Jean-Pierre Devote | Biography

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BIOGRAPHY

 

Jean-Pierre Devote is a young hockey player who was born and raised in Monte Carlo and he didn’t even know a thing about hockey until he was 6 years old. Being born into a family in Monaco, it’s hard to avoid getting invested in racing, especially when your father was a regional formula series race winner. He started his sporting life in go-karts at the tender age of 5, and while he was good, his family could tell that there wasn’t a future career in racing for him. His father began to look for other things that his son loved, as did his mother, since they wanted their son to be able to excel at something. One fateful day however, changed the trajectory of Jean-Pierre’s life, as his father had bought tickets to a DEL game while they were on vacation in Germany. Watching the skill level of the players, as well as the edge work and skating ability meant that instantly, Jean-Pierre became hooked. The moment they returned home, he constantly began asking his dad if he could learn how to play hockey, and his father, wanting his son to be happy, obliged. Though they had to travel nearly an hour each way every day, it never dampened Jean-Pierre’s drive, and his parents were behind him every step of the way. By the time he was 14 years old, even his father, who only knew a little about ice hockey, and even less about professional ice hockey, could tell that he was a special prospect in the hockey world.

 

His U16 season, he joined the U16 French national team, although he wasn’t allowed to play in games with them, they allowed him to come out and practice alongside them since the manager of the team could see the immense talent that was being held back by his nationality. Instead, he ended up playing for a regional travel team in France. He played with them from his U13 season up to his U16 season, during which the team won multiple championships and tournaments. Devote racked up a massive total of 122 goals and 189 assists for 311 points in just 194 games with the team, a record that earned him the French Honour Medal for Youth Sports, despite him being a citizen of Monaco.

 

After he turned 16, Jean-Pierre joined the ZSC Lions in the Swiss NL, putting up a decent 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points in 52 games in his rookie season. He also played in the CHL tournament with the Lions during his rookie season. Although he only scored 1 goal and had 4 assists in the tournament, the Lions managed to make it all the way to the Finals before being knocked out. This success was the first moment where he gained some attention on the world stage and Devote returned to ZSC in the next season, playing with them in the NL once again and in the CHL tournament, racking up an acceptable 10 points in 7 games in the CHL, and 26 goals and 39 assists in the NL regular season for a total of 65 points. He was also given the Assistant captaincy of the team. Jean-Pierre currently is 45 games through his final season in the NL and is sitting at 33 goals and 34 assists for 67 points. His current career point total in the NL with a total of 170 points in 149 National League games, as well as 15 points in 14 games in the CHL, and as the assistant captain of the ZSC Lions. The coaches and manager of the team all agreed that Devote was a natural born leader. He was constantly helping the community and helping other players during practice. He is also a natural leader on the ice, though he prefers to lead by example sometimes, he’s the one who gets everyone pumped up in the locker room before the game begins, just as a true leader should.

 

One thing that truly separates Devote from his peers however, is that as it stands, Jean-Pierre looks set to completely skip the VHLM, due to him playing his U19 season with ZSC in the Swiss NL. He hopes that he can play 9 seasons in the VHL and may be the first player in VHL history to have never played a VHLM game. As it stands, if Devote makes it to the VHL, Jean-Pierre will become just the 3rd recorded player to play a VHL game to come out of the Principality of Monaco. His career goal is to overtake ACL Tear for the Monegasque national VHL scoring record, needing 300 VHL points to do so. It is this drive to succeed and accomplish his goals that make Devote such a great pick for any team that wishes to take him.