Czech
goaltender
Jakub Škarek, 26, has signed a contract with IFK Helsinki, the
Liiga club announced on Friday. The
deal is for a year plus an option.
“I
am really competitive. For me, the most important thing is to help
the team win,” said Škarek. “II
am very happy to have signed a contract with HIFK. The club has a
long history and is a name known throughout the hockey world. I am
really excited to join the team.”
After
being a third-round draft pick of the New
York Islanders in 2018, Škarek spent almost all of the past six
seasons in the Isles organization, mostly in the AHL
with the Bridgeport Islanders but he played two NHL games last
season.
“Jakub is a very experienced goalie
for his age,” said club sports director Janne Pesonen. “His
sights are on the NHL and Jakub has already had a taste of that
dream. We are happy that he feels that HIFK is the right place for
him to take the next step in his career, and he will definitely bring
competition to our goaltending department.”
Originally from Jihlava, Czechia and a
product of the local Dukla club, this will already be Škarek’s
third stop in Finland. After being drafted, he spent the 2018-19
season with the Lahti Pelicans, playing 22 Liiga games and seven in
the second-tier Mestis. He returned to Lahti to play four games for
Peliitat in 2020-21 while the start of the AHL season was delayed by
pandemic-related restrictions.
This
past season, IFK Helsinki finished fourth in the Liiga regular season
and was eliminated in the quarterfinals – falling
behind 3-0, winning three in a row, then losing Game 7 at home to the
Lahti Pelicans.
In
addition to Škorek,
the team has under contract for 2025-26
ex-NHLers Jori Lehterä,
Iiro Pakarinen and Petteri Lindbohm, as well as 19-year-old
Minnesota
Wild prospect Aron Kiviharju. The team will be coached by Olli
Jokinen.
Olli Jokinen Explains Viral “F-Bomb” VideoFormer NHL defenseman Olli Jokinen is now in his fourth year of coaching professional hockey, but it’s only been since an expletive-laced video of him trying to motivate his Timrå team went viral in the last few days that many outside of Finland or Sweden have known it.
Read the full article here