Kimmo Timonen (born March 18, 1975) is a
Finnish professional
ice hockey defenseman who plays for the
Philadelphia Flyers of the
National Hockey League (NHL). He is an
alternate captain for the Flyers during
away games.
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...
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