Jack Skille

Jack Skille (born May 19, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey right winger who currently plays for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was previously a member of the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team and the Chicago Blackhawks. The highly-regarded forward was drafted by the Blackhawks with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Skille was the third in the group of eight U.S.-born players that were selected in the first round, surpassing the previous record of seven Americans selected in the first round in 1986 and 2003.

Amateur
In his freshman campaign as a Badger, he made an immediate impact. He led all Badger freshmen in scoring with 12 goals and 7 assists for a total 19 points. He was the eighth-leading point getter for the whole team. Skille’s goal 11:13 into the third overtime propelled the No. 1 seed Wisconsin men’s hockey team past Cornell 1-0 on March 26, 2006 in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final at the Resch Center and into the team’s first Frozen Four since 1992. His Sophomore year, Skille suffered an injury that made him sit out a good portion of the season. After the Badgers failed to qualify for the 2007 NCAA tournament, Skille signed with the Norfolk Admirals, the Chicago Blackhawks AHL affiliate.

Professional
After signing with the Blackhawks to a three-year entry level contract, Skille was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Skille made his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings on December 30, 2007. He was brought up from the Rockford Ice Hogs farm team to cover for an injured player and scored his first NHL goal and assist on January 8, 2008 against Cristobal Huet of the Montreal Canadiens. He was selected to represent Rockford in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game.

Prior to signing with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2010-11 season, he appeared in 30 games with the Blackhawks over 3 seasons (2007–10) collecting eight points (5G, 3A) and five penalty minutes, including two points (G, A) in six regular-season games with Chicago during the 2009-10 campaign.

During his first full season with the Blackhawks, on February 9, 2011, Skille was traded by Chicago along with Hugh Jessiman and David Pacan, to the Florida Panthers for Michael Frolik and Alexander Salak.

International play
Prior to joining the Badgers was a member of the USA Hockey-sponsored National Development Team. He won a gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships in the Czech Republic collecting a goals and three assists in six games at the championship. Skille collected 24 goals, 31 assists and 55 points in 54 games for the U.S. National Under-18 Team during 2004–05 and was whistled for 76 penalty minutes during the season. In international play as a NDTP player, Skille had tournament-best seven points to lead the Americans to first place at the Four Nations Cup in Ann Arbor, Michigan and led tournament with eight points as U.S. team placed first at Five Nations Tournament in Tjörn, Sweden.

He split the 2003–04 season with the U.S. Under-17 Team and U.S. Under-18 Team, playing in 61 games total, posted 25 goals, 19 assists and 44 points to go along with 61 penalty minutes. He also had a goal and an assist to help U.S. Under-18 Team to silver at 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus. Prior to him joining the US Development Team, Skille led the Verona Area Wildcats to two WIAA State Hockey Tournament appearances. He had a total of 99 points in the two years with Verona Area.

Personal life
Skille is the son of Lee and Carrie. Father Lee skated at Wisconsin in the mid-1970s. Skille has two sisters, Maggie (24) and Claire (17). He attended Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Verona Area High School in Verona, Wisconsin.