Jiří Bicek
Slovak ice hockey player (born 1978)
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Jiří Bicek (born 3 December 1978) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey winger. He played in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils between 2000 and 2004, winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2003. By doing so, Bicek became the first Slovak player to win the Stanley Cup. After returning to Europe in 2004, he spent the rest of his career playing in the national leagues of Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic
| Jiří Bicek | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bicek in 2006 | |||
| Born |
3 December 1978 | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Right wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | New Jersey Devils | ||
| NHL draft |
131st overall, 1997 New Jersey Devils | ||
| Playing career | 1995–2018 | ||
Internationally, Bicek played for the Slovak national team at several tournaments, including the 1997 and 2009 World Championships.
Playing career
United States
Bicek was drafted 131st overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1997 NHL entry draft. He then proceeded to play 7 pro seasons in North America.[1]
In 62 career NHL regular season games for the New Jersey Devils, Bicek scored 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points, also playing in 7 playoff games.[2] He won a Stanley Cup in 2003 with the Devils, becoming the first Slovak ice hockey player to win it.[3]
Return to Europe
Bicek returned to Slovakia to play for HC Košice in September 2004 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout.[4][3] In the 2005–06 season he played in Sweden for Leksands IF, who were relegated despite Bicek contributing 16 goals and 12 assists. He stayed in the Elitserien but moved to Brynäs IF in July 2006.[5] He joined Finnish club KalPa for a 10-match trial period in November 2007,[2] going on to make 35 appearances for KalPa with 13 goals and 14 assists. Bicek then moved to JYP in the SM-Liiga in August 2008.[6]
He joined Swiss side EHC Biel at the end of December 2008 on a short-term contract.[7] In 2009–10 Bicek was playing in Sweden for Södertälje SK. At the start of the 2010–11 season he played twice for HC Prešov in Slovakia's second-tier Slovenská hokejová liga, on a non-contract basis. He then signed for HC Kladno of the Czech Extraliga in November 2010.[3]
He moved within the Extraliga to Energie Karlovy Vary in December 2012, providing two assists in his first game for the club in a 4–1 win at Sparta.[8]
Bicek played the later years of his career with Košice, announcing his retirement in February 2018, having played just fourteen times for the club in the 2017–18 season.[9]
International play
Bicek took part twice in the Ice Hockey World Championships: his first experience was in the 1997 tournament in Finland. He was also part of the Slovakia team at the 2009 IIHF World Championship held in Switzerland.[3]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994–95 | HC Košice U20 | SVK U20 | 42 | 38 | 36 | 74 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Košice U20 | SVK U20 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | HC Košice | SVK | 30 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | HC Košice | SVK | 44 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 50 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1998–99 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 79 | 15 | 45 | 60 | 102 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1999–00 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 80 | 7 | 36 | 43 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 73 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 62 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 44 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 24 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 55 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | HC Košice | SVK | 54 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 69 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | Leksands IF | SWE | 50 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | HC Košice | SVK | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Brynäs IF | SWE | 35 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 39 | ||
| 2007–08 | KalPa | FIN | 35 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | JYP | FIN | 33 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | EHC Biel | NLA | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Södertälje SK | SWE | 44 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | HC Prešov | SVK-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | HC Kladno | CZE | 35 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Rytíři Kladno | CZE | 50 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Rytíři Kladno | CZE | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | HC Karlovy Vary | CZE | 25 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | HC Košice | SVK | 52 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15 | HC Košice | SVK | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | HC Košice | SVK | 47 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | HC Košice | SVK | 54 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | HC Košice | SVK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SVK totals | 345 | 97 | 126 | 223 | 169 | 76 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 16 | ||||
| NHL totals | 62 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
International
Awards
Personal life
Bicek is the son-in-law of Slovak hockey player Vincent Lukáč.[1]