Karel Gut (16 September 1927 – 6 January 2014) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
player and coach, who later worked in sports management. He was born in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
and later played in the
Czechoslovak Extraliga. While Gut played
soccer in his youth, he was better known as an, "offensive-minded hockey defenseman".
Gut was inducted into the
International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, and has also been inducted into the Czechoslovakian Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. He died on January 6, 2014, at the age of 86.
Playing career
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Gut eventually began playing in the
Czechoslovak Extraliga with
Praha ATK. He later played for
Tatra Smichov from 1951 to 1953. He would play the rest of his career with
Spartak Praha Sokolova TJ.
Gut also captained the
Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team from 1952 to 1960.
As a player, he won three bronze medals at the
Ice Hockey World Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...
, first in
1955 where he was voted the tournament's best defenseman,
then again in
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
and in
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. Gut also made three appearances at the
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
,
and six
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
appearances.
Coaching career
In 1964 he retired from his playing career in ice hockey and became an ice hockey coach.
Between 1973 and 1979 Gut was the coach for the then
Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team who he lead on to win the gold at the
Ice Hockey World Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...
in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
in Poland and
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
in Austria.
In the late 1970s, after having observed
Roger Neilson
Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams in a checkered career. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contributi ...
of the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
using
ringette
Ringette is a non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. The sport is among a small number of organize ...
rings and concepts during a practice in Canada, Gut went back to
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
and introduced and modified these ideas and applied them to the training system for the national mens team's practices, which was then also applied as a training aid for Czechoslovakia's university ice hockey teams.
Management career
When Czechoslovakia was divided, Gut became chairman of the
Czech Ice Hockey Association
The Czech Ice Hockey Association ( cs, Český svaz ledního hokeje, ČSLH) is the governing body of ice hockey in the Czech Republic.
Structure
According to the statutes, seven organs operate in the Czech Ice Hockey Association. Every two year ...
. The team went on to take the gold medal at the
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
in Japan and won four VM-Gold in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
References
External links
*
IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gut, Karel
1927 births
2014 deaths
Czechoslovak ice hockey coaches
Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team coaches
Ice hockey people from Prague
Ice hockey players at the 1952 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 1960 Winter Olympics
IIHF Hall of Fame inductees
Olympic ice hockey players of Czechoslovakia