Glinka Ivan is a hockey player who brought Olympic gold for his country. It was under him that the love of hockey in the Czech Republic was clearly manifested and became noticeable to the whole world. Moreover, the number of fans in the state and their devotion to hockey has grown to unprecedented heights. And this is not surprising, because all over the world hockey occupies a leading position among team games. This sport is not for the weak and truly attracts the attention of fans from a simple hard worker to the president himself. In addition, Glinka I. entered his name in the history of international hockey as the first European coach, the head of the NHL team.
Short biography of Ivan Glinka
Ivan is from a sports family. He was born in 1950, in January, on the 26th. His father played football and hockey very well, but was not a professional player. Little is known about his childhood. He studied well at school. In the Russian language was the highest rating. According to the hockey player himself, he played sports all his childhood and dreamed of becoming a successful soccer player or hockey player. Ivan trained hard, and over time, hockey became the meaning of his life. As a result, at sixteen he began to play for Litvinov’s club, and at twenty Glinka was already the team captain and played for the NHK.
As a family man, he took place and became the father of three wonderful children: two sons and a daughter.
An interesting fact is that Ivan’s grandfather Glinka fought against the Reds as part of the Czech corps in Siberia, and he had to visit Omsk. Grandfather lived up to 80 years and died in 1978.
Later, coach I. Glinka will work in Omsk and call Avangard his team until the end of his days.
His life ended tragically in a car accident. This happened on August 16, 2004.
Glinka is a player
While still an athlete-hockey player, he played in the seventies as an attacker for the Czech national team. 1972, 1976, 1977 became significant in the career of a hockey player: Ivan Glinka became the world champion. He was able to participate in eleven such tournaments. 1976 marked the participation in the Canada Cup, where he became one of the best strikers. In addition, the hockey player won the gold of the Olympics in 1972 and silver in 1976.
During the 1981/1983 seasons, Glinka Ivan played for the NHL in Vancouver, where he became one of the first Czech hockey players to go overseas. He played 137 matches in which points were scored: 123 (42 + 81). In the playoffs on his account thirteen matches and thirteen (3 + 10) points. In 1983, the hero of our article and the Canucks performed in the Stanley Cup final game. Sixty (23 + 37) points scored for the sports season 1981/1982 were the best result (at that time) in the history of Vancouver among beginners. Later this figure was exceeded by Russian hockey player Pavel Bure.
The hockey player’s international career was completed with an excellent (132 times) game in the national team.
Glinka - trainer
In 1983, the Czechoslovak hockey player Glinka Ivan returned to Europe, where he ended his career as a player in the Swiss club EV-Zug. And in 1985, he began his coaching career. His main achievements as a specialist are, of course, related to his work in the Czech team. As a coach, Ivan Glinka began his career at Pittsburgh. Its leader was Brooks. As a result, 3 months before the end of the 1999/2000 sports season, he began to manage the “Penguins”. Subsequently, the names of these two famous coaches will have an indirect tragic interweaving ...
Glinka was a very respected person both in the Czech Republic and abroad. As a coach, Glinka led the Czech team to victory in two world championships, to three prize results - at the Olympic Games. This includes the gold obtained in Nagano-98.
Coaching
After he became Brooks' assistant at Pittsburgh, the Penguins won 11 of 24 games and entered the second round of the playoffs. Glinka's arrival on June 21, 2000 to the post of head coach of the team coincided with the return of the Pittsburgh legend Mario Lemieux to big hockey. The Penguins won forty-two games in a game season. As a result, they fought in the final of the Eastern Conference with future champions from New Jersey.
But no success saved Glinka from being dismissed at the beginning of next season, as four meetings were lost at the start, and the team looked disorganized and unprepared. Glinka Ivan showed 55.8% success with the “Penguins”. His career, despite the previous high results, as the head coach of this team was interrupted by the dismissal. Although, by the way, this indicator was the third achievement regarding the Pittsburgh coaches in the history of the team.
Reasons for resignation
Among these reasons, the main one is unwillingness to learn the language. Such an unfriendly attitude with English left an imprint on relations with many stars in the team. Replaced by R. Kehoe (10/14/2001), his assistant. Glinka was very educated in the field of hockey, had a broad outlook, extensive experience. But the language barrier has become an insoluble problem for him. Among the players were North American hockey players. They did not want to learn the language of the country in which they were training. Therefore, they were forced to listen to Czech speech. Apparently, this did not suit many. Although those who played under the leadership of Ivan Glinka fully understood his requirements, without translating.
Return to Europe
After the "North American" experience was completed, the coaching biography also changed. Glinka Ivan returned to Europe, where he was appointed general manager of the Czech Olympic team - 2002. In the same year he was elected to the hockey hall of fame of the International Federation. After some time, Glinka was appointed head coach of the Czech team to participate in the World Cup. In 2001, he was recognized as the best coach of the Czech Republic.
An interesting fact in Glinka’s life is the moment he agreed to become a coach of the Omsk Avangard, one of the leading Russian hockey clubs. Several compatriots of the Czech coach also played at Vanguard.
Tragic death
After 1 year and 5 days after a car accident in Minnesota and the death of Brooks in it (August 11, 2003), Ivan Glinka likewise passed away (August 16, 2004). He was only fifty-four years old.
This happened in the Czech Republic, near Karlovy Vary. The trainer's car collided with an oncoming truck. After the accident, Ivan Glinka was taken to the hospital, where after some time he nevertheless moved to another world. Injuries sustained in the accident were not compatible with life. It is known that before the tragedy, he attended a banquet of the Czech Hockey Federation, met with the former Penguin striker Jagr Jaromir, who agreed to play in the World Cup, becoming a member of the Czech national team.
The death of the coach of the national team caused a shock among the whole people of the Czech Republic. The country was in undeclared mourning. The Central Czech sports publication on the Internet within 4 hours after the tragic events posted at least a dozen materials describing the incident, the president’s appeal, and also highlighted some moments of the life that Ivan Glinka lived - a great hockey player and a man with a capital letter! The flag of the nation was lowered over the headquarters of the Czech Olympic mission in Athens, where the Summer Olympics were held at that time.
Glinka Ivan is the idol of many hockey players to this day. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to the development of Czech hockey - it is invaluable.