Jakub Kovar: forced to leave in his prime
The latest KHL.ru feature on a legend of the league tells the story of Czech goalie Jakub Kovar. He achieved a lot in his years in the KHL and might have done even more had it not been for injury.
Two years in the making
For Czech players, the KHL has always been an attraction. A high-level league that offers a real chance of professional progress, good salaries, watertight contracts, big crowds and substantial media interest: what’s not to love? Jakub Kovar said that he spent two years getting ready for a move to Russia.
It was entirely possible that the goalie would end up on the same team as his brother Jan. At first, they were on the market as a package deal. However, in spring 2013 Jakub’s Ceske Budejovice quickly dropped out of the playoffs, while Jan led Plzen in playoff scoring as his team won the Czech title before going to his first World Championship.
Kovar
436 games
198 wins
45 shut-outs
Most wins in a KHL regular season (38 in 2018-2019)
Most shut-outs in a KHL regular season (2015, 2021)
World Championship bronze (2011, 2012)
World U18 bronze (2006)
May 15, 2011 Helped the Czechs to victory over Russia in the World Championship bronze medal game
May 20, 2012 Won a second World Championship bronze
Sep. 6, 2013 KHL debut for Avtomobilist
Oct. 30, 2013 First KHL shut-out against Traktor
After such a successful campaign, interest in Jan was through the roof. He came to the attention of several top Russian teams and moved to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Jakub had offered from clubs at a lower level. In his words, they were Spartak, Sibir, Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Avtomobilist.
The goalie chose Yekaterinburg. In the previous season, Avtomobilist was rock bottom. However, new finance brought new ambition and the club was determined to build a more competitive roster. Also, Kovar knew the city, having played there in a pre-season tourney with Ceske Budejovice.
It wasn’t an auspicious start. A breakdown in communication left Kovar stranded at the airport on arrival in Russia. Luckily, he had a 1,000-ruble note in his pocket, given to him by his parents before his flight. After a three-hour wait, the goalie flagged a taxi and, despite not speaking Russian, managed to explain that he needed to get to Avtomobilist’s arena. “Thank God he didn’t want more than 1,000 rubles,” Kovar remembered.
That convinced Kovar that he needed to learn Russian fast. And he soon made great progress in a new language. With time, he was able to chat with his team-mates and spoke fluently in interviews.
World Championship bronze and Sochi disappointment
In 2012-2013 Avtomobilist finished last with just 35 points in 52 games. The following season, backstopped by Kovar, it made the playoffs after taking seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The first round ended with a 0-4 loss to Barys.
Kovar enjoyed a good season, stopping 93.1% of shots for a GAA of 2.01. In December, he joined up with the Czech national team for the Channel 1 Cup in Sochi and had a shut-out win over Finland (2-0). The Czechs won the pre-Olympic tournament and both the goalies who played in that round of the Eurotour made the Olympic team. It wasn’t the first time Kovar had played with Alexander Salak – back in 2005-2006 there were team-mates with Ceske Budejovice’s juniors.
It was also at Ceske Budejovice that Kovar first encountered one of the greatest influences on his career – renowned Czech goalie and 1996 World Champion Roman Turek, who returned from the NHL at the same time as Kovar was starting his journey with the juniors. Later, despite an 18-year age gap, the two goalies battled for the starting spot on the first team.
At the 2014 Olympics, Kovar was the starting goalie. But things didn’t go well. The opening game against Sweden saw the Czechs down 0-3 after 21 minutes and Salak took over between the pipes. Jakub never got back on the ice and later suggested that the problems stemmed from indecision among the coaching staff: there was never a clear #1, which made everybody nervous.
Despite that disappointment, Kovar was back with the national team at that year’s World Championship. The Czechs had a chance of a medal but lost to Sweden again in the bronze medal game. In Minsk, as in Sochi, Kovar played one game – this time a group stage loss against Canada (3-4).
A year on, in Prague, Kovar and the Czechs again came close to a medal. A 5-3 win over Finland in the QF put the host into the final four but the goals dried up. Canada won the semi-final 2-0 and the USA took bronze with a 3-0 verdict.
Nonetheless, Kovar has international hardware. The 2011 Worlds were his first major tournament and, as third goalie he collected a bronze medal. One year later, he played six games – including the quarter-final and much of the semi – as the Czechs again took third place.
Departure, return and enforced exit from Avtomobilist
In 2015, Andrei Razin was appointed head coach at Avtomobilist. The new man could not find common ground with his first-choice goalie.
“We never really talked,” Kovar said in an interview with the whatasave website. “He didn’t just leave me out of the team, he banned me from the arena! The head coach wouldn’t let me come on the day of the final game of the series. Maybe not even the day before, I don’t remember exactly. All season, I looked for a reason and finally found it – I went for lunch with my brother [when we were playing against each other] during our series against Magnitka. I could never accept that decision,” the goalie said.
Jan. 25, 2015 First KHL All-Star Game
May 6, 2016 Moved to Severstal
May 2, 2017 Returned to Avtomobilist
Feb. 20, 2019 Set a KHL record for regular season shut-outs
In the summer, Kovar joined Severstal. But Yekaterinburg didn’t want to let him go. After a road game at Avtomobilist, the home fans chanted the Czech goalie’s name and practically carried him back to the team bus. “I’ll never forget that. I realized that my play had made a good impression and people hadn’t forgotten me. It was a powerful moment,” Kovar noted.
The following close season saw Kovar return. “I wanted to come back to my favorite team,” he said. With Kovar in goal, Avtomobilist never missed a playoff, although the Motormen only once got past the first round with a sweep of Traktor in 2019.
There might have been greater achievements to come. But in 2021, aged just 33 – and, for a goalie, looking at the peak of his career – Kovar had to quit. An injury that spring required an operation and during pre-season preparations the goalie was again in pain. He started the season, but went on the injured list after just one game. There were concerns that this might be a career-ending blow. On Sep. 18, the club announced Kovar’s departure.
“It might not even be an injury, but more of an illness. Now I’m looking for more medical opinions. Hopefully someone can help me to return to pro hockey. For now, though, I’m leaving hockey for some time and I’ll look for work that lets me live without pain. Right now, I can’t even sleep.”
Jakub Kovar in a press conference on his departure from Yekaterinburg
“Jakub’s performances for Avtomobilist will always live in the memory of fans from the Urals. The Czech goalie was a true symbol of our team and a favorite among our supporters,” the club said in a statement.
Kovar did return to pro hockey, playing in Switzerland for Zurich. Later he returned to the Czech Republic and joined Sparta Prague where he is under contract for two more seasons. In the KHL, we remember him as a leader among import goalies: most games (436), wins (198) and shut-outs (45). He also has 15 assists, more than any other goalie in the KHL, while his 38 wins in 2018-2019 remains a record for a single regular season. And, of course, Jakub is remembered as an Avtomobilist legend.
Factfile
Jakub Kovar
Born July 19, 1988 in Pisek (Czechoslovakia)
Playing career: 2007-2008 – Oshawa, Windsor (OHL), 2008-2013 – Ceske Budejovice (CZE), 2013-2016, 2017-2021 – Avtomobilist (KHL), 2016-2017 – Severstal (KHL), 2021-2022 – Zurich (SUI), 2022-н.в. – Sparta (CZE).
Honors: World championship bronze (2011, 2012), World Junior bronze (2006).
