The current Philadelphia Flyers squad is set to be entrenched in a rebuild for a while, but how would some of the franchise’s legends fare in today’s game? I take a look at five unsung heroes who would adapt best to the NHL in the present-day. For this exercise, I won’t include players who are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, because that’s no fun.
It feels like forever ago that the Philadelphia Flyers were playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers lost that series in six games, and they spent much of the years following that playing whack-a-mole trying to fill the holes in their rosters. The additions of players like Jaromir Jagr and Ilya Bryzgalov prove that.
The Flyers struggled to replace their older players, and so the younger players had to step up. When those younger players got older, the new young players weren’t unable to step up to the plate. Through thick and thin, one defenseman was there for it all.
Kimmo Timonen
Kimmo Timonen joined the Flyers on May 22, 2007 when he signed a six-year, $38 million contract and left the Nashville Predators. Timonen would spend those six years, plus one more, in Orange and Black and quickly cemented himself as one of the most talented blueliners in franchise history.
In his heyday, the Finnish blueliner was an extremely dynamic play-driver at both ends of the ice, and was especially effective on the power play. Timonen scored 40 or more points in four out of his seven seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, and had 30 or more assists in each of his first five.
Age 38... wow #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/p5lXUWZeKg
— Jon (@ByJonBailey) July 24, 2023
If Timonen had one weakness in his game, it was his penalty differential. Timonen wasn’t necessarily undisciplined, but he had three seasons with 40 or more penalty minutes as a Flyers player, and didn’t tend to draw any. Still, it’s rare to find a player as dominant at both ends of the ice as Timonen was. Even at age 38, he showed no signs of aging or wear and tear.
Truthfully, it’s a shame the Flyers’ sentinel never won a Norris Trophy or a Stanley Cup as a member of the organization. Timonen only cracked the top-five of Norris voting once (2006-07), and it was as a Nashville Predator. If he hadn’t played in an era dominated by players like Erik Karlsson and Niklas Lidstrom, he would have had a much greater chance of securing the prestigious award.
Timonen lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final as a Flyer, but got to be on the opposite side of that fence in 2015 when he defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in the finals as a member of the Blackhawks. Timonen’s recovery from blood clots in 2014 drew some unprompted praise from Barack Obama, who lauded the vet’s determination to come back and go out on top with a Stanley Cup.
Timonen retired following the conclusion of the 2014-15 season with 38 goals and 270 points in 519 games as a Flyer. Timonen also had 29 points in 71 playoff games with the Flyers.
It’ll be a little bit before the Flyers find themselves back in the playoffs, but when they make it back, they’d love to have a player as good as Kimmo Timonen. Hopefully Cam York can become that for them soon.