LAS VEGAS — After one of his NCAA-leading six shutouts this season, UND goaltender Jan Špunar was notified that he was named one of the game’s stars.
He tried to decline it.
Speaking with his Czech accent, he explained that the game was too easy for him to be a star. He pointed to the low number of shots he faced. He felt the honor should go to a teammate.
That’s typical Špunar.
UND’s freshman goaltender isn’t overly talkative, but he makes his words count. He’s comically honest and uniquely insightful. He draws laughs with clever one-liners. And his laid-back persona explains why he is unfazed by big moments.
Špunar and UND are at the NCAA Frozen Four, where they’ll play in front of more than 17,000 fans on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday afternoon.
UND is searching for its ninth NCAA national championship and will have to go through some of college hockey’s legendary programs to get there. The other Frozen Four participants are 10-time national champion Denver, nine-time national champion Michigan and six-time national champion Wisconsin, UND’s semifinal opponent.
That might not mean a whole lot to Špunar, who grew up just outside of Olomouc, Czechia, and did not even have college hockey on his radar until the second half of last season.
Špunar initially came to North America to play for the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League. Until November of last year, WHL players were ineligible for college.
He moved to Dubuque in the United States Hockey League and earned all-USHL honors.
“He’s so calm under pressure,” Dubuque general manager Trevor Edwards said. “He doesn’t even feel it. I don’t even know if he knows it’s happening. He has such a calm, controlled demeanor. I think that calmness is going to serve him well as pressure goes up. Look at his playoff numbers.”
Špunar posted back-to-back shutouts in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional, blanking Merrimack 3-0 and Quinnipiac 5-0. He was 53-for-53 and was named the Most Valuable Player of the regional.
In the postgame press conference, he had the media laughing from start to end, when he admitted he had no idea he won the MVP award.
“I love Spoons,” UND defenseman Andrew Strathmann said. “He’s a great human being. He’s very quiet. English obviously isn’t his first language, so he comes in the rink, does his work and kind of stays quiet. But he’ll crack some jokes. He’ll be the guy in the corner, just chiming in every once in a while and everyone starts dying.”
Špunar was the same way in Dubuque.
“Jan’s a man of few words,” Edwards said. “He’s one of those characters who has a calming, laid-back presence. He has a funny sense of humor. He would make little, witty comments that the boys and the staff really liked. He’s a special one.”
Before Špunar became a hockey goalie, he was a soccer goalkeeper.
In fact, that’s how he ended up in a hockey net.
When he was about seven years old, his team had a preseason meeting with the coach.
“We had 15 guys on the team and only two showed up — me and my friend,” Špunar said. “Because I was a goalie in soccer, the coach had an idea that maybe I could be a hockey goalie, too. My dad wasn’t happy about it, because it’s expensive to play goalie, but it was the right choice.”
Before he was a hockey goalie, Jan Špunar was a soccer goalkeeper.
Submitted photo
Špunar was selected in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft in 2022, and he decided to move across the Atlantic Ocean to play for Portland.
This is his fourth season in North America.
Špunar said he connects almost daily with his family — he has two younger brothers (ages 18 and 12) and a younger sister (age 7). But he doesn’t get to see him often.
His family hasn’t seen him play in person since he was in Portland three seasons ago.
“My dad is really into it and tries to watch every game,” Špunar said. “Sometimes, it’s hard, because of the time difference. The games are always at 2 or 3 in the morning.”
UND goaltender Jan Špunar grew up just outside of Olomouc, Czechia.
Submitted photo
Špunar has the Czech flag on his goalie mask and said he loves a lot of things about his native country.
“Beer. Culture. History. The people. How intense people are into sport,” he said. “When there’s a World Championship, everyone is downtown watching big screens, cheering for the national team.”
His childhood involved playing outdoors with friends.
“I think I was the last generation that actually spent time outside,” Špunar said. “We were playing hockey on roller skates on our street, playing soccer, hide-and-seek, all these games. Now, they’re all just on their phones.
“I had four friends the same age. One lived across the street, one next to me. We were always knocking on each other’s windows and we’d play all day pretty much.”
Jan Špunar (back middle) hangs out with friends and his brother (front) in Czechia.
Submitted photo
UND started recruiting Špunar during the second half of last season when Brad Berry was the head coach and Karl Goehring worked with the goaltenders. That recruitment continued under the new staff, which knew all about Špunar.
Last season, UND general manager Bryn Chyzyk and associate head coach Matt Smaby were with the Waterloo Black Hawks. Špunar went 4-0 against Waterloo.
“He’s efficient,” Edwards said. “He doesn’t over-move in net. Some goalies are all over the place. He’s the exact opposite.”
Špunar, who committed to UND in late April, had a fast ascent.
UND had Špunar penciled in as the second goaltender to start the year. He didn’t play in the first five games. Then, he posted a shutout in his first start and took off from there.
“We believed he could be a good goalie and he could definitely do the job,” UND coach Dane Jackson said. “But to have the meteoric rise he’s had, and how well he’s played this quickly, is definitely surprising. But we feel very fortunate to have him.”
Špunar became the first goaltender in school history to win his first nine starts. He became the first freshman ever to win the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Goaltender of the Year honor. He won the MVP of the regional. And now he’s about to become the first UND freshman to start a Frozen Four game since Aaron Schweitzer in 1997.
“Wow, did it ever work out,” Edwards said. “We knew he was good. He was really, really talented. But I don’t think anybody could have guessed this.”
Jan Špunar posts for a photo after breaking a school record by winning his first nine starts.
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux / UND athletics
NCAA Frozen Four semifinals
Who: UND vs. Wisconsin.
When: 4 p.m. Central on Thursday.
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
Records: UND 29-9-1; Wisconsin 23-12-2.
TV: ESPN2 (GF Ch. 26/621HD).
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM).