Minatsu Kovács née Murase (born 23 June 1995) is a Swedish ice hockey goaltender, currently playing in the Swiss Women's Hockey League B (SWHL B) with Lausanne HC Féminin.
| Minatsu Murase | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
23 June 1995 Stockholm, Sweden | ||
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Catches | Left | ||
| SWHL B team | Lausanne HC Féminin | ||
| Played for | |||
| National team |
 Sweden | ||
| Playing career | 2011–present | ||
She represented Sweden in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
Playing career edit
Kovács played her first regular season in the Riksserien (renamed SDHL in 2016) in 2012, as a 17-year-old, with AIK Hockey. The following year, she claimed the starting job as the club won the SDHL championship.[1] She was named Best Goaltender of the Riksserien for the 2015–16 season.
Kovács missed most of 2018–19 season due to pregnancy.[2] In the summer of 2019, she left AIK to sign with Luleå HF/MSSK.[3]
In January 2020, Kovács announced that she was leaving Luleå and joining HC Örnen in the men's Hockeyettan as they competed for promotion to HockeyAllsvenskan.[4][5] She did not play during the following season, as she was pregnant with her second child.
Kovács made her return to the SDHL for the 2021–22 season, announcing a one year contract with AIK in April 2021.[6]
She officially retired after the 2021–22 season, explaining that trying to balance playing elite ice hockey and caring for her two young children wasn’t sustainable in a healthy way, particularly since she could not make a living as a player.[7]
After sitting out the 2022–23 regular season, Kovács joined the women's team of Lausanne HC in the SWHL B playoffs and chose to continue with the team in the 2023–24 season.[8][9]
International edit
She was named Best Goaltender at the 2013 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, as Sweden won bronze.[10]
She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics.[11]
Personal life edit
Kovács and her husband, professional ice hockey forward Robin Kovács, have three children – born in October 2018, September 2020, and November 2022.[12][6][13][14]
References edit
- ^ Fredriksson, Emelie (25 November 2016). "Minatsu Murase: Tror absolut vi kan ta guld". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Skoglund, Henrik (4 April 2018). "OS-målvakten väntar barn med SHL-forwarden". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (9 September 2019). ""De är ligans bästa målvakter"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Skoglund, Henrik (17 January 2020). "Efter avskedet - hon kan bli Luleås lösning på målvaktssidan". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Karlsson, Måns (22 February 2020). "Landslagsmålvaktens comeback: Spelade med herrar". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ a b Fredriksson, Emelie (16 April 2021). "OS-målvakten gör comeback efter barnafödande". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (30 March 2022). "Efter comebacken – nu lägger målvakten av: "Går inte ihop längre"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ Karlsson, Måns (24 May 2023). "Målvakten gör comeback - här är nya klubben". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Geiger, Chris (30 September 2023). "Au LHC, la famille Kovacs patine en plein bonheur". 24 heures (in Swiss French). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/324/IHW324000_85I_1_0.pdf Archived 19 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Athlete Profile: Minatsu MURASE – Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games". www.pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (1 November 2018). "Hockeyparets stora babylycka: "När jag såg honom första gången blev jag tårögd"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ Gustafsson, Mathilda (20 September 2019). "Murase och Kovács – hockeyparet i toppen av den svenska eliten". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Kovács, Robin [@robiinkovacs] (11 November 2022). "Nu är lillebror här och hela familjen samlade😍 tänk vilken super mamma jag har till mina barn, du är bäst @minatsumurase ❤️" (in Swedish). Lausanne. Retrieved 18 December 2022 – via Instagram.
External links edit
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com
- Minatsu Murase at Olympedia
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