Jason Chimera plays his 1,000th NHL game on Friday in Detroit. This will only be his 49th in an Islanders uniform but for the 37-year-old and his family, it’s starting to feel like home after a tough start to the season for himself and his new team.
“It took a lot longer than I thought,” Chimera said after practice on Thursday and before the Islanders headed to Detroit to face the Red Wings. “You don’t realize how much — the kids, the wife. We were in Washington for seven years, you get accustomed to having the same people around.