John Jakopin

Janez Leo "John" Jakopin (born May 16, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks between 1998 and 2002. He has Slovene roots.

Career Jakopin was born in Toronto, Ontario. As a youth, he played in the 1989 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Marlboros minor ice hockey team. He was drafted 97th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1993 NHL entry draft and played a total of 113 regular season games, scoring one goal and six assists for seven points, collecting 145 penalty minutes. He spent most of his career bouncing around the league, playing mostly in the American Hockey League. He retired in 2005 after a spell with HDD Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1992–93 St. Michael's Buzzers MetJAHL 45 9 21 30 42 13 3 2 5 4 1993–94 Merrimack College H-East 36 2 8 10 64 — — — — — 1994–95 Merrimack College HE 37 4 10 14 42 — — — — — 1995–96 Merrimack College HE 32 10 15 25 68 — — — — — 1996–97 Merrimack College HE 31 4 12 16 68 — — — — — 1996–97 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 3 0 0 0 9 — — — — — 1997–98 Florida Panthers NHL 2 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1997–98 Beast of New Haven AHL 60 2 18 20 151 3 0 0 0 0 1998–99 Florida Panthers NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1998–99 Beast of New Haven AHL 60 2 7 9 154 — — — — — 1999–00 Florida Panthers NHL 17 0 0 0 26 — — — — — 1999–00 Louisville Panthers AHL 23 4 6 10 47 — — — — — 2000–01 Florida Panthers NHL 60 1 2 3 62 — — — — — 2000–01 Louisville Panthers AHL 8 0 1 1 21 — — — — — 2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 19 0 4 4 42 — — — — — 2001–02 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 30 3 5 8 90 — — — — — 2002–03 San Jose Sharks NHL 12 0 0 0 11 — — — — — 2002–03 Cleveland Barons AHL 18 0 4 4 27 — — — — — 2003–04 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 42 3 4 7 99 — — — — — 2003–04 Binghamton Senators AHL 11 1 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 2 2004–05 Olimpija Ljubljana IEHL 3 0 0 0 37 — — — — — 2004–05 Olimpija Ljubljana SVN 2 0 2 2 0 — — — — — AHL totals 255 15 45 60 602 5 0 0 0 2 NHL totals 113 1 6 7 145 — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East Rookie Team 1993–94 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award (AHL) 1997–98