Eastern Conference Eye Candy: Jochen Hecht (Buffalo Sabres)

I don't know why, but this week's choice makes me think he has "Kena" written all over him -- "dirty" blonde, German ... (although he probably could afford a few more inches of height for him to be JUST RIGHT!)!! You know I love you, Kena, which is why I tease!!!

HOCKEY FACTOR:

Hecht's professional hockey career started in his birthplace, Germany, back in 1994 playing for the Adler Mannheim (Mannheim Eagles) which is part of the DEL - Deutsche Eishockey Liga (the highest ice hockey league in that country).  He continued to play with the Eagles in the DEL even after being drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 2nd round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft (49th overall) until the 1998-1999 season when he began playing for the Blues AHL affiliate, Worchester Ice Cats.

After a season with the Ice Cats, Hecht played two full seasons with the Blues before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in July 2001 along with Marty Reasoner and Jan Horáček in exchange for Doug Weight and Michel Riesen.  He spent one season with the Oilers (2001-2002) and was traded to his current team, the Buffalo Sabres, in June 2002 in exchange for the Sabres' 31st and 36th picks of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft (which was Atlanta's 2nd round choice that Buffalo previously acquired; Edmonton selected Jeff Deslauriers and Nashville's 2nd round choice previously acquired by Buffalo; Edmonton selected Jarret Stoll).

During the NHL lockout (2004-2005 season), Hecht returned to Germany to once again play for the Mannheim Eagles.

Being his most successful with the Buffalo organization, Hecht has stayed with them the longest.  He took a turn at captaincy in October 2007 and February 2008 during the season the Sabres decided to rotate the responsibility each month which made him the second German-born player to captain an NHL team.  Back in October 2007, Hecht signed a 4-year / $14.1 million contract extention that enables him to play for Buffalo through the 2011-2012 season and this past season (2009-2010), he recorded his 400th career NHL point and played in his 600th career NHL game.

While playing professionally in the NHL, Hecht has been chosen to play for his country in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics (and was ommitted in 2010 which had alot of surprising omissions for men's ice hockey).

HOTNESS FACTOR:

Hecht is a decent-sized forward (center) at 6'1, 191-199 pounds, but for whatever reason he looks HUGE (must be the skates!)!! ; P

He's a family man ... married with two kids (Philip, 6, and Victoria, 4).  HERE'S an interesting article that mentions his taking them to an island off the coast of Spain last summer where he taught his kids how to snorkel (too CUTE!), but the article was mainly about something even more attractive about him ... he was having a shit season the year prior (having been demoted to the fourth line) and he decided to do something about it:

"I was not in a good mood last year," Hecht said Wednesday morning. "I was miserable and down on myself, hard on myself. I wanted to change that. I knew that I had to change it to play better. Even at home, away from hockey, I was still in a bad mood. So I had to learn to separate those two things."

He definitely turned it around by having a really great season including one of the hotter streaks he's had in two years according to the article ending this season with 21 G, 21 A (42 points)!  AWESOME!!