The Czech Mint´s series of commemorative coins "Legends of Czechoslovak Hockey" introduces in pure silver Vladimir Ruzicka, a man who dressed a captain's dress with „c“ in Nagano.

When coach Ivan Hlinka chose the expert Vladimir Ruzicka as captain, he knew the best. "Růža" knew he had to bring gold after the outsider's team fought to the quarterfinals. After the failed first third of the match against the Americans, he stepped in front of his team and made a striking speech that legends speak about today. What was exactly said is known only by the hockey players. Some say there have been a few mischievous words, while others say that a few decent ones occured as well. Vladimir Ruzicka junior, who is now professional hockey player, has another memory. When he was 9 years old, he did not quite understand the retirement system, so he was crying after the loss of Czechs with Russians in the basic group because he thought his dad lost a medal. When ours were defeated by the United States, Vladimir Ruzicka older had say: "Vlada cried at home. Do you want him to cry again?" Whatever the truth, the speech worked and raised the Czechs' morals. The coach immediately showed that he was not only good at speaking, but also with playing a stick when scored a balancing goal and the rest is history of ice hockey ...

On the reverse side of the commemorative coin, which is the work of academic sculptor Jan Lukas, there is a captain's faithful portrait, supplemented by his jersey number 97 and surrounded by the inscription VLADIMÍR RUZICKA, NAGANO 1998, WORLD MASTER´S COACH 2005 2010, MEMBER OF CZECH HOCKEY´S HALL OF FAME. Since the coins of the Czech Mint are based on the license of a foreign issuer, which is the state of Samoa, their obverse side bears its necessary attributes that are the national emblem, the portrait and the name of the emperor Elizabeth II., the nominal value of 2 DOLLARS (WST), together with the year of the issue 2019.

In the offer of the Czech Mint you will also find a stylish collector´s etui in the form of a puck, in which you can store all 14 coins dedicated to our hockey legends.