Czech center Jan Kovář, 34, has signed a two-year extension with EV Zug, the National League club announced on Thursday. Kovář has played for Zug since 2019, and this extension will keep in central Switzerland until 2027, when he will be 37.

“I feel at home here,” Kovář said about Zug. “I love the city, I love the fans, and I’m proud to be able to play two more years in this great organization.”

A native of Písek, Czechia, Kovář turned pro with HC Plzeň in western Bohemia, and playing with Martin Straka, helped that team win its only Extraliga title in 2013. Since then, he has played almost exclusively abroad.

From 2013 until 2018, Kovář played in the KHL for Metallurg Magnitogorsk under coach Mike Keenan, where he won two Gagarin Cups. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia-1siN23Sk[/embed]

In the summer of 2018, Kovář signed a one-year contract with the New York Islanders but he was waved, then released after training camp. He then signed a one-month try-out contract with the Boston Bruins and played 12 AHL games in Providence, where he recorded 10 points, but ended up finishing that season back home in Plzeň.

Over the past five and a half seasons in Zug, through Wednesday, Kovář has recorded exactly 300 National League points in 322 combined regular-season and playoff games, helping the team win national titles in 2021 and 2022 and winning the league MVP award in the 2021-22 season. He also has 21 points in 30 Champions Hockey League games.

“Jan is a leader, on the ice and in the dressing room,” said Zug GM Reto Kläy. “He’s very important to the team.”

Internationally, Kovář has represented Czechia at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics and at seven IIHF World Championships, serving as team captain in 2021 in Riga. 

His older brother is goaltender Jakub Kovář, who has also represented Czechia numerous times and currently plays in the Extraliga for Sparta Prague. In the video below, they are interviewed together after a National League game in 2022 in which they faced each other.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQdbErtVdk[/embed]