Jason Chimera (; born May 2, 1979) 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 ...

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 ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played for five teams 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 ...

(NHL).

Playing career

Chimera played his junior career in the WHL, for Medicine Hat and Brandon. He was selected 121st 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 his hometown team, the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, mostly because of his outstanding skating. Chimera played three seasons on the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purcha ...

, which at that point was the Oilers' farm team in 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 ...

. In his final season, he was named to the AHL First All-Star team. Chimera played two seasons for Edmonton before being traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for draft choices. Because of the NHL lockout, he did not play the following season and went to play in Italy for Mastini Varese. Chimera was subsequently dealt to 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 ...

, without playing a game in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, as part of a trade for

Geoff Sanderson Geoffrey M. Sanderson (born February 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger, most notably for the Hartford Whalers and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Drafted by the Hartford W ...

. With the Blue Jackets, Chimera predominantly played left wing on the team's third line. He was usually centered by

Manny Malhotra Emmanuel Noveen Malhotra (born May 18, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who is currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is a former assistant coach of the Vancouver C ...

and spent significant time playing alongside right wingers such as

Dan Fritsche Daniel J. Fritsche (born July 13, 1985) is a Swiss- American former professional ice hockey forward. He played for Genève-Servette HC, HC Lugano and the ZSC Lions in the National League (NL) and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colum ...

and

Trevor Letowski Trevor Letowski (born April 5, 1977) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. Letowski played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Carolina Hurrican ...

. However, Chimera began the 2008–09 season as the veteran presence on a line with rookies

Derick Brassard Derick Brassard (born September 22, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He previously played in the NHL for the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Pit ...

and Jakub Voracek. He was a member of the 2007 Canadian

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

team that won gold in a 4–2 win against

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 ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. Chimera was traded to the

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, a ...

on December 28, 2009 for Chris Clark and

Milan Jurčina Milan Jurčina (; born 7 June 1983) is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He has previously play ...

. Chimera was re-signed a two-year contract extension with the Capitals on September 29, 2011. Chimera was re-signed a two-year contract extension with the Capitals on November 8, 2013. On July 1, 2016, Chimera signed a two-year deal as a free agent with the New York Islanders. During the subsequent season, Chimera played in his 1,000th game. In the 2017–18 season, his final season under contract with the Islanders, Chimera was dealt at the trade deadline to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Chris Wagner on February 26, 2018. While with the Capitals, Chimera was nicknamed “the Ice Cheetah” for his speed on the ice.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimera, Jason 1979 births Living people Anaheim Ducks players Canadian people of Italian descent Brandon Wheat Kings players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Columbus Blue Jackets players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Edmonton Oilers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players New York Islanders players Piráti Chomutov players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Medicine Hat Tigers players HC Varese players Washington Capitals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States