This article concludes a two part series. Read Part I here.
Czechia and the hockey world didn’t need to wait long for Czechia to make that international leap as 2022 came to pass. Once again, Czechia found itself in Olympic qualifiers. This time, though, they won all three games decisively and got their ticket to the Olympics. In the quarterfinals of the Olympics, Czechia found themselves facing off against the USA. The odds were not good for Czechia.
After 20 minutes the USA were outshooting Czechia 18-0, but the score was still 0-0. Czechia would actually score first in this quarterfinal contest and while the USA would eventually win, they would only win 4-1. Klára Peslarová made 55/58 saves and had shown her talent on the largest stage possible. To put this game into perspective, the other two Pool B teams struggled mightily. Japan would lose 7-1 to Finland and Sweden would lose 11-0 to Canada.
The good times didn’t stop rolling. When the 2022 IIHF World Championships came around six months later Czechia wanted the momentum to keep going. They rolled over their Pool B competition with 21 goals for and two goals against. The next step was getting past the quarterfinal. It took 36 saves from Peslarová and an overtime goal from Aneta Tejralová, but they did it. Czechia was headed to the semifinal for their first ever chance at a Worlds medal.
If they were hoping that first medal might be gold, the USA ensured that hope was extinguished fast. The USA went up 6-0 in the first period, ending Czechia’s gold medal hopes and Peslarová’s night 20 minutes in. With the bronze medal game the next day, there was no time to dwell on the loss. Czechia came out firing and 40 minutes after puck drop, they were winning 4-1. The Swiss made a late push with 13 shots in the third period, but Peslarová was not going to be denied her first big win since 2014. She’d make 12/13 third period saves and leave with bronze around her neck: Czechia’s first ever medal at Worlds.
Four years later, a gold or silver medal in the top division at Worlds, as well as the Olympics, still eluded Peslarová. It’s certainly not for lack of trying. She couldn’t participate in 2023 due to a season ending injury and went to two straight bronze medals games after. Unfortunately for Czechia they lost to Finland both times. Despite three straight tournaments, Worlds and Olympics, with disappointing finishes, Peslarová had achieved a medal at Worlds. This was a major accomplishment for someone who left home at 17 years old with the goal of becoming elite.
Apart from international gold, Peslarová still had one goal left in mind. She wanted to win her first league title since her back-to-back Czechia elite women’s league championships in 2014. She moved to Brynäs IF in the 22/23 season in an attempt to make it past the semi-finals. Brynäs would make it to the final that season but would be swept by Luleå HF. The most unfortunate aspect is that Peslarová was injured about a month into the season and took her out for the year. With her in net, maybe that series would have gone differently—but credit to Felicia Frank for doing her best Peslarová impression, getting Brynäs to the final.
It wouldn’t matter as Brynäs would lose in the semifinals with a healthy Peslarová in the 2024 playoffs. When she came to the PWHL in the 24/25 season, playoffs would elude her entirely. The Boston Fleet couldn’t take advantage of her coming out of the Worlds break on fire. Peslarová posted a 0.925 SV% in three games with one being a shutout. Make that now 11 years without a league championship for one of the world’s best goalies.
To prepare for the 2026 Olympics, Peslarová went back to Sweden and Brynäs. The regular season showed that Peslarová might not be the goalie to lead Brynäs to a championship. Her goalie partner Ena Nystrøm had a 0.937 SV% in 16 games. Meanwhile, Peslarová had the SDHL’s eighth best SV% at a 0.917 SV%. Her status as even the Czechia Olympic starter was questioned during a postgame podcast done by Jocks in Jills.
When the 2026 SDHL playoffs started it was still up in the air who would be the number one goalie for Brynäs: Nystrøm or Peslarová. Peslarová went 2-0 with a shutout and a 0.968 SV% in the first two games of the series against Skellefteå AIK. With a 2-0 series lead, needing only one win to move on, Brynäs went with Nystrøm in Game Three to see if their 0.937 SV% goalie from the regular season would be everything they needed. In what would be Brynäs’ only playoff loss, Nystrøm allowed four goals on 20 shots.
From that moment the net was Peslarová’s in what would come to be arguably the greatest playoff run in SDHL history. Peslarová finished with a 9-0 record, four shutouts, and a 0.965 SV%. Very much due to her play, Brynäs would go on to sweep the next two series.
The semifinal was against potentially the greatest SDHL franchise in history: Luleå HF. This was a team looking to get back to the SDHL final and go back to winning championships after losing the previous season. Luleå was about as tough a semifinal opponent as you could get, especially with league leading scorer Petra Nieminen, who put up 45 points in 27 regular season games. Peslarová, though, was inevitable, and like Thanos easily dispatching Hulk, Brynäs swept Luleå.
You’d think it wouldn’t get much easier going up against the 2025 SDHL Champions in Frölunda HC, who finished first in the regular season. They were the best team in the league and were ready to defend their title. But they weren’t ready to face Klára Peslarová. One team had the 2026 Olympic Top Goalie and one team didn’t. The team that didn’t, won the SDHL championship. Peslarová would go 3-0 with a 0.958 SV% and one shutout. The greatest playoff run we’ve seen from a SDHL goalie had come to a rightful conclusion.
And after 12 years of waiting to translate that success from the Czech women’s elite league to a league title in a better league, Peslarová had finally done it. Any doubters immediately silenced. The numbers too elite to ignore. Peslarová wanted to make an impact statement and she did. She’s still very much elite and reminded us all that she’s not going away yet. The queen had finally been given her gold crown.