Ivan Hlinka Ivan Hlinka ( January 26 , 1950 - August 16 , 2004 ) was a Czech professional ice hockey player and coach . He was one of the most important figures in Czech ice hockey . Playing career . Ivan Hlinka was one of the greatest hockey players in Czechoslovak and Czech history . He was a big center and played a similar style to Phil Esposito , often scoring using shots from the slot . Hlinka began to play ice hockey at a very young age . When he was six years old , he was already playing in a youth team in Litvínov . He played in Czechoslovak league for the first time when he was 16 . At the age of 20 , he became a captain of Litvínov 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 top player in Czechoslovakia 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 , playing against NHL superstars . Canada defeated Czechoslovakia in the best - of - three final two games to nothing , with scores of 6 - 0 and 5 - 4 , Darryl Sittler scoring in overtime in the second game . He was a captain of the national team in 1977 – 1980 . In 1981 , Hlinka and fellow Czech Jiří Bubla joined the NHL ' s Vancouver Canucks . This started the Czech migration to the NHL . In his two years in the NHL , Hlinka scored 42 goals and assisted on 81 others in 137 games . They were the first Czechs who played in Stanley Cup finals . They were also the first men from communist Czechoslovakia who played in NHL legally with the permission of Czechoslovak authorities . ( Jaroslav Jiřík played legally in NHL in 1969 – 70 season but only three matches . ) 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 . Coaching career . After his come back to Czechoslovakia , Ivan 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 the last place in the table of the Czechoslovak league . Ivan Hlinka , already 37 years old , began to play again . Litvínov immediately improved its game and during first Hlinka ' s games didn ' t lose ( 6 wins , 2 ties ) . Altogether , he played in 19 games and got 23 points ( 5 + 18 ) . In the 1990s , he was a 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 unsuccessful World Championship in 1994 . He came back in 1997 and his team won bronze medals at the World Championship again . Ivan Hlinka became a national hero when his team won gold medals at the Nagano Olympics ; the first time that the NHL agreed to release its players for the Games . The triumph was celebrated by a whole nation which didn ' t forget him . The dominance of the Czech ice - hockey in the world was confirmed one year later when Hlinka ' s team won the World Championship too . In 2000 – 01 , Ivan Hlinka came to the NHL again . He was a coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins . He was the first European ever to coach in the NHL ( along with 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 . Fired early in the 2001 – 2002 season , he returned to Europe in 2001 . In 2001 - 02 he worked as a general manager of Czech national team and in 2002 , he became a coach of Russia n team Avangard Omsk for one season . Hlinka ' s death . Hlinka was supposed to be once again head coach of Czech Republic starting from 2004 - 05 season . However , he died on August 16 , 2004 , at the age of only 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 a crossing where it was prohibited . Hlinka was not using a safety belt . According to experts , the safety belt would not have helped him . The truck driver was found guilty of the accident and received a 2 - year suspended sentence . Records . Vancouver Canucks team record for most points by a rookie ( 60 ) . - Tied with Pavel Bure