Klara Hymlarova (Photo Prout)
St. Cloud, MN—One of St. Cloud State women’s hockey’s all-time leading scorers and versatile players will stay in the “State of Hockey” after being selected as the 15th pick by Minnesota in the third round of the 2024 PWHL Draft on Monday, June 11th.
Klara Hymlarova completed five seasons at SCSU in 2023-24, accumulating 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points in 142 games, placing her in the top 20 all-time scorers at St Cloud State. Highly versatile, she played both wing and center, and this past season, due to team needs, she played five months on defense.
A native of Opava, Czechia, Hymlarova has had substantial international game experience with 131 games against some of the world’s best players, compiling 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points, and a member of two Bronze Medal-winning teams for Czechia.
“She’s just such a well-rounded player; that’s why she has the capacity to play kind of wherever the coaching staff needs her,” Czechia head coach Carla MacLeod, who is also the head coach of PWHL Ottawa, told the Hockey News. “She’s just fierce, she’s got good speed, she’s got good size, she likes the physical side of the game as well,” said MacLeod. “She’s an energy player where she brings and elevates her teammates up, she’s a really unique player that way….Obviously you can see her skill set, she’s not only sort of that physical piece, there’s a finesse to her game too.”
On the prospect of being drafted in the PWHL, Hymlarova stated, “I’m super excited; I hope I’m going to get there and get the opportunity to play with the best players in the world and see how it’s going to be.”
Hymlarova was the only former SCSU player selected in this season’s PWHL Draft.
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