After Winning Bronze, Kimmo Timonen Wants More as Flyers Return to Action Tonight
VOORHEES— Feeling rather pleased with himself, Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen held the blue strap that left a bronze medal dangling at the end.
“You guys say we don’t have a chance, but I’ll show you the medal,” the Finnish Olympian told a group of reporters. “Maybe you’ll change your mind now.”
Proving people wrong is something the soon-to-be 39-year-old blueliner is used to. No one expected this kind of career out of a 10th-round pick from the L.A. Kings back in the 1993 draft.
Timonen recently returned from his fifth and final Olympics. He also won bronze in the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 1998 Nagano Games. Finland came away with silver in Turin in 2006.
Timonen and the Finns beat the U.S., 5-0, Saturday in the bronze-medal game in Sochi, Russia. Wednesday was his first on-ice practice back with the Flyers.
“It’s almost like I hadn’t skated in a month,” Timonen said. “I hadn’t skated since the game ended. We celebrated for a couple days, let’s put it that way.”
Timonen won’t join his Flyers teammates tonight, when the schedule resumes with a game against the San Jose Sharks.