Jason Chimera

Jason Chimera (; born May 2, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played for five teams in the National Hockey League (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 by his hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers, mostly because of his outstanding skating. Chimera played three seasons on the Hamilton Bulldogs, which at that point was the Oilers' farm team in the American Hockey League. 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, without playing a game in Phoenix, as part of a trade for Geoff Sanderson.

With the Blue Jackets, Chimera predominantly played left wing on the team's third line. He was usually centered by Manny Malhotra and spent significant time playing alongside right wingers such as Dan Fritsche and Trevor Letowski. However, Chimera began the 2008–09 season as the veteran presence on a line with rookies Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek.

He was a member of the 2007 Canadian IIHF World Championship team that won gold in a 4–2 win against Finland in Moscow.

Chimera was traded to the Washington Capitals on December 28, 2009 for Chris Clark, the Capitals captain, and Milan Jurčina. The trade came less than two months after Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin was injured either during a scrum/fight with Chimera, or as Ovechkin exited the penalty box, colliding with Columbus' Raffi Torres. The injury was the longest of Ovechkin's career at the time, keeping him out of six games.

On April 20, 2011, during the first round of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Rangers, Chimera scored the game-winning goal for the Capitals to win Game 4 on the road in double overtime, 4–3, which is currently the longest playoff game victory in franchise history with a record time of 92:36.

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 Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1996–97 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 71 16 23 39 64 4 0 1 1 4 1997–98 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 72 34 32 66 93 — — — — — 1997–98 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 4 0 0 0 8 — — — — — 1998–99 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 37 18 22 40 84 — — — — — 1998–99 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 21 14 12 26 32 5 4 1 5 8 1999–00 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 78 15 13 28 77 10 0 2 2 12 2000–01 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 78 29 25 54 93 — — — — — 2000–01 Edmonton Oilers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Edmonton Oilers NHL 3 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2001–02 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 78 29 25 54 93 15 4 6 10 10 2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 66 14 9 23 36 2 0 2 2 0 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 60 4 8 12 57 — — — — — 2004–05 Mastini Varese ITA 15 7 3 10 34 5 2 1 3 31 2005–06 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 80 17 13 30 95 — — — — — 2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 82 15 21 36 91 — — — — — 2007–08 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 81 14 17 31 98 — — — — — 2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 49 8 14 22 41 4 0 1 1 2 2009–10 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 39 8 9 17 47 — — — — — 2009–10 Washington Capitals NHL 39 7 10 17 51 7 1 2 3 2 2010–11 Washington Capitals NHL 81 10 16 26 64 9 2 2 4 2 2011–12 Washington Capitals NHL 82 20 19 39 78 14 4 3 7 6 2012–13 Piráti Chomutov ELH 5 1 0 1 10 — — — — — 2012–13 Washington Capitals NHL 47 3 11 14 48 7 1 2 3 4 2013–14 Washington Capitals NHL 82 15 27 42 36 — — — — — 2014–15 Washington Capitals NHL 77 7 12 19 51 14 3 4 7 4 2015–16 Washington Capitals NHL 82 20 20 40 22 12 1 1 2 12 2016–17 New York Islanders NHL 82 20 13 33 40 — — — — — 2017–18 New York Islanders NHL 58 2 9 11 35 — — — — — 2017–18 Anaheim Ducks NHL 16 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 NHL totals 1,107 186 229 415 892 71 12 17 29 32

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1999 Canada WJC 7 2 2 4 2 2007 Canada WC 9 1 5 6 8 2008 Canada WC 9 0 2 2 6 2014 Canada WC 5th 8 1 2 3 0 Junior totals 7 2 2 4 2 Senior totals 26 2 9 11 14