Lenka Čurmová (born 8 April 1997) is a Slovak ice hockey defender. She most recenty played in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Leksands IF during the 2022–23 season.

Lenka Čurmová
Born (1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 (age 27)
Michalovce, Slovakia
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
Played for
National team  Slovakia
Playing career 2009–present

Čurmová and Slovak national team teammate Iveta Klimášová were the first Slovak players to play in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).[1]

Playing career

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Čurmová began her career at age twelve, debuting with ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov in the 2009–10 season of the 1.liga žien, Slovakia’s top-tier women’s league. She played with Šarišanka for six seasons, before transferring to HC ŠKP Bratislava of the Elite Women's Hockey League (EWHL). She remained with ŠKP Bratislava until her relocation to North America in 2019 in order to play with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; renamed PHF in 2021).[2]

The Beauts‘ first game of the 2019–20 season, 5 October 2019 against the Connecticut Whale, was history making; Čurmová became the first Slovak player to ever score a goal in NWHL history when she netted the Beauts‘ opening goal, assisted by MJ Pelletier and Corinne Buie. Later that week, she was the first Slovak player to be named NWHL Player of the Week.[3] She was selected by Team Packer for the 2020 NWHL All-Star Game.[4] In May 2020, she re-signed with the team for the 2020–21 season.[5][6]

International play

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Čurmová first played with the Slovak national under-18 team at the qualification tournament and final tournament of the 2013 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship – Division I. She went on to play with the team at the 2014 World Women's U18 Championship DI, where she was the highest scoring defenceman, and at the 2014 World Women's U18 Championship DI, where she was the Best Defenceman of the tournament as selected by the directorate.

Čurmová made her first appearance with the senior Slovak national team at age fifteen, playing all five games of the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I. She has continued to appear internationally with the senior team, including in the qualification tournaments for the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics, and served as team captain during the 2018–19 season.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 15 0 3 3 16
2010–11 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 13 0 4 4 6 6 0 1 1 8
2011–12 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 12 0 4 4 16 8 0 2 2 4
2012–13 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 8 0 1 1 2 10 1 3 4 2
2013–14 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 14 1 4 5 10 7 2 3 5 10
2014–15 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov 1.liga žien 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 2
2014–15 ŠKP Bratislava EWHL 19 0 3 3 12
2015–16 ŽHK Šarišanka Prešov Extraliga žien 1 0 1 1 2 3 0 2 2 2
2015–16 ŠKP Bratislava EWHL 13 1 5 6 2
2016–17 ŠKP Bratislava EWHL 11 0 7 7 8
2017–18 ŠKP Bratislava EWHL 13 0 6 6 8
2017–18 ŠKP Bratislava Extraliga žien 13 4 11 15 6 6 2 9 11 6
2019–20 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 23 3 8 11 28 1 0 0 0 0
2020–21 HPK Hämeenlinna NSML 2 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
2020–21 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 6 0 1 1 10
2021–22 Metropolitan Riveters PHF 10 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2022–23 Leksands IF SDHL 5 0 0 0 2
Extraliga žien totals 77 5 28 33 60 43 5 20 25 34
EWHL totals 56 1 21 22 30
PHF totals 39 3 9 12 38 2 0 0 0 0

International

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Year Team Event Rank   GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Slovakia U18 WW18 D1Q Q 5 0 1 1 2
2013 Slovakia U18 WW18 D1 5th 5 0 0 0 4
2013 Slovakia WW D1A 3rd 5 0 0 0 0
2014 Slovakia U18 WW18 D1 5th 5 1 2 3 2
2015 Slovakia U18 WW18 D1 3rd 5 1 5 6 8
2015 Slovakia WW D1B 1st 5 0 0 0 0
2016 Slovakia WW D1A 6th 5 0 0 0 8
2016 Slovakia OGQ DNQ 3 0 0 0 2
2018 Slovakia WW D1A 6th 5 1 1 2 2
2019 Slovakia WW D1A 5th 5 0 0 0 4
2021 Slovakia OGQ DNQ 3 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 20 2 8 10 16
Senior totals 25 1 1 2 14

References

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  1. ^ Callari, Jenna (3 March 2020). "Beauts duo enjoying journey from Slovakia to Buffalo". WKBW Buffalo. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. ^ Prosnan, Martin (29 May 2020). "Američan nevidí prekážky. A nevie, že Chára je Slovák" (in Slovak). Pravda. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. ^ Oliver, Nathaniel (11 October 2019). "Buffalo Beauts D Lenka Čurmová Is Making History". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. ^ Strollo, Leighann (7 February 2020). "2020 NWHL All-Star Weekend Preview". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ^ Rice, Dan (28 May 2020). "Buffalo Beauts: Lenka Čurmová and Cassidy MacPherson Re-Signed". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. ^ "V zámorí sa z nej stala vítaná posila: Buffalo ju nechce pustiť, na stole má novú zmluvu". Športky.sk (in Slovak). 28 May 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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