Jiří Jakeš

Jiří Jakeš (born October 4, 1982) is a Czech retired professional ice hockey player. He played four seasons in North America before returning to his native land in 2003. There he played one season in the top-level Extraliga before closing out his career in the lower leagues. Internationally Jakeš took part in the 2002 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and three editions of the Winter Universiade, including 2009, when he captained the side.

Career Jakeš began his hockey career developing his skills within the HC Sparta Praha academy in the Czech Republic. Seeking to advance his prospects, he transitioned to North America by entering the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). In the 2000 CHL Import Draft, he was chosen 14th overall by the Brandon Wheat Kings, a team competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). During his impressive rookie season with the Wheat Kings, Jakeš demonstrated his scoring ability by netting 22 goals throughout 64 games, which earned him an invitation to participate in the prestigious CHL Top Prospects Game. Despite his promise, and after being selected by the Boston Bruins as the 147th overall pick in the 2001 NHL entry draft and invited to the Boston Bruins training camp in 2001, Jakeš ultimately did not play in the NHL during his professional career.

In 2002, Jakeš had a brief stint in the West Coast Hockey League playing for the Anchorage Aces before going back to the WHL with the Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants. After being unable to secure a contract in North America, he returned to the Czech Republic, where he joined the training camp of HC Sparta Praha and played fourteen games during the 2003–04 Czech Extraliga season, thirteen with Sparta and one on loan with HC Lasselsberger Plzeň. He then spent the rest of his career competing in the Czech 1. liga and 2. liga, including the final eight years with HC Kobra Praha.

Jakeš was a member of the Czech Republic national team that took part in the 2002 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He also played for Czechia at the Winter Universiade in 2005, 2007 and 2009, and was the captain of the team in 2009.

During the 2014–15 season, he was captain of the Cobras. He had a strong start to the season, with ten goals in ten games, but then suffered a knee injury which required surgery. He was also the team's captain for the two next seasons, until his retirement in 2017.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1999–2000 HC Sparta Praha CZE U20 37 6 11 17 40 — — — — — 2000–01 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 64 22 16 38 73 6 1 1 2 4 2001–02 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 56 16 18 34 73 19 3 3 6 30 2002–03 Anchorage Aces WCHL 21 4 8 12 4 — — — — — 2002–03 Tri–City Americans WHL 10 3 1 4 18 — — — — — 2002–03 Vancouver Giants WHL 31 15 20 35 54 4 2 0 2 6 2003–04 HC Sparta Praha ELH 13 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 2003–04 HC Lasselsberger Plzeň ELH 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2003–04 HC Mladá Boleslav CZE.2 8 0 1 1 28 — — — — — 2003–04 HC Benátky nad Jizerou CZE.3 6 3 3 6 10 4 2 0 2 60 2004–05 BK Mladá Boleslav CZE.2 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2004–05 IHC Písek CZE.2 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2004–05 HC Benátky nad Jizerou CZE.3 29 12 12 24 113 4 0 1 1 10 2005–06 UHK Lev Slaný CZE.3 26 9 13 22 73 — — — — — 2005–06 HC Benátky nad Jizerou CZE.3 7 2 5 7 8 10 3 8 11 16 2006–07 HC Benátky nad Jizerou CZE.3 36 15 18 33 105 11 2 3 5 47 2007–08 HC Benátky nad Jizerou CZE.3 34 13 29 42 54 16 11 3 14 26 2008–09 HC Junior Mělník CZE.3 31 28 16 44 157 3 2 1 3 4 2009–10 HC Roudnice nad Labem CZE.3 27 17 15 32 82 — — — — — 2010–11 HC Česká Lípa CZE.3 35 11 17 28 74 — — — — — 2011–12 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 35 32 28 60 113 7 2 4 6 38 2012–13 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 34 29 28 57 113 5 4 4 8 6 2013–14 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 31 21 28 49 82 5 4 2 6 24 2014–15 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 13 12 11 23 38 11 6 9 15 20 2015–16 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 30 20 14 34 98 9 1 7 8 10 2016–17 HC Kobra Praha CZE.3 36 26 33 59 80 11 9 11 20 47 ELH totals 14 0 0 0 14 — — — — — CZE.3 totals 410 250 270 520 1200 96 46 53 99 308

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 2002 Czech Republic WJC 7 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 7 0 0 0 0