Pavel Novák smiled — with a cliché but noticeable sparkle in his eyes — when asked about his return to the ice in the spring.
Back home in Czechia during the winter months that would normally be in-season for ice hockey, Novák contacted the coach of his former team, HC Motor České Budějovice. He wanted to skate. He wanted to feel the energy inside an arena again.
“They had a pregame skate and I asked if I could go with them,” Novák said. “He was like, ‘Of course, you are always welcome.’ It was awesome. Of course, I didn’t feel really good, but it was just so much fun.”
It was a long-awaited return for Novák.
The now 21-year-old Czech hockey player — who had a stick in his hands since he was around 3 years old — stepped away from the rink for months while undergoing cancer treatments. After weeks of light workouts followed by solo skating, Novák felt like a hockey player again.
The moment Novák took the ice in a familiar arena was only a halfway point in his 16-month journey back to ice hockey, the longest he’d ever been away from the sport.
While getting back to the sport was always the goal, the light at the end of the tunnel, Novák turned the negatives into positives and learned that there was more to life than just hockey.
Routine end-of-season bloodwork leads to a cancer diagnosis
There are significant periods of time that outline life before, during and after cancer for Novák.
In late April 2022, while playing for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, he missed the final two first-round playoff games with COVID-19. Novák did bloodwork to confirm he was no longer sick, and to clear him to return home at the end of the season.
Less than two weeks later, he inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild.
Nearly two months later, Novák publicly shared that he would take a leave of absence from hockey. He had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a serious but treatable form of blood cancer that can impact the lymphatic system.
Those routine blood tests had indicated that something wasn’t right. Several more tests and a biopsy later, Novák received an official diagnosis.
“My doctor called me and told me what’s going on,” Novák said. “He actually sounded pretty happy about it, because there were a lot of different cancers but the one I had, it was like 93% (chance) that I would be healthy again, which is a lot.”
While the bloodwork confirmed that something was wrong, Novák had suspicions before his diagnosis. He felt increasingly tired after practices and games. At first, he attributed it to playing more minutes, but when it continued past the end of the season, he knew it was more than lingering lethargy after COVID-19.
“I never thought they were the symptoms of having cancer,” Novák said. “It was bad, but I never thought it was going to be that bad.”
Treatment takes Novák away from the game for 16 months
After missing the Minnesota Wild’s summer development camp to undergo tests and finally getting an answer about what was wrong, next came treatment.
Novák’s doctor gave him two options: To go through treatment in Budějovice (a city in Czechia) or travel to Prague (the capital city) for care at a hospital that specializes in cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The Minnesota Wild presented a third option when Novák’s agent notified the team of his diagnosis. The Wild offered to pay for their prospect to come to Minnesota so he could receive treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“It was really hard to tell them that I had to go through all these treatments,” Novák said. “I kind of put it on my agent to tell them. We set up a call and I talked to (team executives Bill Guerin, Brad Bombardir and Matt Hendricks) and they were like, ‘You’ve got this. We will wait for you.’ And to stay positive and keep battling.”
Even if the allure of treatment in the United States appealed to Novák, it was an easy choice to remain close to home and go through chemotherapy in Prague.
Twenty years old at the time, Novák was very much still a kid despite his blossoming hockey career. He needed his support system: father Pavel, mother Pavlina, sister Ema, and girlfriend Kristina.
“I wanted to be around my family and friends, because I knew it’s not going to be fun and I knew they could really help me,” Novák said.
Novák’s family never left his side. For months, his parents accompanied him on the two-hour drive from his hometown to Prague. Novák felt confident that he would get through treatments.
He was supposed to do six cycles of three weeks each. He only went through four cycles since his body responded well and the tumor was eliminated by the chemotherapy. Still, the chemotherapy took a toll on Novák’s body.
“When they told me I was healthy again, it was the best feeling I could get,” Novák said. “Then we talked about what was gonna happen next.”
The doctor told Novák that he needed to take a couple more weeks off before slowly starting to work out again. Getting back on the ice right away wasn’t an option, because the only thing that could properly help the body heal was time.
In October 2022, he started working out. Two months later, he laced up the skates and got back on the ice. It wasn’t until February of 2023 that he felt like a hockey player again. But it took up to the start of the season with the Iowa Wild for Novák to feel like he did prior to his diagnosis.
Returning to America and to professional hockey
Novák started the season with the Iowa Wild but was sent down to the Iowa Heartlanders in Coralville, the ECHL affiliate of the Wild. He recorded two goals and one assist in two games before returning to Des Moines.
He has yet to register a point in four games with the Wild, but Novák isn’t focused on padding his own stats.
Instead, he measures his progress. He feels better and more confident with each game played, even with the adjustment period that comes with moving between the AHL and ECHL. There is a lot for Novák to learn, but there is no room for excuses as he works he way up.
“I remember when I had a conversation (with Wild coach Brett McLean),” Novák said. “He was saying I still have a lot of time to get better because I didn’t play for 16 months. And I told him, it’s not an excuse for me. I want to be treated like other players.”
Novák got his wish. His coaches and teammates don’t treat him differently and opponents don’t know about his battle with cancer when he’s on the ice.
McLean had a connection with Novák long before the two ended up together in Des Moines. Both coach and player had careers with the Kelowna Rockets, and McLean kept in contact with Novák from when he was drafted by the Minnesota Wild all through his treatments.
The Iowa Wild head coach has nothing but good things to say about Novák. He hasn’t scored a goal or picked up an assist, but Novák has kept up with the fast-paced, physical game, which is a testament to his work ethic in his first professional season.
“He was out for 16 months, he wasn’t playing, and it’s tough to come back from that,” McLean said. “He’s playing just great. He’s working his way into becoming a real good American Hockey League player, which is such a credit to him in his first pro season.”
Wild’s ‘Hockey Fights Cancer’ night means more for Novák now
On Oct. 5, 2022, Novák shared on social media that he beat cancer.
Just over a year later, at the start of his first season as a professional hockey player, hockey is a little bit less about the competition and more about fun for Novák. On or off the ice, it’s rare to find him without a smile on his face.
From gym workouts to playing the game, he enjoys every moment in the hockey world because, last October, there was no guarantee that he would play at this level. Novák doesn’t want to take any part of this journey for granted.
“It’s not a job for me anymore, and I’m having so much fun,” Novák said.
But, still, there are some games that mean more than others.
Take the Wild’s matchup against the Texas Stars on Saturday, for example. It was just another game for most of his teammates. For Novák, though, he became the face of the team’s Hockey Fights Cancer night.
Novák wants to serve as a reminder to others — hockey player or not — to keep fighting and stay positive. He beat his cancer, but he also understands that there are millions of other people who fight every day.
And although getting back to hockey was always on Novák’s mind during his treatment, he’s learned a lot about himself and his priorities in the last year and a half.
“I always really cared about hockey, and all I wanted to be was a hockey player. But now, I can see that there are a lot of more important things in life, not just hockey.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
