Pauli Jaks

Pauli Jaks (b. January 25th 1972 in Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland) is a professional goaltender who played one game in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings.

Jaks enjoyed much success in his native Switzerland in the early 1990's with HC Ambri-Piotta, but he especially made himself known with his stellar play in the 1991 World Junior Championship, where he led the Swiss National Team to an impressive seventh place; it was his play that helped put Switzerland on the hockey map. He was named best goalie of the tournament and was named to the All-Star Team. His excellent play earned him to be drafted to the NHL by the Kings 108th overall of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He spent some more time in Switzerland before crossing the Atlantic to join the International Hockey League's Phoenix Roadrunners in 1993-94. The next season, Jaks made his first - and only - appearance in an NHL game, playing two periods for the Kings, allowing two goals, becoming the first ever Swiss-born and trained player to reach the NHL (Mark Hardy was the very first Swiss-born player to play in the league, but he had been raised and trained in Canada).

He however didn't go further in his North American career and returned to the Nationalliga A with Ambri-Piotta for 10 seasons. In 2004, he briefly joined Russian Superleague's Avangard Omsk before going back to his home land, this time with the SC Langnau Tigers. He played one game in 2005-06 with HC Genève-Servette, but spent most of the season with HC Forward Morges.