Kateřina Mrázová (ice hockey)

Kateřina Mrázová (born 19 October 1992) is a Czech ice hockey forward and a member of the Czech national team, currently playing with Ottawa of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Known for her stickhandling skill, she was the first European player to win the Clarkson Cup, winning the championship with the Boston Blades in 2013, and the first Czech player to score a goal in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; renamed PHF in 2021).[1][2]

Kateřina Mrázová
Mrázová with PWHL Ottawa in 2024
Born (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 (age 31)
Kolín, Czech and Slovak Federative Republic
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
PositionCentre
ShootsLeft
PWHL team
Former teams
PWHL Ottawa
National team Czech Republic
Playing career2008–present
Medal record
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place2022 Denmark
Bronze medal – third place2023 Canada

Playing career

Her first season in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) was in 2012–13. She played with the Boston Blades under the direction of head coach Digit Murphy and was used as a defensive forward. She contributed to the Blades' first regular season title and helped them secure the 2013 Clarkson Cup. She was the first European to win the coveted trophy.

After her rookie CWHL season, she left the league to play college ice hockey with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She stayed with the program for five seasons, though a knee injury kept her from playing for the entire 2015–16 season. Across 117 games, she scored 75 points and was named to the 2016–17 WCHA All-Academic Team.[3]

On 11 July 2018, Mrázová returned to professional hockey and signed a contract with the Connecticut Whale of the NWHL.[4] Along with Denisa Křížová, she was one of the first two Czech players to play in the NWHL and became the first Czech player to pick up a point. She logged 12 points in 15 games in the 2018–19 season with the Whale. On 20 October 2018, she scored the Whale's first power-play goal since mid-February 2018.[5]

She played one year in the NWHL before returning to Europe to sign with Brynäs IF Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She scored 51 points in 34 games in her debut SDHL season, the fourth leading scorer in the SDHL and top of the league in assists, and added another 10 points in five playoff games as Brynäs were defeated by Luleå HF/MSSK in the semi-finals.[6] She would play three seasons with Brynäs before returning to Connecticut for the 2022-23 season.[7]

Mrázová was drafted in the eighth round of the 2023 PWHL Draft by Ottawa.[8]

International

She represented Czechia at three IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships, being named an assistant captain in the 2010 tournament where the country finished in seventh.

Mrázová competed with the Czech Republic at the 2013 IIHF Women’s World Championships. The tournament marked the first time the Czech Republic competed at the Top Division level. Although the Czechs lost to Sweden in the relegation round, Mrázová accumulated 2 points on two assists during the tournament.

She has competed in three Olympic qualification tournaments with Czechia, getting two points in three games in 2009 and scoring one goal in three games in 2013, the country failing to qualify both times. She notched three points in three games for Czechia's 2017 Olympic qualification run, the country ultimately failing to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2012–13Boston BladesCWHL21112440002
2013–14Minnesota Duluth BulldogsWCHA1617810
2014–15Minnesota Duluth BulldogsWCHA377182530
2015–16Minnesota Duluth BulldogsWCHA00000
2016–17Minnesota Duluth BulldogsWCHA299122114
2017–18Minnesota Duluth BulldogsWCHA358132112
2018–19Connecticut WhaleNWHL156612411120
2019–20Brynäs IFSDHL3415366118537104
2020–21Brynäs IFSDHL2923406314849134
2021–22Brynäs IFSDHL231737543310312154
2022–23Connecticut WhalePHF1989171230110
2023–24Färjestad BKNDHL71124352
2023–24PWHL OttawaPWHL236121816

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2008Czech RepublicU18 51236
2008Czech RepublicOGQDNQ31122
2009Czech RepublicU184th52244
2009Czech RepublicWWC D15th54370
2010Czech RepublicU187th50552
2013Czech RepublicOGQDNQ31010
2013Czech RepublicWWC8th50220
2014Czech RepublicWWC D1A1st51234
2014Czech RepublicWWQDNQ30116
2015Czech RepublicWWC D1A1st53472
2017Czech RepublicOGQDNQ30330
2017Czech RepublicWWC8th61122
2019Czech RepublicWWC6th51232
2021Czech RepublicWWC7th61346
2021Czech RepublicOGQQ32460
2022Czech RepublicOG7th51014
2023Czech RepublicWWC 72246
Junior totals15391212
Senior totals4914193326

References

External links