Joseph Lekens

Jef Lekens began skating an early age with the Mercurius club in Antwerpen which was later absorbed into the Le Puck Club. He won national ice hockey titles with Le Puck in the late nineteen-twenties and later played for CPA, Brusselse IJshockeyclub and the Metro IHC. Lekens’ career with the Belgian national ice hockey team began in 1929 and did not end until 1955 by which time he was nearing his 44th birthday. Known for his speed on the ice he won a Belgian national speed skating title at 1500m and on the athletics track was a hurdler who placed at the Belgian championships on a number of occasions.

After his hockey career ended he was a coach, referee and national team selector in addition to running a sports goods business in Antwerpen. Considered the most popular player in Belgian ice hockey history he suffered serious financial difficulties at the end of his life and was declared bankrupt ten days before his death. The cost of his funeral was paid by a donation from the Dutch ice hockey authorities.