Jake Chelios (born March 8, 1991), also known as Jieke Kailiaosi, is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing in China for Kunlun Red Star in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[1] Born in the United States, he represented China at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[2] He previously played with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Jake Chelios
Chelios with the Charlotte Checkers in 2015
Born (1991-03-08) March 8, 1991 (age 33)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams
Kunlun Red Star
Detroit Red Wings
National team  China
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2014–present

Playing career

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Chelios played with the Detroit Red Wings through to the under-18 level in the T1EHL. He later moved on to play junior hockey with the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League (USHL). He committed to play collegiate hockey with Michigan State University in the Big Ten Conference.

Undrafted, Chelios made his professional debut following his senior year in 2013–14, playing alongside brother Dean with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL before joining the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.[3]

After posting a breakout season in the 2015–16 campaign in scoring 31 points in 73 games with the Charlotte Checkers, Chelios was signed to his first NHL contract with parent affiliate, the Carolina Hurricanes on April 22, 2016.[4] He re-signed with Carolina on June 27, 2017.[5]

On July 1, 2018, the Detroit Red Wings signed Chelios to a one-year, two-way contract.[6] On March 29, 2019, the Red Wings recalled Chelios from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. Before being recalled, he recorded one goal and 13 assists in 59 games for the Griffins.[7] He made his NHL debut later that same day in a game against the New Jersey Devils. Upon making his debut, he became the sixth father-son combination in Red Wings history, joining Sid and Gerry Abel, Adam and Andy Brown, Bill and Peter Dineen, Gordie and Mark Howe, and Jimmy Peters Sr. and Jimmy Peters Jr.[8] Chelios played out the season with the Red Wings, going scoreless in 5 games, before he was returned to Grand Rapids for the playoffs.

Chelios embarked on a career abroad as an impending free agent, agreeing to a two-year contract with Chinese-based KHL club, Kunlun Red Star, on May 23, 2019.[9][10]

International play

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Due to his stint in China, Chelios was called up to represent the China men's national ice hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, under the name Jieke Kailiaosi.[11][12] He became a Chinese citizen in order to be eligible to represent the nation at the Olympics.[13][14][15] While confirming that he kept his American citizenship, Chelios refused to answer whether he was a naturalized Chinese citizen. While the Olympic Charter stipulates that any athlete competing in the Games must be a national of the country of the NOC which is entering such competitor, the IOC Executive Board has the authority to make certain exceptions of a "general or individual nature", though it is unclear whether this was the case.[16]

Personal

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Chelios is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Chris Chelios. Chelios has an older brother, Dean, and two younger sisters, Tara and Caley Chelios.[17]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 Little Caesars 18U AAA T1EHL 46 14 28 42 32
2009–10 Chicago Steel USHL 52 12 22 34 45
2010–11 Michigan State University CCHA 37 8 6 14 34
2011–12 Michigan State University CCHA 39 2 7 9 44
2012–13 Michigan State University CCHA 42 5 5 10 79
2013–14 Michigan State University B1G 36 2 19 21 38
2013–14 Toledo Walleye ECHL 7 1 1 2 2
2013–14 Chicago Wolves AHL 4 0 1 1 4
2014–15 Chicago Wolves AHL 41 1 14 15 32
2014–15 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 8 1 2 3 2 4 1 1 2 2
2015–16 Charlotte Checkers AHL 73 7 24 31 44
2016–17 Charlotte Checkers AHL 76 4 28 32 54 5 0 1 1 6
2017–18 Charlotte Checkers AHL 41 4 10 14 41
2018–19 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 61 1 14 15 28 4 0 0 0 7
2018–19 Detroit Red Wings NHL 5 0 0 0 2
2019–20 Kunlun Red Star KHL 48 2 11 13 32
2020–21 Kunlun Red Star KHL 43 2 7 9 52
2021–22 Kunlun Red Star KHL 38 3 6 9 40
2022–23 Kunlun Red Star KHL 51 3 17 20 26
2023–24 Kunlun Red Star KHL 66 4 12 16 26
NHL totals 5 0 0 0 2
KHL totals 246 14 53 67 176

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2022 China OG 12th 4 0 2 2 2
2022 China WC D2A 27th 4 2 6 8 2
2023 China WC D1B 25th 5 2 5 7 4
Senior totals 13 4 13 17 8

Awards and honors

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Award Year
College
B1G Honorable Mention All-Star Team 2014

References

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  1. ^ "People Are Mad About Chinese Americans Competing For China's Olympic Team While There Are White Men On The Team Too". BuzzFeed News. February 11, 2022.
  2. ^ "China Olympic men's hockey roster includes Chris Chelios' son". January 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Dean and Jake Chelios join Toledo". Toledo Walleye. March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  4. ^ "Hurricanes Agree to Terms with Jake Chelios". NHL.com.
  5. ^ "Canes Agree to Terms with Jake Chelios". NHL.com. June 27, 2017.
  6. ^ DiFilippo, Alex (July 1, 2018). "Detroit adds Megan, Terry, Chelios and Sateri". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  7. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (March 29, 2019). "Red Wings recall Frk and Chelios under emergency conditions". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  8. ^ Wakiji, Dana (March 29, 2019). "Notes: Jake Chelios to make NHL debut with Red Wings against Devils". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  9. ^ "KHL transfer tracker". Kontinental Hockey League. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "Welcome, Jake Chelios!". hcredstar.com. May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "China's Olympic hockey hopes rest on North American talent". sports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  12. ^ "People Are Mad About Chinese Americans Competing For China's Olympic Team While There Are White Men On The Team Too". BuzzFeed News. February 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Ellingworth, Jake (February 8, 2022). "North American-born Chinese Olympians get their shot at gold — including Chris Chelios' son Jake on the hockey team". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Wyshynski, Greg (February 9, 2022). "Winter Olympics 2022: Inside the odd Olympic journey of China's men's hockey team". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  15. ^ "Kunlun Red Star: Can confirm every player in our team has Chinese citizenship. Applies to China-born, China-heritage and imports". Twitter. January 31, 2022. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  16. ^ Higgins, Laine (February 12, 2022). "Jake Chelios Is American, Greek, Scottish, German and Irish. He's Playing for the Chinese Hockey Team". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Jake Chelios seeks to make a name for himself with Wolves". medill.northwestern.edu. March 17, 2015.
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