Jochen Hecht Explained

Played For:Adler Mannheim
St. Louis Blues
Edmonton Oilers
Buffalo Sabres
Position:Left wing
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:198
Ntl Team:GER
Birth Date:1977 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Mannheim, West Germany
Draft:49th overall
Draft Year:1995
Draft Team:St. Louis Blues
Career Start:1994
Career End:2016

Jochen Thomas Hecht (German: /hɛçt/) (born 21 June 1977) is a German ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as assistant coach for Adler Mannheim since March 2022.

Hecht played 833 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres and also began and finished his career with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Playing career

As a youth, Hecht played in the 1990 and 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a team from Baden-Württemberg.[1]

The St. Louis Blues selected Hecht in the second round, 49th overall, of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft from Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Hecht played two full seasons for the Blues, compiling 32 goals and 46 assists before being dealt, along with Marty Reasoner and Jan Horáček, to the Edmonton Oilers for Doug Weight and Michel Riesen on 1 July 2001.

After appearing in a full season with the Oilers, Hecht was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for the 31st and 36th picks in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. As a Sabre, Hecht had his most successful NHL season, in terms of points scored, in 2006–07 with 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists).

Hecht was chosen as the captain for the month of October 2007 and later during February 2008. He is the second German-born player to captain an NHL team – Walt Tkaczuk was the first. The C was rotated monthly during the 2007–08 season. On 16 October 2007, Hecht agreed to a four-year, $14.1 million contract extension, which kept him in Buffalo until the 2011–12 season. Hecht scored his 300th career point on 26 October 2007, when he scored against Florida Panthers' goaltender Tomáš Vokoun.

Hecht returned to the city of Mannheim with the Sabres to play against Adler in an exhibition game on 4 October 2011. Hecht, who was recovering from an injury and did not play, received a standing ovation upon skating onto the ice in pre-game practice.[2]

After being injured in January 2012 with a concussion, Hecht missed the remainder of the season and ended the year as a free agent. Several months into the 2012–13 NHL lockout, and after consulting with German doctors (who determined that some of his symptoms were neck-related), he rejoined Adler, joining Sabres linemate Jason Pominville, who joined Adler as a lockout player. After the lockout ended, he re-signed with the Sabres to a one-year, $1 million deal.[3]

On 26 April 2013, Hecht announced his retirement from the NHL to reporters in the locker room following the Sabres' final regular season game against the New York Islanders.[4]

Following his retirement from the NHL, Hecht announced his intention to return to Mannheim to finish out his career. In 2015, he won his third German championship with the Adler squad. The first two titles came before his NHL career, in 1997 and 1998.[5] Hecht played a total of three additional years in Germany before retiring from professional hockey in 2016.[6]

International play

Hecht appeared in four games with Team Germany at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. He scored a goal and an assist as Germany finished eighth. He had been named to the team for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He was injured, however, in his last NHL game before the Olympic break and was unable to play. He played in four World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Team Germany between 1994 and 1997,[7] and shares the record for most games played in World Junior Ice Hockey Championships together with Switzerland's Björn Christen.[8]

Coaching career

Hecht was named player development coach for Adler Mannheim on August 2, 2016.[9] He served as assistant to Marco Sturm, head coach of the German men's national team, during the 2016 Deutschland-Cup.[10] In July 2017, Hecht was promoted to the assistant coach position at Adler Mannheim[11] and parted company with the club in May 2018 to take care of getting his coaching licenses.[12] Hecht also worked for German TV as ice hockey pundit, on March 29, 2022, he returned to Adler Mannheim as assistant coach.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1993–94Mannheimer ERCDEU U2028271340103
1994–95Adler MannheimDEL43111223681054912
1995–96Adler MannheimDEL441216286883256
1996–97Adler MannheimDEL46212142381011214
1997–98Adler MannheimDEL4582129421021314
1998–99Worcester IceCatsAHL742135564841122
1998–99St. Louis BluesNHL3000052020
1999–2000St. Louis BluesNHL6313213428746100
2000–01St. Louis BluesNHL7219254448152464
2001–02Edmonton OilersNHL8216244060
2002–03Buffalo SabresNHL4910162630
2003–04Buffalo SabresNHL6415375249
2004–05Adler MannheimDEL481634501511410102014
2005–06Buffalo SabresNHL6418244234152688
2006–07Buffalo SabresNHL76193756391641510
2007–08Buffalo SabresNHL7522274938
2008–09Buffalo SabresNHL7012152733
2009–10Buffalo SabresNHL7921214235
2010–11Buffalo SabresNHL671217294010110
2011–12Buffalo SabresNHL224486
2012–13Adler MannheimDEL658138
2012–13Buffalo SabresNHL47591418
2013–14Adler MannheimDEL491521366250114
2014–15Adler MannheimDEL351192044153121514
2015–16Adler MannheimDEL406192510831018
DEL totals3561051612665897525315686
NHL totals8331862774634585914183224

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1994GermanyWJC70004
1994GermanyEJC562818
1995Germany WJC753818
1995GermanyEJC533618
1996Germany WJC614518
1996Germany61238
1996Germany WCH41012
1997Germany WJC60224
1997GermanyWC82026
1998Germany OG41016
1998GermanyWC61122
2002Germany OG 41122
2004GermanyWC63034
2004Germany WCH41012
2005GermanyWC63146
2009GermanyWC61014
2010GermanyOG40112
Junior totals3615142980
Senior totals581562144

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA. 2018. Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2019-01-31. 6 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf. dead.
  2. Web site: Hecht receives standing ovation . . 2011-10-04 . 2011-10-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120403043651/http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=126044 . 3 April 2012 . dmy-all .
  3. Web site: Hecht is set to be heading home. Vogl. John. 11 January 2013. The Buffalo News. 12 January 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150122225938/http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130111%2FSPORTS%2F130119724%2F1003. 22 January 2015. dmy-all.
  4. Hoppe, Bill (27 April 2013). Miller buoys Sabres past Isles in season finale, Hecht retires from NHL. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. Web site: Jochen Hecht, die spielende Legende der Adler. www.suedostschweiz.ch. 22 December 2015 . 2016-03-06.
  6. http://adler-mannheim.de/topstories.php?d%5Bnr%5D=5026 Jochen Hecht ends his career
  7. http://www.quanthockey.com/hockey-stats/en/profile.php?player=2364 Jochen Hecht national team stats at quanthockey.com
  8. http://www.quanthockey.com/wjc-u20/fi/records/wjc-u20-players-all-time-games-played-leaders.html World Junior Ice Hockey Championship all-time games played leaders at quanthockey.com
  9. Web site: ADLER Mannheim. adler-mannheim.de. 2016-08-03. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160803085345/http://adler-mannheim.de/topstories.php?d[nr]=5030. 3 August 2016. dmy-all.
  10. Web site: Nationalmannschaft: Zwei Debütanten beim Deutschland Cup Deutscher Eishockey-Bund e.V.. e.V.. Deutscher Eishockey-Bund. www.deb-online.de. 19 October 2016 . 2016-10-20.
  11. Web site: ADLER Mannheim. www.adler-mannheim.de. de. 2017-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170801194102/http://www.adler-mannheim.de/topstories.php?d%5Bnr%5D=5365. 1 August 2017. dead.
  12. Web site: Co-Trainer Jochen Hecht verlässt die Adler Mannheim vorerst. www.eishockeynews.de. de. 2018-05-04.
  13. Web site: 2022-03-28 . Eishockey - DEL: Adler Mannheim feuern Meistertrainer Gross - Stewart übernimmt - auch ranNHL-Experte dabei . 2022-07-28 . www.ran.de . de.