Kimmo Timonen

30
Kimmo Timonen bigraphy, stories - Ice hockey player

Kimmo Timonen : biography

March 18, 1975 –

Kimmo Samuel Timonen (born March 18, 1975) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman and an associate captain for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Records

  • Nashville Predators’ franchise record for career assists (222)

Awards

  • 1994- First Team All-Star selection at the 1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
  • 1997- Matti Keinonen trophy for best +/- in the SM-liiga
  • 2000- Named to the NHL All-Star team, but unable to play due to injury
  • 2004- Played in NHL All-Star game
  • 2005- Elected most valuable player in the Mestis playoffs
  • 2007- Played in NHL All Star Game
  • 2008- Named to the NHL All-Star team
  • 2012- Named to the NHL All-Star team

Playing career

Timonen was the youngest player to represent Finland at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championships at the age of 17. He recorded the second-highest shot total in the tournament with 44.

Timonen was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the tenth round, 250th overall, of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. After the draft, he continued to play in his native Finland for several years, first for KalPa and then later for TPS. In 1998, Timonen played on the bronze medal-winning Finnish Olympic team in Nagano. Shortly after the Olympics, the Kings traded him along with Jan Vopat to the Nashville Predators organization (the team not yet having begun play) in agreement that Nashville would not select Garry Galley in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.

During the 1998–99 NHL 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 October 3, 2006, Timonen was named the captain of the Nashville Predators for the 2006–07 season. That season proved to be a career year for Timonen with him registering 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. At the time, Timonen’s younger brother Jussi Timonen was playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers AHL affiliate. However, Jussi was subsequently traded to the Dallas Stars early in the 2007–08 season.

After beating the Capitals 4-3 and the Canadiens 4-1 in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Timonen’s first playoff run with the Flyers was put on hold after a visit to the doctor; Timonen got hit by a wrist shot at his foot on April 30, 2008, by Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov. Timonen felt numbness in his foot as the week went along and thought it was nothing but a twisted nerve. After an MRI failed to reveal anything, Timonen had the foot examined at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. However on May 8, 2008, the doctor found a small blood clot in Timonen’s foot. Timonen 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 lost the game and their playoff run came to an end.

Timonen scored his 100th career goal on March 5, 2011, against the Buffalo Sabres.

Timonen recorded his 500th career point with an assist on March 1, 2012, against the New York Islanders.

Timonen played his 1000th NHL game on March 18th, 2013.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 KalPa SM-l 5 0 0 0 0
1992–93 KalPa SM-l 33 0 2 2 4
1993–94 KalPa SM-l 46 6 7 13 55
1994–95 TPS SM-l 45 3 4 7 10 13 0 1 1 11
1995–96 TPS SM-l 48 3 21 24 22 9 1 2 3 12
1996–97 TPS SM-l 50 10 14 24 18 12 2 7 9 8
1997–98 HIFK SM-l 45 10 15 25 24 9 3 4 7 8
1998–99 Nashville Predators NHL 50 4 8 12 30
1998–99 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 29 2 13 15 22
1999–00 Nashville Predators NHL 51 8 25 33 26
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 82 12 13 25 50
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 82 13 29 42 28
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 72 6 34 40 46
2003–04 Nashville Predators NHL 77 12 32 44 52 6 0 0 0 10
2004–05 HC Lugano Swiss-A 3 0 1 1 0
2004–05 Brynäs IF SEL 10 5 3 8 8
2004–05 KalPa Mestis 12 4 13 17 6 8 3 7 10 4
2005–06 Nashville Predators NHL 79 11 39 50 74 5 1 3 4 4
2006–07 Nashville Predators NHL 80 13 42 55 42 5 0 2 2 4
2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 8 36 44 50 13 0 6 6 8
2008–09 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 77 3 40 43 54 6 0 1 1 12
2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 6 33 39 50 23 1 10 11 20
2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 82 6 31 37 36 11 1 5 6 14
2011–12 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 76 4 39 43 46 11 1 3 4 23
2012–13 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 45 5 24 29 36
NHL totals 1015 111 425 536 620 80 4 30 34 95