Back in time: Kimmo Timonen

While digging through a pile of cards for a post idea, I came across this 94-95 Upper Deck SP card:

I knew that Kimmo had been around for a while, but to find a card from a 20 year old set stopped me in my tracks.   Kimmo actually played in the world junior tournament as an 18 year during the 93-94 season and had 6 points in 7 games.   He followed that up the next year with an 8 point tournament in the same number of games.  Kimmo was drafted in the 10th round of the 1993 draft by the LA Kings, and his rights were traded in 1998 to the Nashville Predators.

Timonen's NHL career didn't begin until the 98-99 season with the Predators, appearing in 50 games and recording 12 points.  His rookie campaign would be the only one to date that doesn't have him averaging 20 minutes of ice time per night (19:04).

Fast forward to now, he's appeared in over 1000 NHL games, and still averages just under 22 minutes a night for the Flyers.  It'll be interesting to see if he receives another contract from the Flyers, or anyone else around the league.   At age 39, it will be tough for GM's to pay big money for Kimmo with the emphasis in today's NHL being on developing younger stars. 

Kimmo has been a solid player in the league for quite a while, and even though he plays in Philly, I'd like to see him get a chance at another long playoff run towards a Cup.

He's definitely earned it.

thanks for reading, Robert