The life of a professional athlete can change in an instant. Jason Chimera spent five years playing hockey for the Columbus Blue Jackets and establishing roots in central Ohio. Only two of his teammates had been with the club longer — at least until Dec. 28 when the 30-year-old forward was traded to the Capitals for forward Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina.
The news came out of nowhere and left Chimera stunned and his wife, Sarah, in tears. But he didn’t have much time for goodbyes. He had to be in Washington that night. Less than eight hours after the trade was completed, Chimera was at Verizon Center undergoing a physical while his new team was in the middle of a game. Afterwards, he jumped into a car with Caps forward Brooks Laich and headed for Dulles Airport. That’s how fast you go from preparing for a game in Columbus against the Detroit Red Wings to sitting on a jet headed across the country. Because — just to complicate matters — the Caps had a two-game road trip in California scheduled over the New Year’s holiday.
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Chimera had plenty of time to ponder his new situation on the six-hour flight. But he had all of one practice and a morning skate to get the basic rundown of coach Bruce Boudreau’s system before playing a game against the Sharks on Dec. 30. A lot of the off-ice details were taken care of by the team. But he still worried about his wife and two-year-old son, Cale, back in Columbus.
“And on top of all that you’ve got to play some pretty good hockey,” Chimera said. “So your head is just pretty full right now. But you have to make it as easy as possible on yourself.”
Chimera is starting to feel a little more comfortable in his new home. After registering a single point through his first four games with Washington, he now has two goals and three assists over his last five. He even added a rare “Gordie Howe” hat trick on Wednesday against the Florida Panthers — a goal, an assist and a fight.
But it won’t come that easy. Sarah is still in Columbus putting their home on the market. Chimera, after all, has another two years left on his contract so presumably he’ll be with the Caps again next season. For now, he’s living in a temporary apartment near the team’s Arlington County practice rink.
“It’ll take a good month to get settled down and get things in order and have it sink in that you’re here and not in the place that you’ve been for the last five years,” Chimera said. “But it will certainly still be a shock.”
