Jason Chimera

Playing career

Jason Chimera got his start in the WHL, suiting up for the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Edmonton Oilers, his hometown team, picked him 121st overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, largely because of his exceptional speed. He spent three seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, and capped off his final year there by earning a spot on the AHL First All-Star Team. After two seasons with the Oilers, Edmonton traded him to the Phoenix Coyotes for draft picks. The NHL lockout wiped out the following season, so Chimera headed to Italy to play for Mastini Varese. He never actually played a game for Phoenix; instead, he was flipped to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of a trade that sent Geoff Sanderson the other way.

In Columbus, Chimera settled into a left-wing role on the third line. He often played with center Manny Malhotra and rotated through right wingers like Dan Fritsche and Trevor Letowski. By the 2008–09 season, he was the veteran presence on a line alongside rookies Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek. Chimera also represented Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Championship, helping the team win gold with a 4-2 victory over Finland in Moscow.

On December 28, 2009, the Washington Capitals acquired Chimera in a trade that sent captain Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurčina to Columbus. The deal came less than two months after Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin suffered what was then the longest injury of his career, missing six games. The injury happened either during a scrum or fight with Chimera, or when Ovechkin collided with Columbus’s Raffi Torres as he left the penalty box. During the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Chimera delivered a memorable moment: on April 20, he scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to give the Capitals a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 4. That win remains the longest playoff game in franchise history, clocking in at 92:36. Washington re-signed Chimera to a two-year contract extension on November 8, 2013.