IVAN Hlinka, one of the greatest players in the history of Czechoslovak and Czech ice hockey, died in a car accident near the Czech city of Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) on Monday.

The fatal accident was confirmed by the Czech Ice Hockey Federation to the International Ice Hockey Federation on Monday afternoon.

Ivan Hlinka was just recently re-appointed as coach for the Czech national team, which is about to start its preparations for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

In a ceremony during the 2004 IIHF World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, Hlinka was named as the best Czech player of all time. A few weeks later, Hlinka replaced Slavomir Lener as the national team coach.

Hlinka's car collided with a truck at about 11 pm local time.

"Ivan Hlinka was hospitalized with serious injuries and despite all efforts he didn't survive,'' said Zdenka Markova, spokeswoman for Karlovy Vary's hospital.

He died at about 1.30 p.m., she said.

Hlinka, in his earlier tenure as the coach of the national team, led the Czech Republic to its greatest achievement, the gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. A year later, Hlinka was behind the bench as the Czechs won the 1999 IIHF World Championship in Norway.

As a player, Hlinka represented Czechoslovakia in 256 national team games while capturing the IIHF World Championship gold medal three times: 1972, 1976 and 1977. He also played in the 1972 Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo (winning bronze) and in the 1976 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, where the Czechoslovak team won the silver medal.

Hlinka, who also played in the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, joined the NHL Vancouver Canucks in 1981 and he played 137 games with Vancouver. He became the first European coach in the NHL when led the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2000-2001 season and a year later, Hlinka was the GM of the Czech Olympic team in Salt Lake City 2002.

The same year, Ivan Hlinka was inducted to the IIHF Hall of Fame.