Kimmo Timonen

At 49 years old, Kimmo Timonen has this physical status:

Kimmo Samuel Timonen (born 18 March 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons for the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Timonen had appeared in over 1,100 NHL games before retiring.

Timonen also appeared in three IIHF World Junior Championships, seven IIHF World Championships, two World Cups, and five Olympic tournaments during his career. In 2015, he lifted the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Personal life

Kimmo is married to Johanna Timonen and has three children. Kimmo announced his retirement after winning the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2015. Timonen, a Kuopio native, owns multiple restaurants and nightclubs.

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Playing career

Timonen was Finland's youngest player to represent Finland at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championships at the age of 17. With 44 shots, he tied for the second-highest shot total in the tournament.

Timonen was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the tenth round, 250th overall, of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Since the draft, he continued to play in his native Finland for many years, first for KalPa and then for TPS. Timonen was a member of the bronze medal-winning Finnish Olympic team in Nagano in 1998. The Kings traded him and Jan Vopat to the Nashville Predators team shortly after the Olympics (the team not having started training) in an agreement that Nashville did not select Garry Galley in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.

Timonen split time between Nashville and the Milwaukee Admirals, an IHL affiliate. He was promoted to a full-time NHL player the following year. He remained with the Predators for the next four seasons, steadily raising his offensive output until the 2004-05 NHL lockout. Timonen played for his hometown team, KalPa, which he partially owns with former Flyers teammate Sami Kapanen during the lockout. Timonen also advised Adam Hall, his colleague, to play for KalPa for the remainder of the lockout.

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

Timonen was appointed captain of the Nashville Predators for the 2006–07 season on October 3rd. Timonen's career was a fruitful one this year, with career highs in both assists and total points.

Timonen was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers after the 2006-2007 season. He signed a six-year, $37.8 million contract extension with them, making him the NHL's highest-paid Finn. Jussi Timonen, Timonen's younger brother, was playing for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. However, Jussi was then traded to the Dallas Stars shortly after the 2007–08 season.

In the first two rounds of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals 4–3 and the Montreal Canadiens 4–1. Timonen was struck by a wrist shot by Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov during Game 4 of the Flyers' series against Montreal. Timonen's foot numbness as the week went, but it seemed to be nothing more than a twisted nerve. Timonen had the foot examined at the University of Pennsylvania, where the doctor discovered a small blood clot in his foot on 8 May. He was suspended indefinitely and missed the Pittsburgh Penguins' first four games. Timonen had been back for Game 5, but the Flyers soon lost the game and their playoff run came to an end.

Timonen led all NHL defensemen in shorthanded goals scored in the 2009–2010 regular season, with two of them. Timonen will play in his first Stanley Cup Final this year, but the Flyers will lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in a six-game series.

Timonen scored his 100th goal against the Buffalo Sabres on March 5th. He ended the season in a tie with Marc Staal for the most shorthanded defensemen's goals, with two of them.

Timonen was on his 500th career move as an assistant against the New York Islanders on March 1, 2012. On March 18, 2013, he attended his 1,000th NHL game, his 37th birthday.

Timonen was diagnosed with blood clots in both of his lungs and right leg during the 2014-15 season on August 5th. Timonen was out indefinitely with the Flyers due to his severity of illness. Timonen was traded by the Flyers to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 conditional fourth-round pick, as the NHL trade deadline approaches and returning to fitness after missing the first 62 games of the season. With 270 points in 519 games, he left the Flyers organization as the third most effective defenseman in franchise history. He played in his 1,100th NHL game on March 21, 2015.

Timonen said on March 5 that he intended to retire from professional hockey after the 2014–15 season. Timonen won his first Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks on June 15 in his final game of his 20-year career. Timonen was the first person to be named Stanley Cup champion after captain Jonathan Toews' visit to the Stanley Cup during the commemoration. Timonen reflected on his work, saying, "I was dreaming about this moment for a long time, and it's right here." This game has given me so much, I'm relieved, excited, eager to leave this game, and I'm leaving this game as a Stanley Cup champion." He was the first active player in the NHL since the 1993 NHL entry draft was drawn.

President Barack Obama named the winning Blackhawks team in the White House in February 2016. Timonen was lauded with a laudation during his address: he unexpectedly gave Timonen a round of applause:

Timonen spoke out about this to YLE, a Finnish state broadcasting company.

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Awards

• 1994 - First Team All-Star selection at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
• 1997 - Matti Keinonen trophy for best +/- in the SM-liiga
• Two-time Kanada-malja champion - 1995, 1998 (TPS and HIFK)
• 2005 - Elected most valuable player in the Mestis playoffs
• 2005 - Mestis champion (KalPa)
• Named to NHL All-Star Game: 2000 (unable to play due to injury), 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012
• Five-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner as Philadelphia Flyers best defenseman – 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014
• 2015 - Clarence S. Campbell Bowl champion (Chicago Blackhawks)
• 2015 - Stanley Cup champion (Chicago Blackhawks)
• KalPa #44 jersey retired 2016
• 2020 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee. The induction ceremony was scheduled during the 2020 IIHF World Championship, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IIHF Hall of Fame class of 2020/2022 was inducted during the 2022 IIHF World Championship.