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Kimmo Timonen retired a champion. The "Jerome Bettis exit", if you will. A proud moment for a long career and one where he overcame the odds of having blood clots. Nevermind he played 8:39 per game in 18 of 23 playoff games, Timonen lived his dream- he escaped the Philadelphia Flyers and won a championship.
Since that's the closest the Flyers will come to winning the title in the foreseeable future, they celebrated as if THEY had won the championship. Sort of like in 2012 when party boyz Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (who just 2 years earlier were core pieces of the Flyera) won the Cup in Los Angeles. Glory is glory, ya'll.
So tonight the Flyers celebrated Timonen's career before a game against the team he actually reached the top of the mountain with, which is kind of like going to your ex-girlfriend's wedding reception and meeting her better looking, richer new husband.
In the spirit of that, some of our favorite Timonen moments. Happy retirement!
Chris Kunitz
Kris Letang with an ill-advised shush, but it's the thought that counts. And, the best for last, that time Matt Cooke dogged out Timonen and scored a 3v5 goal.
Thanks for the memories Kimmo!