Jan Filc

Jan Filc
Date of birth	19th February 1953
place of birth	Bratislava , Czechoslovakia
position	goalkeeper
Career stations
until 1974	Slovan Bratislava
1974-1984	MHC Plastika Nitra

Ján Filc (born February 19, 1953 in Bratislava ) is a former Slovak ice hockey goalkeeper who has been working as a coach since retiring. Between July 2008 and March 2010 he was the Slovak national coach. His brother Marian was a member of the national figure skating team of the ČSSR. His son Róbert is also an ice hockey goalkeeper and played for the University of British Columbia and HC Vítkovice Steel , among others .

Career as a player

Ján Filc began his career as a goalkeeper in the offspring of HC Slovan Bratislava . During this time he was appointed to the U18 team of the ČSSR and won the bronze medal at the U18 European Championships in 1971 and 1972.

After graduating from school, he left Bratislava and was the goalkeeper of Plastika Nitra for the next ten years . This association membership was only interrupted by one year of military service, which he served at the Army Club from Poprad . Filc ended his career as a player in 1984 at the age of 31.

In 1976 he finished his studies in sports science and the English language . Five years later he earned a doctorate and subsequently worked as a sports teacher at the universities of Nitra and Bratislava.

Career as a coach

While Filc was playing at Plastika Nitra, from 1978 he also worked as a youth coach at the same club. In 1981 he became the head coach of the club's youth department before he was in charge of the men's team, which played in the second-rate 1st SNHL, between 1985 and 1986.

In 1986 he returned to Bratislava and started to work as a physical education teacher at the school of the Czechoslovak Sports Pedagogy Association (ČSZTV). About two years later (1988) he worked as a lecturer at the Sports Science Faculty of the University of Bratislava .

Between 1987 and 1989 he was assistant coach at Slovan Bratislava before he was promoted to head coach in the 1989/90 season. From 1990 to 1992 he was in charge of WAT Stadlau Vienna as a full-time instructor. Between 1994 and 1997 he was a junior coach at TJ Spartak BEZ Bratislava , which later changed its name to Danubia Bratislava . In 1998 he became coach and manager of the Slovak U20 national team, which won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Winnipeg a year later.

From June 15, 1999 he worked as the head coach of the Slovak men's national team . The 2000 World Cup in Saint Petersburg finished the Slovak ice hockey team in second place and won the first medal in ice hockey for Slovakia. Two years later, at the 2002 World Cup in Gothenburg, the Slovak national team defeated the Russian men's selection 4: 3 in the final and thus became world champions for the first time under the leadership of Ján Filc .

After this historic success, Filc resigned and became a member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation SZĽH . In his tenure between 1999 and 2002, he looked after the national team in 81 international matches, with 42 wins, 9 draws and 30 defeats.

His successor as national coach was František Hossa , whose contract contained a clause that Filc would look after the Slovak national team at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey . At this tournament, it took eighth place.

On June 4, 2008, the SZĽH Július Šupler released as national coach and Filc was traded alongside some Canadian coaches as his successor. On June 26, 2008 Filc was introduced as the new national coach, his contract began on July 1. After the 2009 World Cup , the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation decided to hold onto Filc despite the poor performance of the national team. at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Filc led the national team up to fourth place. After this success he resigned as national coach and was replaced by Glen Hanlon .

Filc has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation SZĽH since 2002 and founded the Slovak Sports Union - Slovenskej únie športu in December 2004 . He has also been running a school for ice hockey goalkeepers together with Rudolf Jurčenko since the mid-1990s.

In 2006 Filc was elected Vice President of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation.

Achievements and Awards

In 2000 the then President of Slovakia Rudolf Schuster awarded him the Slovak Order of Merit Rad Ľudovíta Štúra, second class.

• 1971 bronze medal at the U18 European Championships
• 1972 bronze medal at the U18 European Championships
• 1999 coach of the year in Slovakia
• 2000 silver medal at the world championship
• 2000 coach of the year in Slovakia
• 2002 gold medal at the world championship
• 2002 coach of the year in Slovakia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Robert Flic at eurohockey.com
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Ján Filc novým reprezentačným trénerom. (No longer available online.) Hokej.sk, June 26, 2008, archived from the original on December 13, 2012 ; Retrieved March 17, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Slovakia's golden coach returns. In: iihf.com. June 26, 2008, accessed November 16, 2017 . 
4. ↑ internationalhockey.net, ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Jan Filc keeps position as head coach of Slovakia )
5. ↑ Glen Hanlon to coach Slovakia. In: iihf.com. March 24, 2010, accessed November 16, 2017 . 
6. ↑ skolahokejovehobrankara.sk, Škola hokejového brankára ( memento of the original dated November 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• Ján Filc at osobnosti.cz
• Ján Filc at osobnosti.sk