Wital Kowal

Wital Kowal
Date of birth	March 31, 1980
place of birth	Perm , Russian SFSR
size	188 cm
Weight	100 kg
position	goalkeeper
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
1998-2005	Molot-Prikamje Perm
2005-2008	HK Nyoman Hrodna
2008-2010	HK Dinamo Minsk
2010-2011	Atlant Mytishchi
2011-2014	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
2014-2015	Salawat Yulayev Ufa
2015	Neftechimik Nizhnekamsk
since 2016	VIK Västerås HK

Wital Mikalayevich Kowal ( Belarusian Віталь Мікалаевіч Коваль , Russian Виталий Николаевич Коваль / Vitaly Nikolayevich Kowal; * 31 March 1980 in Perm , Russian SFSR ) is a Russian - Belarusian ice hockey player , who at since January 2016 VIK Västerås HK in HockeyAllsvenskan under contract .

Career

Wital Kowal began his career as an ice hockey player in the junior division of Molot-Prikamje Perm , for whose professional team he made his debut in the Russian Super League in the 2000/01 season . Most of the season, however, he spent in the second-rate Wysschaja Liga with Neftjanik Leninogorsk . In the 2003/04 season, the goalkeeper reached the direct return to the Superleague with Perm after relegation from the previous year, but spent most of the time at the league rivals Motor Barnaul . The following year he was also a time for the HK Liepājas Metalurgs in the Latvian ice hockey league between the posts.

In the summer of 2005, Kowal returned to his homeland, where he received a contract with HK Njoman Hrodna . After three years in the Extraliga , he was signed by HK Dinamo Minsk from the newly founded Continental Hockey League before the 2008/09 season , for which he played until 2010. In the summer of 2010 he continued to train with the team, but did not get a new contract. In 2010 he was signed by Atlant Mytishchi , with whom Kowal reached the final series for the Gagarin Cup in the 2010/11 season . In early July 2011 he was signed by Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and showed convincing performances in the following three game years. Especially in the 2011/12 season he was one of the best goalkeepers in the KHL and had the best catch rate and the best goals against goals in the league. He was also nominated for the KHL All-Star Game in 2012.

Kowal has been under contract with Salawat Julajew Ufa since June 2014 and also convinced there with good statistical values, so that he was named KHL Goalkeeper of the Week in October 2014 .

International

With Belarus Kowal participated in the World Championships in 2008 , 2009 and 2010 and the 2010 Winter Olympics in part.

Achievements and Awards

• 2004 Champion of the Wysschaja Liga and promotion to the Superliga with Molot-Prikamje Perm
• 2009 Spengler Cup win with HK Dinamo Minsk
• 2012 KHL All-Star Game

KHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Victories	Defeats	draw	Shutouts
Main round	3	86	28	39	14th	5
Playoffs	1	4th	-	-	-	-

(Status: end of the 2010/11 season)

Web links

Commons : Wital Kowal  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Wital Kowal at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Wital Kowal at hockeygoalies.org