March 25, 2015
As far as retirement tours go, Kimmo Timonen's has been accelerated. The calendar says it was February 6th when the 40-year-old Chicago Blackhawks (still doesn't sound right) defenseman hit the ice in Voorhees for the first time in a long time, but it doesn't feel that long ago. At that point, Timonen's return to NHL action was still a long way away.
Life comes at you fast.
Fast forward six weeks, and Timonen is consistently suiting up for a red-hot playoff team looking primed for another major postseason run. Overall, the Blackhawks are 7-1-1 in the nine games he has played. And as fate would have it, the floundering Flyers traded their longtime cornerstone blueliner to a contender who was set to make a late-season appearance at the Wells Fargo Center. It seems like the Hockey Gods are benevolent, after all. The puck drops at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.
It goes without saying, but Timonen is a class act, and he talked to reporters after Chicago's morning skate. When the subject of what kind of ovation he would receive from the Flyers faithful was brought up, Timonen started to get choked up:
Call me crazy, but I'm betting that he gets a warm reception.
