Vladimír Dzurilla (August 2, 1942 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

– July 27, 1995 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

) was a Slovak

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 ...

goaltender playing for

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Dzurilla, a refrigerator repairman by profession, was goalie for the Czechoslovak national team for over 16 years, winning three gold, three silver and four bronze medals at

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

as well as one silver and two bronze

Olympic medals An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is lai ...

. However, in most of these tournaments Dzurilla and Jiri Holecek were battling to be Czechoslovakia's top goaltender and each were given their share of games. For North American fans, he is mostly known for stopping 29 shots in a 1-0 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in the

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup to ...

(where the Czechoslovaks finished second). He suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Düsseldorf, Germany on July 27, 1995, only days before his 53rd birthday.

References

External links

*
BiographyVladimír Dzurilla / kolektívne športy
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dzurilla, Vladimir 1942 births 1995 deaths Augsburger Panther players Czechoslovak ice hockey goaltenders HC Kometa Brno players HC Plzeň players HC Slovan Bratislava players Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic ice hockey players of Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia SC Riessersee players Slovak ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Bratislava Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Czechoslovak expatriate ice hockey people Czechoslovak ice hockey coaches Expatriate ice hockey players in West Germany Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Czechoslovakia (WHA) players