Jiří Holík

Jiří Holík is one of Czechoslovakia’s all-time great ice hockey players. For most of his senior career, he played for army club Dukla Jihlava that won the Czechoslovakian title seven times between 1967 and 1974. During his long career for the national team, he played 319 international matches (scoring 123 goals), being one of the players with highest number of caps internationally.

His record of 14 World Championship participations was only broken in 2009 by Petteri Nummelin, and with 123 matches in World Championships, he still is the record holder. He won the world title three times (1972, 1976 and 1977), adding five silver and three bronze medals. At the Olympics, he medalled in each of his four participations, for a total of two silver and two bronze medals.

One of the few Czechs allowed to play abroad, Holík closed out his career in Germany and Austria, retiring in 1985 at age 41. Jiří Holík’s brother Jaroslav played with him at Dukla Jihlava and the Czechoslovakian team, sharing his 1972 world title win and Olympic medal. Jaroslav’s son, Bobby played in the NHL for two decades, while his daughter Andrea won the 1985 Fed Cup as a tennis player. Jiří, who later tended to coaching, was admitted to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.