Juraj Šimek (born 29 September 1987) is a Slovak-born

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 ...

player. He is currently playing with

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , ) is a Polish professional football club based in Katowice. They currently compete in the Ekstraklasa in the 2024–25 season after gaining promotion from the I liga in 2024. History In 1963 in Katowice a spe ...

of the

Polska Hokej Liga The Polska Hokej Liga (''PHL'') is the premier ice hockey league in Poland. The highest professional level of ice hockey in Poland is the Polish Hockey League (PHL); also referred to as the Polska Hokej Liga. Previously, it was known as the I Li ...

(PHL).

Playing career

Prior to moving to North America, Šimek played in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

between the junior and senior ( Nationalliga A and B) leagues with

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Kloten Kloten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bülach District, district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (). History Kloten is first mentioned in 1155 as ''Chlotun''. Geogra ...

, and

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

. After a strong season with Kloten's junior team in 2005–06, posting 68 points in 45 games, Šimek was chosen in the sixth round, 167th overall, by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Selected by the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadians, Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. Founded in 1936, the team was for three decades a successful junior team playing principally in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Whe ...

with their first choice in the 2006

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

(CHL) Import Draft, Šimek made his North American debut in 2006–07 with the Wheat Kings. He scored at a near point-per-game pace, with 57 points in 58 games and received his first NHL contract in the off-season, on July 23, 2007, with the Canucks. Signed with the Canucks, he made his AHL debut with Vancouver's minor league affiliate, the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

, in 2007–08 and scored 17 points in 66 games. On October 6, 2008, he was traded along with

Lukáš Krajíček Lukáš Krajíček (, born March 11, 1983) is a , Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyer ...

to the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

for Michel Ouellet and Shane O'Brien. On December 9, 2010, Tampa Bay traded Šimek to the Boston Bruins in exchange for minor league forward Levi Nelson. On October 15, 2019, Genève-Servette HC managed to loan struggling Šimek to the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers through November 10. It was later announced that Šimek would remain with the Lakers for the remainder of the 2019/20 season. On April 29, 2020, Šimek joined EHC Kloten of the second-tier

Swiss League The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

on a one-year deal.

International play

Šimek has played for the Swiss national junior team twice at the World Junior Championships.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1987 births Brandon Wheat Kings players EHC Biel players EHC Bülach players Genève-Servette HC players HC Lugano players HC TPS players Living people Manitoba Moose players Norfolk Admirals players Ice hockey people from Prešov HC 21 Prešov players Providence Bruins players SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers players Slovak ice hockey right wingers Swiss ice hockey right wingers Vancouver Canucks draft picks Slovak emigrants to Switzerland Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Finland Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Poland Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Canada Swiss expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Swiss expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in Poland {{Switzerland-icehockey-bio-stub