Jānis Jaks (born 22 August 1995) is a Latvian 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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He most recently played for HC Sochi of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL).

Playing career

Collegiate

Jaks joined the Yellow Jackets for the 2016–17 campaign and quickly became a mainstay of their blue line, scoring five goals and six assists for 11 points as a freshman, including two game-winning goals.

Professional

On 30 March 2020, Jaks was signed to a one-year contract with the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home ...

of the AHL for the 2020–21 season. With the commencement of the 2020–21 North American season delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Jaks was signed to a try-out contract with Latvian-based KHL club, Dinamo Riga, on 23 August 2020. Jaks appeared in 17 contests with Dinamo, collecting 1 goal and 4 points before returning to the AHL and the Condors. In completing his first professional season, Jaks contributed with two goals and 6 points from the blueline with the Condors. Jaks left North America as a free agent and signed a one-year contract to return to the KHL with Russian-based club HC Sochi on 19 July 2021.

International play

Jaks played for Latvia's junior team at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

World Junior Championships. He played his first game at the senior international level in the 2014 World Championships for Latvia's national team against Russia's national team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1995 births Living people American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey players Bakersfield Condors players Dinamo Riga players HK Riga players HK Zemgale players Latvian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Latvia HC Sochi players Ice hockey people from Riga {{Latvia-icehockey-bio-stub