Jason Matthew Jaspers (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

who is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He most recently played for the

Grizzlys Wolfsburg Grizzlys Wolfsburg are a professional ice hockey club of the German professional ice hockey league Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisarena in Wolfsburg. History Wolfsburg earned their first promotion to the DEL in 2004. Howe ...

of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Playing career

Jaspers was drafted 71st overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in talen ...

. He was drafted from the Sudbury Wolves of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

. Jaspers made his professional debut in the 2001–02 season with the Coyotes affiliate the Springfield Falcons of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. Jaspers made his NHL debut in the same season, after he received his first NHL call-up on January 20, 2002. Jaspers then spent the next four years primarily with the Falcons of the AHL. Unable to crack the NHL regularly he was traded by the Coyotes to 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 ...

for Jarrod Skalde on July 25, 2005. Jason however never played a game with the Lightning, instead playing for their affiliate, coincidentally still the Springfield Falcons. Jaspers finally left the Falcons, ranking second in all-time appearances, in the 2006–07 season when he signed with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

team Adler Mannheim, on July 6, 2006. After three years with Adler Mannheim signed on April 6, 2009, with

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

. Jaspers played for three seasons with the

Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

, before opting to sign a one-year contract to continue his professional career in the DEL with the Iserlohn Roosters on June 23, 2015. After three seasons with the Roosters, Jaspers left the club at the conclusion of his contract, playing on a try-out through pre-season before signing a one-year deal with

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also o ...

prior to the 2018–19 season on September 11, 2018. He played in just 9 games with Eisbären Berlin before opting to terminate his contract in order to join his sixth DEL club,

, on October 10, 2018. Jaspers played out the remainder of the regular season with Grizzlys, adding 8 points in 29 games, before leaving the club at the conclusion of the year.

Personal life

In July 2008, Jaspers married his high school sweetheart
Morgan McKee
McKee is from

Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is a ...

where Jason played junior hockey for the Sudbury Wolves. Jason divorced Morgan in 2012.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1981 births Adler Mannheim players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Eisbären Berlin players Ice hockey people from Ontario Iserlohn Roosters players Sportspeople from Thunder Bay Kölner Haie players Living people Arizona Coyotes draft picks Phoenix Coyotes players Springfield Falcons players Sudbury Wolves players Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers players Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players Grizzlys Wolfsburg players {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1980s-stub