Vladimír Růžička

Vladimír Růžička (born June 6, 1963 in Most, Czechoslovakia), is a former Czechoslovak and Czech ice hockey player. He was twice named the top player in the Czechoslovak Elite League, and was on the gold medal team in the 1985 World Championship and 1998 Olympics. He is currently a head coach for Piráti Chomutov of the Chance Liga.

Playing career
After retiring as a player in 2000 he started working as a coach in HC Slavia Praha and in 2002–03 and 2007–08 seasons his team won the Czech Extraliga. Between 2002–2004 he was also an assistant coach of the Czech national ice hockey team. Shortly after he left the team, the head coach Ivan Hlinka died and he took the position after him, leading the Czech Republic team to the Vienna World Championship gold medal in 2005.

Růžička also had a short career in the NHL, being selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs 73rd overall 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played five seasons for the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators. His best season statistically came in 1991–92 when he recorded 75 points (39 goals, 36 assists) with Boston. He has a Stanley Cup ring and is on the 1990 Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup team picture. However, Růžička only played 25 regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs that season. Thus, his name was not engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Career statistics
--- Regular Season ---  Playoffs Season  Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM -- 1988-89 Dukla Trencin               Czech  45   46   38   84   42  --  --  --  --  -- 1989-90 Edmonton Oilers             NHL    25   11    6   17   10  --  --  --  --  -- 1990-91 Boston Bruins               NHL    29    8    8   16   19  17   2  11  13   0 1991-92 Boston Bruins               NHL    77   39   36   75   48  13   2   3   5   2 1992-93 Boston Bruins               NHL    60   19   22   41   38  --  --  --  --  -- 1993-94 Ottawa Senators             NHL    42    5   13   18   14  --  --  --  --  -- 1993-94 Zug                         Swiss  --   --   --   --   --   6   2   5   7  14 1994-95 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  44   29   24   53    0  --  --  --  --  -- 1995-96 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  37   21   47   68   46   5   2   1   3  26 1996-97 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  44   22   32   54   78  --  --  --  --  -- 1997-98 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  49   20   40   60   60  --  --  --  --  -- 1998-99 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  50   25   31   56   67  --  --  --  --  -- 1999-00 Slavia Praha HC             Czech  21    5    8   13   16  --  --  --  --  -- --        NHL Totals                        233   82   85  167  129  30   4  14  18   2