Milan Kužela

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SlovakiaSlovakia  Milan Kužela Ice hockey player
Date of birth April 27, 1946
place of birth Bratislava , Czechoslovakia
position defender
Shot hand Left
Career stations
until 1981 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava
1981-1982 Zvolen locomotive
1982-1983 Slovan ChZJD Bratislava

Milan Kužela (born April 27, 1946 in Bratislava , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Slovak ice hockey player and current coach . He played for Slovan Bratislava for 15 years in the first division of Czechoslovakia as a defender and took part in four world championships with the Czechoslovak national team.

Career as a player

Milan Kužela began his career in 1957 in the offspring of Slovan Bratislava. In 1964, at the age of 18, he made his debut in the first division, the top division of the ČSSR. In the following 14 seasons Kužela played exclusively for Slovan and was with his team, which he led as team captain, in the season 1978/79 Czechoslovak champions . In 1980 he moved to Lokomotiv Zvolen for a season before returning to Slovan in 1981 and ending his career a year later. In total, he scored 62 goals in 532 games in the Czechoslovak League. With his 532 games in the top division of the ČSSR, he is third behind Vladimír Dzurilla (571 games) and Richard Ujváry (544 games).

International

In addition to his successes at club level, Kužela was a regular for the Czechoslovak national team in the early 1970s. At his first world championship in 1972 , he became world champion. In the following two years he won a bronze and a silver medal. At the 1979 World Cup , he won another silver medal. He played a total of 86 games in the national jersey, in which he scored five goals.

Career as a coach

After finishing his playing career Kužela worked as a player-coach at HK Nové Zámky (1983/84) and Chirana Piešťany (1984/85). Later he went to Western European countries for the Bayern league club ESV Burgau , where he worked as a player-coach until 1992. Then he was the coach of the U18 juniors of Slovan Bratislava and HC Danubie Bratislava . Later he was head coach of the Swiss third division club EHC Fletschhorn Saas-Grund . He has lived in Italy for a number of years, where he looks after a local ice hockey club.

In 2004 he was honored for his services with the induction into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame .

Achievements and Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ hokej.cz, Historie hokejové ligy, sezona 1978-1979
  2. ↑ sienslavy.sk, Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame (Sieň slávy): Milan Kužela
  3. ↑ chidlovski.com, ČSSR 1972 - Players' Info

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kužela, Milan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kuzela, Milan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak ice hockey player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Bratislava , Czechoslovakia