Ben Andrew Clymer (born April 11, 1978) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. He also played college hockey at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Playing career

Clymer was drafted 27th overall in the

1997 NHL Entry Draft The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was the 35th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1997. As of 2022, the only remaining active player in the NHL from the 1997 draft class is Joe Thornton. Selections ...

by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. He attended and played hockey for

Bloomington Jefferson High School Thomas Jefferson High School is one of the two high schools in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States Independent School District No. 271. It is located at 102nd Street and France Avenue on the suburb's southwest side. About 1,600 students atte ...

and the

. Clymer left school in 1998 to take advantage of a loophole in the NHL CBA which would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent if he was to play one year in the WHL. In this pursuit he joined the

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in ac ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

in 1998–1999 in played 70 games posting 56 points. Clymer made his

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

debut with the

the following season (1999), and was part of the 2004

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

Championship team. During the

NHL lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four labour actions in the history of the National Hockey League: * The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season * The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the games of ...

, Clymer played with Swiss team

EHC Biel EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the tea ...

in the second Swiss division. After the lockout, Clymer returned to the NHL, signing a one-year contract with the

on August 8, 2005. The following year he was re-signed to a three-year contract, however spent the final year of his contract in the AHL with the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

. For the 2008–09 season, Clymer left the NHL and signed with the Minsk of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

. That season Clymer was named an All-Star and played in the KHL's All-Star game outdoor in Moscow's Red Square. Clymer scored a goal and was a member of the victorious "Team Jagr". Following that season Clymer signed a one-year contract with ERC Ingolstadt. An integral part of Ingolstadt's defense during the 2009–10 season, Clymer scored 32 points in 37 games before he was again on the move within Europe, signing with

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

of the Swiss Nationalliga A. Clymer, failed to appear for Lugano in a NLA after suffering a season ending knee injury in training camp. He then returned to Ingolstadt on a one-year contract on May 14, 2011. However, unable to satisfactorily recover from his lingering knee injury, Clymer announced his retirement just over a month later on June 30, 2011.

Post career

Following Clymer's retirement, Clymer enrolled back at the University of Minnesota, and was admitted to the Carlson School of Management where he received a degree in Finance. During his retirement Clymer also broke into the broadcast world. In 2009 Clymer was hired by Channel 45 to cover the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament. Clymer has continued to annually cover the State High School Tournament for Channel 45 and has also been hired by

Fox Sports North Bally Sports North is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving teams located in the Upper Midwest region, with a focu ...

to cover Minnesota Golden Gopher and Minnesota Wild games. On September 16, 2013 it was announced that Clymer had joined the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

as a college hockey analyst.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

Personal life

Clymer has a degree in Finance. He is married.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clymer, Ben 1978 births American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston Bruins draft picks EHC Biel players HC Dinamo Minsk players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Sportspeople from Bloomington, Minnesota ERC Ingolstadt players Living people Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Rochester Mustangs players Seattle Thunderbirds players Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning players Washington Capitals players