The Prague Post
October 7th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions

Home » Archives » Sports

Title pursuit

Legendary center recalls Olympic win, chases Extraliga championship

February 27th, 2008 issue

By Brian Pinelli

ISIFA
Slavia coach Vladimír R?Ýžička finally won the league title in 2003 that had eluded him during his playing days.
enlarge
COURTESY PHOTO
R?Ýžička, right, and Dominik Hašek celebrate their gold medal in Nagano.
enlarge

For the Post

For the thousands of flag-waving fans that gathered 10 years ago in the early morning hours on Prague’s Old Town Square, the final seconds must have seemed like an eternity.
Almost 14,000 kilometers away in Nagano, Japan, the national hockey team was close to clinching a victory over an explosive Russian squad in what had been a tension-filled, gold-medal contest. The game was a defensive battle, with the only goal being Petr Svoboda’s 50-foot slap shot past Russian goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov about halfway through the third period.
Captain Vladimír Růžička stood on the bench, ready to jump onto the ice with his teammates to mob the goaltender, Dominik Hašek. The clock struck zero, sticks and gloves flew into the air and an entire nation let out a collective breath.
For the first time in history, the Czechs had won hockey gold at the Winter Olympics, barely defeating Russia 1-0.
This February marks the 10-year anniversary of the nation’s gold medal triumph, an unlikely victory that remains one of the most important moments in the country’s hockey history. It was the peak of Růžička’s playing days, a career that saw the center — long considered one of the top Czech players — pursue elusive league titles in the Czech Republic, Canada and the United States.
“After the game, I thought about my whole life playing hockey,” says Růžička, who was 34 at the time. “Starting as such a young guy, there were so many memories. Everything passed through my head in about 10 seconds.”
The underdog squad had only 10 NHL players on its roster, significantly less than most of the other teams. The Olympic favorites were the United States, Canada and Russia. But, after the tight-knit Czechs beat Canada in a dramatic semifinal shootout — led by Hašek’s dominant play in net, stopping all five Canadian shots — anything seemed possible.
The team’s celebration, begun on the ice at Nagano, would eventually find its way to the streets of Prague the next day.
“There was a big party on the flight home. We flew from Tokyo and the whole country greeted us,” Růžička recalls.
“Sixty- and 70-year-old women were there. It was such a great moment, almost like we had won a war.”
Oiler money
That Olympic gold proved the highlight of Růžička’s professional career, which he began as a fresh-faced 16-year-old in the Extraliga. Three years later, in 1984, he joined the national team, which shortly went on to win a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
During the 1980s, Růžička led the Extraliga in goals four times, twice being named player of the year. Despite these individual honors, Růžička’s teams never won the league title. Adding to this frustration was his inability to break free from the league’s communist authorities to follow his dreams and play in the NHL.
This changed in 1989. During the throes of the Velvet Revolution, Glen Sather, the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, was trying to bolster one of the NHL’s best squads. Sather was quick to realize that the opportunities of political change could go both ways, and he appeared in Prague that December in pursuit of Růžička.
“He came with Petr Svoboda [a Czechoslovak who defected to play in the NHL in 1984] to translate to Czech because it was too hard for me,” Růžička says. “I was 26-years-old and had never spoken English before.
“As a Czech, I never thought I’d be able to play in the NHL because of communism. Then, of course, there was the day of change.”
Růžička signed a four-year contract with Edmonton Dec. 21, 1989. The Czechoslovak hockey authorities eventually agreed to let him leave Jan. 9, 1990. Růžička departed the next day, taking his family to Edmonton, Canada. He was the first Czech player ever granted permission to leave for the NHL.
Růžička joined a talented squad that included Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Craig Mactavish and Grant Fuhr. Initially Růžička, placed on a line with two Finns, struggled.
“There was a large difference between European and NHL hockey, but it wasn’t so hard for me on the ice,” Růžička says. “The worst for me was not being able to speak English. At the rink and in the dressing room, the players and coaches would be talking and I had no idea what was going on.”
Růžička’s days in Edmonton were limited. The Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup, but Růžička was held out of the playoffs and his name was not inscribed on the Stanley Cup. The following season, Edmonton traded Růžička to the Boston Bruins.
It was in Boston that Růžička’s NHL career took off.
“Boston was the best two and a half years of my life,” he says. “Great town, great people.”
In consecutive years, the Bruins just missed the Stanley Cup Finals, losing twice to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the conference finals. In 1991–92, Růžička led the team in scoring, picking up 39 goals and 36 assists while playing in 77 games.
After battling various injuries in one more season in Boston and a short stint in Ottawa, Růžička decided to return to Europe. After playing briefly in Switzerland, he found himself back in pursuit of an Extraliga championship, this time with HC Slavia Praha.
Behind the bench
Růžička laced up for Slavia from 1994 until early 2000, serving as the team’s captain. While he reached hockey glory as part of the national team in 1998, he failed to bring a league title to Slavia.
On the heels of his retirement, Růžička made the transition to coaching, becoming Slavia’s head coach and general manager. He took to the role, helping to right what had been a foundering team, and in 2003 led Slavia to its first Extraliga championship.
During this time, Růžička also returned to the national team, serving as an assistant coach from 2002 to 2004 and then, after the untimely death of Ivan Hlinka, leading the team to a World Championship title in Vienna, in 2005 — the team’s last gold medal.
This year, Růžička has Slavia in second place heading into the playoffs. One of his current challenges is training his 18-year-old son, Vladimír Jr, who is in his third full season with Slavia. The younger Růžička, smaller than his father, shows promise and has been drafted by the NHL.
Brian Pinelli can be reached at sports@praguepost.com


Other articles in Sports (27/02/2008):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.