he was drafted by the edmonton oilers with the 36th overall pick in the 2005 nhl entry draft. he previously played at the university of north dakota. he also was on team usa at the 2006 world junior championships. chorney represented the usa again in the 2007 world juniors, where he was team captain. he made his nhl debut on april 10, 2009 against the calgary flames. he recorded his first nhl point in his first game of the 2009-10 season, by assisting one of zack stortini's two goals on october 12, 2009 on the road against the nashville predators.