Jiří Bicek

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

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.

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. He won a Stanley Cup in 2003 with the Devils, becoming the first Slovak ice hockey player to win it. He joined Finnish club KalPa for a 10-match trial period in November 2007,

He joined Swiss side EHC Biel at the end of December 2008 on a short-term contract. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1995 Slovakia EJC-B 5 6 1 7 0 1996 Slovakia EJC 5 1 3 4 18 1996 Slovakia WJC 6 2 5 7 4 1997 Slovakia WJC 6 2 1 3 4 1997 Slovakia WC 8 1 0 1 4 2009 Slovakia WC 6 0 0 0 2 Junior totals 22 11 10 21 26 Senior totals 14 1 0 1 6

Awards 2003 — NHL Stanley Cup

Personal life Bicek is the son-in-law of Slovak hockey player Vincent Lukáč.