Chris_Wideman

Chris Wideman

Chris Wideman

American ice hockey player (born 1990)

For the mixed martial artist, see Chris Weidman.

Chris Wideman (born January 7, 1990) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was selected in the fourth round, 100th overall, by the Ottawa Senators in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Wideman also played for the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Quick Facts Born, Height ...

Playing career

Amateur

Wideman was born in St. Louis, Missouri. As a youth, he played in the 2003 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the St. Louis Jr. Blues minor ice hockey team.[2]

Wideman played high school hockey for Chaminade College Preparatory School. In 2007, Wideman joined the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL where he played one year of Tier I junior hockey before entering Miami University in 2008. After one season at Miami, Wideman was drafted in the fourth round, 100th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. During his four-year stint in Miami, he helped the RedHawks earn their first two Frozen Four appearances, a national championship game appearance, and their first CCHA tournament title.[3][4]

Professional

Ottawa Senators

On March 28, 2012, the Senators signed Wideman to a two-year, entry-level contract.[5] After graduating from Miami, he joined the Senators' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Senators for the 2012–13 season. In his first professional season, Wideman scored two goals and 18 points in 60 games. He also skated in five games for the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.[6]

Wideman played another two full seasons with Binghamton, and had a career-year during the 2014–15 season. After recording 19 goals and 61 points in 75 games, he was named to the AHL's First All-Star Team[6] and was awarded the Eddie Shore Award as the league's best defenseman.[7] On June 29, 2015, the Senators re-signed Wideman to a one-year, two-way contract worth $600,000.[8]

He made his NHL debut on October 17, 2015 against the Nashville Predators.[9] On November 7, in his fourth game, Wideman scored his first NHL goal in a 3–2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.[10]

During the 2017–18 season, Wideman underwent surgery to repair a hamstring injury,[11] ending his season. Despite this, Wideman signed a one-year contract extension with the Senators on June 24, 2018.[12]

Uber incident

During the 2018–19 season, on November 4, 2018, a video was released showing Wideman and six of his teammates criticizing the Ottawa Senators and mocking assistant coach Marty Raymond while riding in the back of an Uber vehicle in Phoenix, Arizona.[13] The video had been recorded on October 29, 2018, without the players' knowledge, with Wideman and his then-teammate Matt Duchene talking the most in the video. The video was released by the Uber driver, who was apparently upset by the players' tip and behavior.[14] Wideman, along with the other players involved, later issued a statement apologizing for the incident.[15][16]

Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins

After the Uber incident, Wideman was traded three times in four months.[14] On November 22, 2018, Wideman was traded by the Senators to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2020 conditional sixth-round pick.[17] Over the course of a month with the Oilers, Wideman featured in only five games for two assists before he was dealt for a second time within the season, leaving the Oilers along with a 2019 third-round pick, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Alex Petrovic on December 30, 2018.[18] Wideman made his Panthers debut in a 4–3 overtime defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 5, 2019, before he was placed on waivers the following day.[19] He cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, where he collected 3 goals and 13 points through 16 games from the blueline.

At the trade deadline, Wideman's journeyman season continued as he was dealt for the third time, traded by the Panthers to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Jean-Sébastien Dea on February 25, 2019. He was assigned to report directly to AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.[20]

Wideman and former Senators' teammate Matt Duchene are named Players of the Game for Team USA and Team Canada respectively at the 2016 World Championship

Anaheim Ducks

As a free agent from the Penguins, Wideman was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Anaheim Ducks on July 16, 2019.[21] He did not feature for the Ducks during the 2019–20 season, assigned to AHL affiliate the San Diego Gulls, posting 31 points through 53 games before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

As an impending free agent from the Ducks, Wideman opted to pursue a career in Russia, agreeing to a one-year contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), on June 1, 2020.[22] During the 2020–21 KHL season, he was named KHL Top Defenceman of the Year.[14][23]

Montreal Canadiens

Following his success in the KHL, Wideman returned to the NHL for the 2021–22 season after signing a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Montreal Canadiens.[24] In 64 appearances with the team that season, he scored 4 goals and 23 assists for a career-best 27-point NHL season. He tied Jeff Petry for the most points by a Canadiens defenseman for the year. He assumed a key role helping to run the team's power play.[25] Following the end of the season, the Canadiens re-signed Wideman to a two-year, $1.525 million contract.[26] Wideman had used the jersey number 20 for his first season with the Canadiens, but he agree to cede the number to the team's 2022 first overall draft pick Juraj Slafkovský in exchange for an autographed jersey as a keepsake for his newborn son.[27]

Retirement

After missing the entirety of the 2023–24 season due to a serious back injury, Wideman announced his retirement from professional hockey on April 16, 2024.[28][29]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

More information Regular season, Playoffs ...
Quick Facts Medal record, Representing United States ...

International

More information Year, Team ...

Awards and honors

More information Award, Year ...

References

  1. [1]
    "Chris Wideman Profile". NHL.com.
  2. [2]
    "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  3. [3]
    Rutherford, Jeremy (June 28, 2009). "Ottawa picks St. Louisan Notebook • Defenseman Chris Wideman goes in fourth round NHL DRAFT". stltoday.com. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  4. [4]
    "Miami a Family Affair for Wideman Brothers". Chaminade Red Devils Hockey. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  5. [5]
    "Senators ink college defenceman Wideman". Sportsnet. The Canadian Press. March 28, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  6. [6]
    Maharaj, Ary (November 9, 2017). "Why Chris Wideman deserves more playing time - and a new contract". The Athletic. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  7. [7]
    "Wideman Voted Winner of Eddie Shore Award". The American Hockey League. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  8. [8]
    Garrioch, Bruce (June 29, 2015). "Senators re-sign D prospect Chris Wideman to rich deal". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  9. [9]
    Warren, Ken (October 18, 2015). "Senators' Chris Wideman relishes first taste of NHL". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. [10]
    Medaglia, Craig (March 21, 2016). "Look Back: First career NHL goals this season". NHL.com. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  11. [11]
    "Senators' Chris Wideman to undergo surgery for torn hamstring". Sportsnet. December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  12. [12]
    "Senators sign Chris Wideman to one-year contract extension". Sportsnet. June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Senators players caught trash-talking team on video recording". CBC Sports. November 5, 2018.
  14. [14]
    Rutherford, Jeremy (July 7, 2021). "The 'Uber Incident': Did a secret video destroy an NHL career?". The Athletic. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Ottawa Senators players apologize after video of them ridiculing assistant coach goes public". LA Times. November 6, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  16. [16]
    Sadler, Emily (November 7, 2018). "Senators' Chris Wideman, Thomas Chabot issue apologies for Uber video - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  17. [17]
    Staples, David (November 22, 2018). "Edmonton Oilers take another stab at fixing "D" depth trading for Chris Wideman". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  18. [18]
    "Panthers Acquire D Chris Wideman and 2019 3rd round pick from Oilers". Florida Panthers. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  19. [19]
    "Kings Scherbak, two others placed on waivers". TSN. January 6, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  20. [20]
    "Penguins get Wideman from Panthers for Dea". TSN. February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  21. [21]
    "Ducks sign Del Zotto, De Leo, Kloos and Wideman to one-year contracts". Anaheim Ducks. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  22. [22]
    "Chris Wideman strengthens Torpedo defense" (in Russian). Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. June 1, 2020. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  23. [23]
    @khl_eng (June 8, 2021). "Torpedo's @Chris_Wideman 🇺🇸 has scored 41 Pts in 59 GP and was named KHL Top Defenseman of the Year! #KHLAwards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. [24]
    "One-year contract for defenseman Chris Wideman". National Hockey League. July 28, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  25. [25]
    Cowan, Stu (June 6, 2022). "Chris Wideman will fill key leadership role with Canadiens". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  26. [26]
    "Canadiens sign Chris Wideman to two-year contract extension". Sportsnet. June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  27. [27]
    Cowan, Stu (July 27, 2022). "Canadiens' Wideman goes extra mile for top pick Slafkovsky". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  28. [28]
    "Montreal Canadiens D Chris Wideman set to retire from NHL". Sportsnet.ca. April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  29. [29]
    Lorange, Simon-Olivier (April 16, 2024). "La fin du « voyage mouvementé » de Chris Wideman" [The end of Chris Wideman's 'eventful journey']. La Presse (in French). Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  30. [30]
    "Miami, Michigan, OSU Land 2 Each on All-Rookie Team". College Hockey News. March 9, 2009.
  31. [31]
    "October monthly award winners named". AHL. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
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