Kimmo Samuel Timonen (born 18 March 1975) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played 16 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

, and

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

. Timonen had played in over 1,100 NHL games before retiring. During his career, Timonen had also featured in three IIHF World Junior Championships, seven IIHF World Championships, two World Cups and five Olympic tournaments. He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 in his final career game. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2020.

Playing career

Timonen was the youngest player to play for 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 The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

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 Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

and then later for TPS. In 1998, Timonen played on the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

-winning Finnish Olympic team in Nagano. Shortly after the Olympics, the Kings traded him, along with Jan Vopat, to the

organization (the team not yet having begun play) in agreement that Nashville would not select Garry Galley in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft. Kimmo Timonen 2006

With the Nashville Predators

During the 1998–99 season, Timonen split time between Nashville and their IHL affiliate, the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

. 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 The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. 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 The 2004 World Cup of Hockey was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the second installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, eight years after the inaugural 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It was held from August ...

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 Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Nashville Predators for the 2006–07 season. That season proved to be a career year for Timonen, as he registered career highs in both assists and total points.

With the Philadelphia Flyers

Following the 2006–07 season, Timonen was traded to the

. 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 Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

, the Flyers'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate. However, Jussi was subsequently traded to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

early in the 2007–08 season. Kimmo Timonen 2010-10-07

The Flyers beat the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

4–3 and the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

4–1 in the first two rounds of the

2008 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 9, 2008, after the 2007–08 NHL season, 2007–08 regular season. The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played Playoff format#Best-of-seven pla ...

. 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 A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

in his foot. He was sidelined indefinitely and missed the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

. Timonen returned for Game 5, but the Flyers eventually lost the game and their playoff run came to an end. In the 2009–10 regular season, Timonen led all NHL defensemen in shorthanded goals scored, with two. That year, Timonen would play in his first ever

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

, though the Flyers would lose to the

in a six-game series. Timonen scored his 100th career goal on 5 March 2011, against the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

. He ended the season in a tie with

Marc Staal Marc Staal (born January 13, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former defenceman who is a player development assistant for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Staal played 17 seasons in the NHL for the ...

for most shorthanded goals among defensemen, with two. Timonen recorded his 500th career point with an assist on 1 March 2012, against the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

. He played his 1,000th NHL game on 18 March 2013, his 37th birthday. WellsFargoCenterPhila 35

Blood clots and Stanley Cup victory with the Chicago Blackhawks

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. The serious nature of injury ruled Timonen out indefinitely with the Flyers. Approaching the

NHL trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

, 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 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

second-round pick and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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. On 21 March 2015, he played in his 1,100th NHL game. 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. During the celebration, Timonen was the first player to receive the Stanley Cup following captain

Jonathan Toews Jonathan Bryan Toews ( born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre who last played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he served as the team's captain between 2008 an ...

. 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." He was the last active player in the NHL from the 1993 NHL entry draft. In February 2016, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received the winning Blackhawks team in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. During his speech, he unexpectedly gave Timonen a laudation:

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

Urheiluruutu, 19 February 2016. Timonen commented on this to the Finnish state broadcasting company

Personal life

Kimmo is married to Johanna Timonen and has 3 children. Kimmo announced his retirement after winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 with the Blackhawks. Timonen owns several restaurants and nightclubs in his hometown of Kuopio.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

- First Team All-Star selection at the

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

- Matti Keinonen trophy for best +/- in the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

*Two-time

Kanada-malja The Kanada-malja, or Poika (Literally "''Boy''" or "''Son''"), is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Finnish SM-liiga playoffs. Kanada-malja is Finnish language, Finnish for "Canada Bowl"; the trophy is s ...

champion -

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

(TPS and HIFK) *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

- Elected most valuable player in the

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

playoffs *

champion (KalPa) *Named to

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

(unable to play due to injury),

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

*Five-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner as

best defenseman –

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

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 The 2020 IIHF World Championship would have been hosted by Switzerland from 8 to 24 May 2020, as the IIHF announced on 15 May 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic. The tournament was cancelled on 21 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IIHF All-Ti ...

, but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The IIHF Hall of Fame class of 2020/2022 was inducted during the 2022 IIHF World Championship.

References

External links

*
The President Welcomes the Chicago Blackhawks, 2015 Stanley Cup Champions — Barack Obaman makes a special mention of Timonen at the White House at 4:14

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Timonen, Kimmo 1975 births Brynäs IF players Chicago Blackhawks players Finnish ice hockey defencemen HC Lugano players HIFK (ice hockey) players Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees KalPa players Living people Los Angeles Kings draft picks Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players Nashville Predators players National Hockey League All-Stars Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Ice hockey people from Kuopio Philadelphia Flyers players HC TPS players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from North Savo Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden 21st-century Finnish sportsmen