Jiří Bicek (born 3 December 1978) is a Slovak former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

winger. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

between 2000 and 2004, winning the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

with them in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. 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 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and 2009 World Championships.

Playing career

United States

Bicek was drafted 131st overall by the

in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He then proceeded to play 7 pro seasons in North America. In 62 career

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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

with the Devils, becoming the first Slovak ice hockey player to win it.

Return to Europe

Bicek returned to

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

to play for

HC Košice Hockey Club Košice is a Slovak professional ice hockey club based in Košice that competes in the Slovak Extraliga, the top tier of Slovak ice hockey. It is the most successful hockey club in Slovakia and the former Czechoslovakia, having won the ...

in September 2004 due to the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. In the 2005–06 season he played in Sweden for

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, Swedish Hockey League (SHL), after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus ...

, who were relegated despite Bicek contributing 16 goals and 12 assists. He stayed in the Elitserien but moved to

Brynäs IF Brynäs IF is a Swedish professional ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), promoted from the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden, following the 2023–24 season. The ...

in July 2006. He joined Finnish club

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

for a 10-match trial period in November 2007, going on to make 35 appearances for KalPa with 13 goals and 14 assists. Bicek then moved to JYP in the

SM-Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

in August 2008. He joined Swiss side

EHC Biel EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the te ...

at the end of December 2008 on a short-term contract. In 2009–10 Bicek was playing in Sweden for

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of El ...

. At the start of the 2010–11 season he played twice for

HC Prešov HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

in Slovakia's second-tier

Slovenská hokejová liga The TIPOS Slovenská hokejová liga (TIPOS Slovak Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey league comprising twelve teams in Slovakia. It is the second highest ice hockey league in Slovakia. Game Every regular season game has three 20-minut ...

, on a non-contract basis. He then signed for

HC Kladno HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc ...

of the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

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 Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

. 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 The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

: his first experience was in the 1997 tournament in Finland. He was also part of the Slovakia team at the

2009 IIHF World Championship The 2009 IIHF World Championship took place from 24 April to 10 May 2009 in Switzerland. The games were played in the PostFinance Arena in Bern and Schluefweg in Kloten. The PostFinance Arena in Bern was renovated and accommodates an atten ...

held in Switzerland.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

—

Personal life

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

References

* 2005

NHL Official Guide & Record Book The ''NHL Official Guide & Record Book'' was the complete statistical record of the National Hockey League, published annually by the league until the league ended its production after the publication of the book following the 2017–18 season. An ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bicek, Jiri 1978 births Living people Albany River Rats players Brynäs IF players EHC Biel players HC Karlovy Vary players Rytíři Kladno players HC Košice players HC Prešov players JYP Jyväskylä players KalPa players Leksands IF players New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players Ice hockey people from Košice SaiPa players Slovak ice hockey right wingers Södertälje SK players Stanley Cup champions Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic