• Hecimovic: Croatian Canadian, Croatian Team, Austrian League

  Filed under Austria
  Sep 8
  John Hecimovic played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05. His first four full seasons were spent with the Sarnia Sting and after 12 games of his fifth season, Hecimovic was shipped to the Mississauga IceDogs where he finished out his OHL career.

  John was a fine example of consistency around the net scoring exactly 30 goals in his second, third and fourth seasons. In his final season, that number dropped to a combined total of 26 goals between Sarnia and Mississauga but that feat was accomplished in just 51 games.

  Hecimovic was picked by the Florida Panthers in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL draft, 264th overall. The highest level John played at in North America was three partial seasons in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He played 24 games with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2005-06 before jetting off to Germany to play for Straubing Tigers of the German Bundesliga. He spent 2006-07 with the Pensacola Ice Pilots, averaging more than a point per game with 55 points in 44 games.

  After playing just 5 games with Pensacola in 2007-08, it was off to Europe again for Hecimovic. This time the destination was the Netherlands. In just 25 games with HYS The Hague, John scored 23 goals and added 23 assists for 46 points. The following season, despite playing just 16 regular season games, Hecimovic produced 16 points in 10 playoff games and led The Hague to the Dutch championship.

  This past season, John followed his ancestral roots and landed in Zagreb, Croatia. Hecimovic played for KHL Medvescak Zagreb (the “Bears”), a Croatian team that plays in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. John produced 39 regular season and 10 playoff points for a combined 49 which placed him 29th in the league.

  Zagreb finished fourth in the regular season during the 2009-10 season and made it to the semi-finals in the playoffs, losing out to eventual EBEL champions, EC Salzburg Red Bulls.

  Medvescak Zagreb’s roster page on their official website can be found here.

  Check out John Hecimovic’s profile page on the EBEL official website.

  The following video features John Hecimovic putting the final touches on a great turnover and break by Zagreb. John is number 8 in blue.
  Tagged as: croatia, ebel, erste bank eishockey liga, john hecimovic, medvescak zagreb, mississauga icedogs, Ontario Hockey League, sarnia sting
  
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