Jeffrey Heerema (; born January 17, 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

winger. He last played for the

Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...

of the

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

. He was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, by the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

in the

1998 NHL Entry Draft The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the 36th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Brian Gionta, Mi ...

. Prior to signing for the

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

club he most recently played for KHL Medveščak Zagreb in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Playing career

After playing three full seasons in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

with the

Sarnia Sting Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron flo ...

, Heerema made his professional debut with the

Cincinnati Cyclones The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank Cen ...

of the International Hockey League in the 2000–01 season. He made his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

debut in the 2002–03 season with the Hurricanes, appearing in ten games and scoring three goals. He moved on to the St. Louis Blues for the 2003–04 season after being claimed in the NHL Waiver Draft, and appeared in 22 games, scoring one goal. Heerema spent the entire 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons with the

Binghamton Senators The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

of the AHL, tallying 141 points in 155 games. He signed in the 2007 off-season with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

team the

Frankfurt Lions The Frankfurt Lions were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club ceased operations in 2010 due to financial difficulty. History The hockey team was founded as a se ...

of the DEL. After scoring 20 goals in 2007–08 with the Lions, Heerema was given a one-year extension to remain in Frankfurt. A free agent to start the 2009–10 season, Heerema signed with Croatian-based KHL Medveščak Zagreb of the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

on 23 November 2009. Heerema established himself with the Bears scoring 24 points in 28 games before managing to score only 2 goals as KHL reached to semi-finals in the playoffs. On 13 August 2010, it was announced that Heerema was not offered a new contract to remain in Croatia. On 29 November 2010, it was announced that Heerema had signed for the Nottingham Panthers of the UK's Elite League. Heerema finished his first season with the Panther with 18 goals and 34 points in 28 games. Heerema returned for a second season with the Nottingham Panthers. He suffered a concussion and broken nose following a collision with teammate Matt Francis in Dundee where Panthers won the game 4-1. Due to his injury, he missed the most of October. During the first leg of the Challenge Cup Semi Final in Braehead, Heerema suffered another broken nose and concussion on February 22, 2012. A week later, he returned to Canada to rest and rehabilitate.

Personal

Heerema is the cousin of Eric,

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and

Jared Staal Jared John Staal (born August 21, 1990) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the AHL's Charlotte Checkers. Staal moved into coaching after retiring from playing in 2017, f ...

, all of whom have played professional hockey, and are of Dutch descent.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heerema, Jeff 1980 births Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Carolina Hurricanes draft picks Carolina Hurricanes players Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) players Frankfurt Lions players Hartford Wolf Pack players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players Living people Lowell Lock Monsters players Manitoba Moose players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Nottingham Panthers players St. Louis Blues players Sarnia Sting players Ice hockey people from Thunder Bay Worcester IceCats players