Kimmo Timonen

During the 1998–99 season, Timonen split time between Nashville and their IHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. The following year, he was promoted to a full-time NHL player. He played the next four seasons for the Predators, steadily improving his offensive output, until the 2004–05 NHL lockout. During the lockout, Timonen played for his hometown team, KalPa, which he partly owns with former Flyers teammate Sami Kapanen. Timonen also persuaded his teammate Adam Hall to play for KalPa for the duration of the lockout.

Timonen represented Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and led his team in scoring with six points, the fifth-highest total overall in the tournament.

On 3 October 2006, Timonen was named the captain of the Nashville Predators for the 2006–07 season.[3] That season proved to be a career year for Timonen, as he registered career highs in both assists and total points.

Following the 2006–07 season, Timonen was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. Shortly after, he signed a six-year, $37.8 million contract extension with them, a deal which made him the highest paid Finn in the NHL.[4] At the time, Timonen's younger brother Jussi Timonen was playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. However, Jussi was subsequently traded to the Dallas Stars early in the 2007–08 season.[5]

Timonen with the Flyers in 2010.

The Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 4–3 and the Montreal Canadiens 4–1 in the first two rounds of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. During Game 4 of the Flyers' series with Montreal, Timonen was hit by a wrist shot on his foot by Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov. Timonen felt numbness in his foot as the week progressed, though believed it to be nothing but a twisted nerve. After an MRI failed to reveal any injury, Timonen had the foot examined at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where, on 8 May, the doctor found a small blood clot in his foot. He was sidelined indefinitely and missed the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Timonen returned for Game 5, but the Flyers eventually lost the game and their playoff run came to an end.[6]

In the 2009–10 regular season, Timonen led all NHL defensemen in shorthanded goals scored, with two.[7] That year, Timonen would play in his first ever Stanley Cup Finals, though the Flyers would lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in a six-game series.

Timonen scored his 100th career goal on 5 March 2011, against the Buffalo Sabres. He ended the season in a tie with Marc Staal for most shorthanded goals among defensemen, with two.[8]

Timonen recorded his 500th career point with an assist on 1 March 2012, against the New York Islanders. He played his 1,000th NHL game on 18 March 2013, his 37th birthday.

While preparing for the 2014–15 season, on 5 August 2014, Timonen was diagnosed with blood clots in both of his lungs as well as in his right leg.[9] The serious nature of injury ruled Timonen out indefinitely with the Flyers. Approaching the NHL trade deadline, and returning to health after missing the first 62 games of the season, Timonen was traded by the Flyers to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick and 2016 conditional fourth-round pick on 27 February 2015. He left the Flyers organization as the third most productive defenseman in franchise history, with 270 points in 519 games.[10] On 21 March 2015, he played in his 1,100th NHL game.[11]

On 5 March, Timonen announced his intent to retire from professional hockey after the 2014–15 season. On 15 June, Timonen won his first Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in the final game of his 20-year career.[12] During the celebration, Timonen was the first player to receive the Stanley Cup following captain Jonathan Toews. Timonen reflected on his career stating, "I was dreaming about this moment for a long time, and it’s right here. This game has given me so much, and I’m relieved, happy, ready to leave this game, and I’m leaving this game as a Stanley Cup champion."[13] He was the last active player in the NHL from the 1993 NHL entry draft.

In February 2016, President Barack Obama received the winning Blackhawks team in the White House. During his speech, he unexpectedly gave Timonen a laudation:[14][15]

You all know the big names on this team, seven players were here for all three titles, the guys you’ve heard me talk about twice before, so today I actually wanna give the spotlight to two of the unsung heroes on this team, and they're the kind of guys that are behind the scenes of every winning team in sports and beyond. First there is Kimmo Timonen. Now Kimmo already had a great career before last season. He had been to the Stanley Cup final, Olympic final, World Championship final — he had lost them all… [laughter from the audience] … Just telling the truth… [more laughter] … In August he was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and his calf, he wasn’t even sure he’d play again. He was traded to Chicago mid-season, fought back on the ice, his final NHL game, at the age of 40, Kimmo finally hoisted the Cup. And that, first of all, as an old guy, it makes me feel good, but it’s also a sign of a great career when somebody who’s just able to stick with it and consistently contribute and make a huge difference, so give Kimmo a big one!

Timonen commented on this to the Finnish state broadcasting company YLE:[14]

This was absolutely a total surprise, and he really made a funny speech, and even to get a mention from him was such an honor for me, and then, of course, when he took a stand on my problems with blood clots, and when you think of what kind of a program I had to go through before I could put my skates on again, it really stirs some powerful feelings in an old man like me, I must admit. And the Stanley Cup victory brought with it some great things that I got to do, and for sure, this was one thing that I absolutely wanted to experience, and I’ll certainly remember this for the rest of my life.