Lukáš Dostál finishes second in Zlatá hokejka voting for best Czech player of the year
Lukáš Dostál placed second in voting for the Golden Hockey Stick Award with teammate Radko Gudas placing seventh.
What a year for Lukáš Dostál. In his first full season as an NHLer, the 24-year-old Czech goaltender was named Rookie of the Month, set a new career-high for most games played in his professional career and pitched his first NHL shutout. He also set a new Ducks record for most saves in a single game with 55.
But Dostál's season didn't end once the Ducks' did. After a brief time off, he headed back to his home country to compete in the World Championships. In eight games (all starts), Dostál posted a 6-2-0 record with a .939 SV% and 1.58 GAA. He also had three shutouts.
Dostál's performances helped carry Czechia to the gold medal game against Switzerland, where he pitched his third shutout of the tournament. Dostál was named to the Media All-Star Team for the tournament and also received the IIHF Directorate Award for Best Goaltender.
Dostál's 2023-24 season may have finished on the ice, but it wasn't just yet off of it. The final piece for Dostál before heading to Finland for the rest of his offseason was the presentation of the Zlatá hokejka (Golden Hockey Stick), which is awarded to the top Czech ice hockey player.
Despite Dostál's impressive rookie season and his performances at the World Championships, he was unable to beat the Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak, who won the award for the seventh time in his career. Radko Gudas, who also won gold at the World Championships with Dostál and Pastrnak, finished seventh.
"It's a huge honor, at the age of 24," Dostál said in an interview with Czech media outlet iDNES (translated from Czech). "I would never have thought of standing here and ending up behind Pasta. We have a lot of fantastic players, for me to come second is a great achievement. I appreciate it immensely."
Dostál was presented with his second-place award by Dominik Hašek, one of the greatest goaltenders and players to come out of Czechia.
"That was fantastic," Dostál said. "I didn't expect that at all. I was able to shake hands with Dominik, so I might not go to the shower today.
Now, Dostál's focus is on preparing for the 2024-25 season, where he will most likely be competing for playing time with John Gibson. Dostál had a strong finish to the season while Gibson struggled and general manager Pat Verbeek indicated in his end-of-the-season interview that head coach Greg Cronin may take a hot-hand approach when it comes to who gets the bulk of starts in net next season.
"I had the opportunity to gain a lot of experience at the championship and in Anaheim," Dostál said. "The fact that I made it into the first team means a lot to me, I will go into the summer knowing that I want to cement my role. I don't take it to mean that I consider myself 100% an NHL goaltender. I have the opportunity to move forward, which the championship showed me. This is the driving force and motivation for my future work."