Grant Clitsome (born April 14, 1985) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired 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 h ...

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

who played for the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

and the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

of 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 ...

(NHL) from 2008 to 2016.

Playing career

Clitsome was drafted in the ninth round, 271st overall, by the

in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout ...

. He then committed to a four-year collegiate career with

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an e ...

of the ECAC. Clitsome made his NHL debut on March 2, 2010, providing two assists for the Blue Jackets and winning the game's third star in a 4-3 overtime loss to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

while on emergency call-up. His first NHL goal was scored on March 27, 2010 against

Dwayne Roloson Albert Dwayne Roloson (born October 12, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former goaltending coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the Goaltending Coach and Director of Pla ...

of the New York Islanders. On July 22, 2010, Grant re-signed as a restricted free agent with the Blue Jackets to a one-year contract. On February 27, 2012, Clitsome was claimed off waivers by the

and later signed a three-year contract extension with the team on January 2, 2013. A serious injury in 2014 forced Clitsome to undergo back surgery in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 8, 2015. Clitsome did not play again following the surgery, missing the remainder of the 2014-15 season and the entire 2015-16 season. He announced his retirement from professional hockey on June 1, 2016.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clitsome, Grant 1985 births Living people Canadian ice hockey defencemen Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey players Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks Columbus Blue Jackets players Nepean Raiders players Sportspeople from Ottawa Springfield Falcons players Syracuse Crunch players Winnipeg Jets players Ice hockey people from Ontario AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans