Jaroslav Pouzar, who was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2024 in Prague, enjoys attending games at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship in Ceske Budejovice.
Jaromir Jagr is the most famous Czech forward in NHL history. Petr Klima scored one of the most famous sudden-death goals in Stanley Cup finals history in 1990 to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 triple overtime win over the Boston Bruins. But Jaroslav Pouzar has a claim to fame that none of his countrymen can match.
The robust, Ceske Budejovice-trained winger became the first Czech ever to hoist the Stanley Cup with the Wayne Gretzky-era Oilers in 1984 at age 32. Pouzar repeated that feat in 1985 and 1987, enjoying stints on the top line with “The Great One” and his superstar Finnish partner Jari Kurri. He finished up his NHL career with 82 points in 186 regular season games and 10 points in 29 playoff games.
This month, Pouzar has enjoyed the opportunity to check out the action at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ceske Budejovice. It’s another new chapter in his book of IIHF experiences. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame last year in Prague. The illustrious class also included Jagr, Igor Liba, Kenny Jonsson, Ryan Smyth, Petteri Nummelin, Natalie Darwitz, and Mel Davidson.
“It’s very nice for me as a 74-year-old man,” Pouzar told IIHF.com. “I’m very happy! Probably one of the top things in my life.”
His international highlights include winning gold medals with Czechoslovakia at the 1976 and 1977 IIHF World Championships, as well as leading the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid with eight goals and starring in non-IIHF competitions. He made the most of suiting up alongside everyone from Czech greats Ivan Hlinka and Milan Novy to the superb Slovak Stastny brothers: Peter, Anton, and Marian.
“It was a little bit different hockey, you know, not as much hitting as today,” Pouzar reminisced. “In the 1970’s and 80’s we were playing more technical hockey. Now everybody’s skating like crazy, hitting into the boards, shooting the puck everywhere, every night, every time. Personally, I have especially nice memories from 1976. To win the World Championship, take second place in the first Canada Cup, and earn second place in the Olympic Games in the same year remains, for me, unbelievable.”
Now he’s delighted to have the opportunity to learn about women’s hockey, especially with the Czech team marching into the semi-finals before ecstatic sellout crowds.
“I’m very happy the championship is here in Ceske Budejovice,” Pouzar said. “I come in every day and watch the games, and I see it’s very good.”
Pouzar has made his own indirect contribution to the success of these Women’s Worlds. The Hokejove Centrum Pouzar – a beautiful local rink that opened in 2012 – has served as an alternative practice facility for the visiting international teams. It is named in his honour, and he is proud to have been involved with its construction as a resource for the next generation of hockey players.
Many of the Women’s Worlds squads are quite young. The Czech team, for example, is 24 on average. That youth takes Pouzar back to when he came over to North America as a seasoned veteran and joined coach Glen Sather’s fresh-faced Oilers in 1982-83 on the cusp of dynastic greatness.
“I have very good memories from Edmonton and those players,” Pouzar said. “When I came, I was 30 and didn’t speak English. Those guys were young, 20 to 24, perhaps, and I got a chance to play with them. Nobody said, ‘Hey, go away, we don’t need you.’ Instead, everybody helped me. Everybody wanted to speak with me. Good memories.”
He still recalls with a smile Gretzky’s incredible hockey brain and his minimalist shoulder pads, the overwhelming strength of Mark Messier, and the friendships he forged with fellow Europeans like Kurri and Willy Lindstrom.
Looking forward, Pouzar is optimistic about the prospects of Czech hockey – with good reason.
The Czech men electrified the whole nation with home-ice gold at the 2024 Worlds, while the World Junior team has medaled three years in a row (2023 silver, 2024 and 2025 bronze). And the Czech women are rising rapidly with two Women’s Worlds bronze medals (2022, 2023), while the U18 Women’s Worlds squad captured silver in 2024 and bronze in 2025.
“We have good junior teams, good youth,” Pouzar said. “Here, our women were in a very tough group, but things have gone OK. Things are getting better and better.”
Perhaps this Czech legend will get to witness some more famous moments in his nation’s hockey history leading up to the awarding of the Women’s Worlds medals on Sunday.
The robust, Ceske Budejovice-trained winger became the first Czech ever to hoist the Stanley Cup with the Wayne Gretzky-era Oilers in 1984 at age 32. Pouzar repeated that feat in 1985 and 1987, enjoying stints on the top line with “The Great One” and his superstar Finnish partner Jari Kurri. He finished up his NHL career with 82 points in 186 regular season games and 10 points in 29 playoff games.
This month, Pouzar has enjoyed the opportunity to check out the action at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ceske Budejovice. It’s another new chapter in his book of IIHF experiences. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame last year in Prague. The illustrious class also included Jagr, Igor Liba, Kenny Jonsson, Ryan Smyth, Petteri Nummelin, Natalie Darwitz, and Mel Davidson.
“It’s very nice for me as a 74-year-old man,” Pouzar told IIHF.com. “I’m very happy! Probably one of the top things in my life.”
His international highlights include winning gold medals with Czechoslovakia at the 1976 and 1977 IIHF World Championships, as well as leading the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid with eight goals and starring in non-IIHF competitions. He made the most of suiting up alongside everyone from Czech greats Ivan Hlinka and Milan Novy to the superb Slovak Stastny brothers: Peter, Anton, and Marian.
“It was a little bit different hockey, you know, not as much hitting as today,” Pouzar reminisced. “In the 1970’s and 80’s we were playing more technical hockey. Now everybody’s skating like crazy, hitting into the boards, shooting the puck everywhere, every night, every time. Personally, I have especially nice memories from 1976. To win the World Championship, take second place in the first Canada Cup, and earn second place in the Olympic Games in the same year remains, for me, unbelievable.”
Now he’s delighted to have the opportunity to learn about women’s hockey, especially with the Czech team marching into the semi-finals before ecstatic sellout crowds.
“I’m very happy the championship is here in Ceske Budejovice,” Pouzar said. “I come in every day and watch the games, and I see it’s very good.”
Pouzar has made his own indirect contribution to the success of these Women’s Worlds. The Hokejove Centrum Pouzar – a beautiful local rink that opened in 2012 – has served as an alternative practice facility for the visiting international teams. It is named in his honour, and he is proud to have been involved with its construction as a resource for the next generation of hockey players.
Many of the Women’s Worlds squads are quite young. The Czech team, for example, is 24 on average. That youth takes Pouzar back to when he came over to North America as a seasoned veteran and joined coach Glen Sather’s fresh-faced Oilers in 1982-83 on the cusp of dynastic greatness.
“I have very good memories from Edmonton and those players,” Pouzar said. “When I came, I was 30 and didn’t speak English. Those guys were young, 20 to 24, perhaps, and I got a chance to play with them. Nobody said, ‘Hey, go away, we don’t need you.’ Instead, everybody helped me. Everybody wanted to speak with me. Good memories.”
He still recalls with a smile Gretzky’s incredible hockey brain and his minimalist shoulder pads, the overwhelming strength of Mark Messier, and the friendships he forged with fellow Europeans like Kurri and Willy Lindstrom.
Looking forward, Pouzar is optimistic about the prospects of Czech hockey – with good reason.
The Czech men electrified the whole nation with home-ice gold at the 2024 Worlds, while the World Junior team has medaled three years in a row (2023 silver, 2024 and 2025 bronze). And the Czech women are rising rapidly with two Women’s Worlds bronze medals (2022, 2023), while the U18 Women’s Worlds squad captured silver in 2024 and bronze in 2025.
“We have good junior teams, good youth,” Pouzar said. “Here, our women were in a very tough group, but things have gone OK. Things are getting better and better.”
Perhaps this Czech legend will get to witness some more famous moments in his nation’s hockey history leading up to the awarding of the Women’s Worlds medals on Sunday.