Sean Zimmerman (born May 24, 1987) 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 h ...

defenseman 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 ...

. He most recently played for the Orlando Solar Bears of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. Born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Zimmerman represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the

2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2007 WJHC'') was the 2007 edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held in Mora and Leksand, Sweden between December 26, 2006 and January 5, 2007. The venues were FM Mattsson ...

helping

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

win a Bronze medal.

Personal life

Zimmerman grew up in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

. Him and his sister, Michelle Zimmerman began playing Ice Hockey in 1995, right after the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

moved from Quebec to Denver. Zimmerman and his sister played competitive youth hockey in Denver until their parents sent them to Canada for more opportunity. Zimmerman and his sister moved to Langley, British Columbia in 2000 to attend Delphi Academy, where they could focus on training and school simultaneously. In 2001, Delphi moved to

Gold River, British Columbia Gold River is a village municipality located close to the geographic centre of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. In terms of the Island's human geography it is considered to be part of the "North Island", even though it technically is ...

and turned into Westpointe Collegiate Academy. After the school folded, Zimmerman moved to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

to play Junior B for the Spokane Braves. Zimmerman's younger sister, Michelle, moved to

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

to attend National Sports Academy. She then went on to play Division I hockey for St. Lawrence University on a full ride athletic scholarship. After playing a few seasons with the Spokane Braves, Zimmerman was drafted to the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL draft.

Playing career

Zimmerman played

Major junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

with the Spokane Chiefs 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 ...

(WHL). He played four season with Spokane registering 10 goals and 59 points to go with 165 PIMs in 270 games. He is brother of Washington nationals player Ryan Zimmerman He was drafted in 2005 by the New Jersey Devils in the sixth round (170th overall). After seeing time in the Devils farm system he was traded in September 2008 from New Jersey to the Phoenix Coyotes. New Jersey received Kevin Cormier in exchange for Zimmerman. He attended Coyotes training camp that same year, but did not make the team and was assigned to the minor leagues. In the minors he split time between Phoenix's

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 ...

(AHL) affiliate the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

and their

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL) affiliate the

Arizona Sundogs The Arizona Sundogs were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Prescott Valley, Arizona. They played in the Central Hockey League from 2006 to 2014 with their home games at Tim's Toyota Center. History The team name, Sundogs, re ...

. Zimmerman recorded 2 goals and 5 points in 56 games with the two clubs. He again participated in Coyotes training camp the following season, but was once again sent to the minors. He played in 72 games during the year for the Rampage and improved his point total to 9 and added a +13 rating (up from a combined -10 the season before). At the NHL trade deadline Zimmerman, along with a sixth round pick in the 2010 draft, was traded by Phoenix 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 ...

in exchange for

Mathieu Schneider Mathieu David Schneider (born June 12, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey player. Considered an offensive defenseman, Schneider played 1,289 games in the National Hockey League with ten different teams, scoring 233 goals and tot ...

. During the off season Zimmerman re-signed with the Canucks organization. However, Vancouver traded him shortly into the season to the Florida Panthers in exchange for

Nathan Paetsch Nathan Paetsch (born March 30, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing career Paetsch was originally drafted in the 2 ...

. Just two months later on December 9, 2010 Florida traded him and a conditional 7th round pick to 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 ...

for Jeff LoVecchio and Jordan Knackstedt. On February 27, 2011, Zimmerman was on the move again for the third time in the season when he was dealt by the Bruins along with

Brian McGrattan Brian McGrattan (born September 2, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current member of the Calgary Flames player development staff. McGrattan was a fourth-round selection of the Los Angeles Kings (104th overall) at ...

to the Anaheim Ducks for David Laliberte and Stefan Chaput. On September 13, 2012, Zimmerman returned to his native state, signing as a free agent with the

Denver Cutthroats The Denver Cutthroats were a minor league ice hockey team, as a member of the Central Hockey League, that began play in the 2012–13 season. They served as a farm team of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche and the American Hockey ...

of the CHL. He played with the team through the 2013–14 season. However, in August 2014, he became a free agent when the team suspended operations, effective immediately. On September 8, 2014, the Colorado Eagles announced that they had signed Zimmerman. After helping guide the Eagles as Captain to their first Kelly Cup in his third season with the club in 2016–17, Zimmerman left his home state as a free agent to sign a one-year deal with the Orlando Solar Bears on August 8, 2017.

International play

In 2007 Zimmerman represented the

at the World Junior Championships. In seven games he registered a +1 rating and six PIMs.

defeated

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the opening round of the play-offs 6–3, but lost to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in their next game 2–1. They rebounded in the Bronze medal game to defeat host Sweden 2–1 giving Zimmerman his first and only international medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

*All statistics taken from NHL.com

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Sean 1987 births American men's ice hockey defensemen Albany River Rats players Arizona Sundogs players Colorado Eagles players Denver Cutthroats players Ice hockey people from Denver Living people Lowell Devils players New Jersey Devils draft picks Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) players Providence Bruins players Rochester Americans players San Antonio Rampage players Spokane Chiefs players Trenton Devils players