1990s Hlinka joined the Czechoslovak, and later Czech, national team as head coach, leading
them to a bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics, and bronze at the 1992 and 1993 IIHF World
Championships.
After a three-year hiatus in the mid-90s, Hlinka returned to the national team in 1997 and became a
national hero by leading the Czech Republic to a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the first involving
NHL players. He cemented his reputation in 1999 when his team took home gold from the 1999 IIHF World
Championship.
After spending a year-and-a-half in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, leading them to a surprising
berth in the Eastern Conference Final in 2001, Hlinka returned to the Czech Republic to spend one year as
general manager of the national team and one as head coach of Avangard Omsk of the Russian Superleague. He
was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2002.
Tragically, Hlinka died in a car accident on August 16, 2004 near Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic at the age
of 54 when his car collided with a truck driving on the wrong side of the road.
In his memory, the Under-18 Junior World Cup – held annually in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since 1997
– was re-named the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka.
The eight-team tournament brings together national under-18 teams from around the world for a summer
tournament. Unlike the IIHF World Under-18 Championship held every April, the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka is not
an official IIHF event.
» National Men's Under-18 Team
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