TIMONEN TO REMAIN OUT INDEFINITELY
Yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers held a press conference at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, to officially confirm the diagnosis that five-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner Kimmo Timonen received last month in his native Finland.
The longtime assistant captain cannot be medically cleared to play hockey as long he is on blood thinners to combat blood clots in his lungs and right calf. Along with his mother and brothers, Timonen has a congenital condition called protein C deficiency, which makes him more prone to blood clots and the life-threatening conditions they can cause.
The chances of the 39-year-old Timonen ever playing hockey again are slim. As long as he is on blood thinners -- which could cause a dangerous level of blood loss if he were to suffer an injury on the ice -- he is prohibited from playing hockey. Furthermore, it is still not clear what triggered his most recent blood clots nor have they resolved.
The press conference was held to address the following two questions: How long will it take for the blood clots in his lungs and leg to completely resolve on the blood thinner regimen? Additionally, what are the next steps in the process?
Said Timonen, "Time will tell. There’s different opinions how long it’s going to take. Everyone’s opinions are different. So it could take three months, six months. It could take a year, could take two years. Who knows? So that’s why we have to wait and see for months."
While Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said that Timonen will be re-evaluated "somewhere early in the new year." Neither the organization nor the player is ready to abandon all hope of a return to the team in what was to be Timonen's final season before retirement. However, there is no chance that he can play hockey again any time time soon and the chances of a return at any point this season are slim.
"First and foremost, as an organization, we’re concerned about Kimmo, his health, and his family," said Hextall. And then secondly comes the hockey part. We would never put him in danger. On the other hand, if we feel at that point that he is capable of playing, we will certainly welcome him back later in the year, assuming things go as we hope."
Is there a chance that Timonen could safely discontinue blood thinners when the blood clots resolve? That appears unlikely.
Said Timonen, "Down the road, based on the doctors, I probably have to be on the blood thinners for the rest of my life. But that’s not 100% sure yet. We have time here, four or five months. Whatever it is till the pre-testing time. I’m sure these things are going to come up and we’re going to talk about it."
Although contact sports are prohibited, Timonen is able to lead an otherwise normal life. He can work out vigorously -- although he will not skate -- and more or less go about a typical routine at home.
Timonen is a player known for having one one of the NHL's highest thresholds for pain and discomfort in a sport where having those traits are par for the course. However, he realizes that the proper treatment of his medical condition is potentially a life-and-death matter and that he has to prioritize his family and health above his hockey career.
Nevertheless, the player is likely not going to announce his retirement until after the season. He wants to give himself every possible chance to finish his playing career under his own terms. There is also a financial consideration involved, although Timonen would likely have retired if doctors told him now there was zero chance of a scenario that'd allow him to play hockey at any point this season. Retirement would mean forfeiting his $2 million salary for the 2014-15 season.
If Timonen had retired, the Flyers would NOT have been penalized on the salary cap despite his age. He is on a one-year contract, which is not subject to the NHL's "over-35" contract rules regardless of a player's salary for the season. It is a different situation that Chris Pronger, who is unable to officially retire both for salary cap reasons as well as ones of receiving his contracted salary.
Timonen will join Pronger on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) list this season. The Flyers are currently $4.936 million over the salary cap ceiling per Capgeek.com. Pronger's $4.941 million salary can be designated to LTIR the day before opening night rosters are set. The Flyers would then become cap compliant. However, they would not receive an overage allowance for the difference.
Placing Timonen on LTIR the following day will give the Flyers $2 million worth of overage allowance. This amount cannot be "banked" over the course of the season and will diminish on a prorated basis as players are called up during the season.
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TRAINING CAMP 2014: FROM A(KESON) to Z(EPP)
The Flyers will conduct their first official day of on-ice practice today at the Skate Zone. There will be sessions at 10:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. EDT. The same schedule will hold for tomorrow and Sunday.
On Monday, part of the Flyers preseason roster will be in London, Ontario to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The rest of the split squad will remain in Philadelphia to play the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7 p.m. EDT both in Philly and London.
Below is the Flyers full training camp roster as listed on the Flyers' official site. There are 36 forwards, 22 defensemen and six goaltenders on the list. However, tryout players Nikita Jevpalovs, Louick Marcotte and Beau Rusk were released at the end of rookie camp. The list also includes LTIR-bound Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger as well as Ryan White, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle and will not be able to participate.
FORWARDS
42 Jason Akeson
64 Brandon Alderson
73 Nicolas Aube-Kubel (unsigned 2014 second-round pick)
78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
52 Nick Cousins
14 Sean Couturier
75 Radel Fazleev (unsigned 2014 sixth-round pick)
77 Austin Fyten (AHL contract)
28 Claude Giroux
34 Andrew Gordon
63 Kevin Goumas (AHL contract)
56 Tyrell Goulbourne (unsigned 2013 third-round pick)
68 Matt Hatch (AHL contract)
61 Brett Hextall (AHL contract)
80 Nikita Jevpalovs (amateur tryout; released on Sept. 17)
66 Andrew Johnston
41 Blair Jones
49 Scott Laughton
40 Vincent Lecavalier
58 Taylor Leier
79 Louick Marcotte (amateur tryout; released on Sept. 17)
57 Derek Mathers
81 Marcel Noebels
46 Darroll Powe (AHL contract)
12 Michael Raffl
24 Matt Read
36 Zac Rinaldo
37 Jay Rosehill
10 Brayden Schenn
17 Wayne Simmonds
45 Zack Stortini
51 Petr Straka
18 R.J. Umberger
76 Chris VandeVelde
93 Jakub Voracek
25 Ryan White (pectoral surgery, will not participate)
DEFENSEMEN
09 Mark Alt
05 Braydon Coburn
15 Michael Del Zotto
48 Steven Delisle (AHL contract)
82 Brett Flemming (AHL contract)
53 Shayne Gostisbehere
08 Nicklas Grossmann
54 Robert Hägg
62 Matt Konan
60 Maxim Lamarche
38 Oliver Lauridsen
47 Andrew MacDonald
43 Brandon Manning
50 Samuel Morin
59 Jesper Pettersson
20 Chris Pronger (post-concussion syndrome; to be designated for LTIR)
74 Beau Rusk (amateur tryout; released on Sept. 17)
71 Travis Sanheim (unsiged 2104 first-round pick)
22 Luke Schenn
55 Nick Schultz
32 Mark Streit
44 Kimmo Timonen (blood clots; to be designated for LTIR)
GOALTENDERS
29 Ray Emery
67 Connor Knapp (AHL contract)
35 Steve Mason
70 Martin Ouellette (AHL contract)
65 Anthony Stolarz
72 Robb Zepp
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MARSH RECALLS ARDUOUS KEENAN/CROCE FLYERS CAMPS
If you have not already read longtime Flyers defenseman Brad Marsh's highly entertaining
blog on the evolution of NHL training camps, it is a must read. Fans of the 1980s-era Flyers will particularly get a kick out of Marshy's recollections of the torturous camps that Pat Croce (then the Flyers' strength and conditioning trainer) and coach Mike Keenan put the Flyers through.
The following is an excerpt from Brad's blog:
I dare say that the training camps nowadays are a piece of cake compared to what they were in the mid 80’s. Nowadays, every little detail is mandated through the players association as to what the players are allowed to do both on the ice and off the ice.
When Pat was our conditioning trainer and Mike Keenan was the coach, it was survival of the fittest! Pat was merciless and Iron Mike encouraged him to test all of us to the limit.
I remember doing a little bit of running at the Calgary Flames training camps in the early 80’s. My first few training camps with the Flyers were harder than I had experienced before. I got a wakeup call from it, and it was beneficial to my career in a huge way.
The off ice training that Pat brought in was tremendous, it was my first experience doing something like this and I have to say it was the beginning of the best part of my career. So thank you, Pat!
To give us added motivation, Pat played to our natural competitive instincts. We started to have fitness competitions during training camp and he would award a trophy to the best conditioned player.
I truly believe the Mike Keenan trainings camps of the mid 80’s are what lead to the players association insisting on the changes that the current players enjoy today. Mike re-named the fitness trophy the Bob Clarke Cup.
Every player knew their job was at stake because Keenan was deadly serious about his players showing a year-round commitment to staying in shape. One of the biggest moments of pride in my career came when I won the Clarkie Cup– in fact, I still have the trophy!
Talk about competition? Wow! The Flyer camps under Mike were unbelievable hard and very competitive. The Bob Clarke Cup started with various weight lifting exercises, pushups, pullups, situps, grip strength, vertical jump, etc.
The highlight of the fitness test was the two-mile run. The run was very hotly contested with bragging rights at stake for the winner and the top finishers. In Keenan’s first year as our coach, Brad McCrimmon won the race followed by Dave Poulin, myself, and Daryl Sittler.
Training camp under Mike was just getting going, however. The fitness test was followed by two intensive on ice workouts daily -- bag skates were a way of life under Mike -- along with a dryland fitness workout. If Mike and Pat thought you were overweight, you rode the bike after all of this was done! How dare you to show up to a Mike Keenan camp overweight!
I experienced a total of four camps under Mike. My last camp as a Flyer was much the same when Paul Holmgren was the new Flyers coach. None of the camps before or after were as tough, but there was a reward at the end of it.
As I said, the Keenan/Croce camps were hard but it either brought the best out in you or you wilted. Guess what happened to you if you wilted?! You weren't going to be around for too much longer.
These camps brought the best out in me and as I have said many times, my years as a Flyer turned my career around and made me a better hockey player. I look back and those years and feel very grateful to Keenan and Croce for making me dig deep and discover there were levels of achievement both on the ice and in my all-around fitness that I never knew I could reach.
Elsewhere in Brad's blog, Marsh compares today's fitness standards to the (hilariously) lax standards of the 1960s. He also talks about why he's already tired of the NFL season and is glad hockey is back.
After a short hiatus in August to attend his son Patrick's wedding in Calgary and fulfill some other commitments, Brad's blog has resumed in its regular Wednesday slot on HockeyBuzz. Former NHL referee Paul Stewart's blog runs every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
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FLYERS ALUMNI BIRTHDAYS: SEPTEMBER 19
Tough guy forwards Scott Daniels and Josh Gratton respectively turn 45 and 32 years old today. Perennially enigmatic defenseman Joni Pitkänen turns 31.
Turning 44 today is Gilbert Dionne, the "other" player that came to the Flyers in the 1995 blockbuster trade that brought John LeClair and Eric Desjardins over from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Mark Recchi.
The much younger brother of Hall of Fame forward Marcel Dionne, Gilbert was a rookie sensation in Montreal when he notched 21 goals and 34 points in 39 games during the 1991-92 season. Thereafter, he had trouble sustaining his success and his scoring pace dropped with each passing season.
Dionne mustered 20 goals and 48 points in 75 games during the 1992-93 regular season and then added 12 points (six goals, six assists) while dressing in 20 playoff games for the surprise Stanley Cup champion Habs. He dipped slightly to 19 goals and 45 points in 74 games the next season.
During the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, Dionne stumbled out of the gates for Montreal, and his ice time continued to be cut. Hoping he could regain his rookie scoring touch and provide some punch to the offense, the Flyers acquired him in the Recchi trade. It didn't happen. As a matter of fact, Dionne would only score one more goal over the remainder of his NHL career, and it would not come in a Flyers uniform.
LeClair, who was initially acquired with the hopes of adding a big and strong role player, instead blossomed instantly into a high-scoring first line left winger as part of what became known as the Legion of Doom line. Desjardins anchored an entirely revamped defense corps. Meanwhile, Dionne continued to struggle.
In 20 regular season games for the Flyers in 1994-95, Dionne failed to score a goal and chipped in six assists. He ended up a frequent healthy scratched and dressed in just three playoff games for a Flyers club that made it to Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The following season, Dionne had an opportunity to compete for a second line role out of training camp. He fell short again. Dionne dressed in a pair of games for the Flyers in 2005-06, skating on the fourth line. On Oct. 29, 2005, he was placed on waivers and released.
Dionne played five games for the Florida Panthers later that season, tallying what would prove to be final goal of his NHL career among his three points. Primarily, he spent the season in the American Hockey League with the Carolina Monarchs, for whom he racked up 43 goals and 101 points (fourth in the league) in just 55 games.
There were no additional NHL opportunities forthcoming for Dionne. He spent the rest of his pro career in the minor leagues and Germany's DEL.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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