Don't bank on Kimmo Timonen saving the Flyers' defense

Kimmo Timonen is hoping that next Friday won't be one of his last appearances as a Flyer.

The 39-year-old defenseman, who is sitting out as doctors monitor blood clots in his leg and his lungs, will be honored by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association with the "Good Guy Award" (tickets still available).

Later this month, the Finn has a doctor's appointment that might shed some light on whether he'll ever be able to play again. He'd like to leave the game he loves on his own terms.

"I want to retire with my skates, not my shoes," Timonen said in an interview on 94.1 WIP Friday morning.

The Flyers signed Timonen to a one-year extension in June and found out a couple months later, when he was training in Finland, that he will probably not be able to fulfill his end of the deal. He's been taking blood thinners to regulate clots in his calf and both lungs and still has another four weeks left on his prescription.

"Until that time, we're gonna do some re-testing in a couple weeks and see where I'm at and we'll go from there," Timonen told WIP. "So far everything looks good. I'm in good shape and I'm pretty excited about what might come in four weeks, but we don't know. We haven't done any testing. It's not about me. It's about the health and what the picture will show."

The Flyers could sure use Timonen these days.

The positioning whiz would surely help a squad that allows the seventh-most goals per game in the league and is the not-so-proud owner of a penalty kill that's tied for league worst. Add that on top of Nick Grossmann getting hurt Thursday night and not practicing Friday, and the Flyers' blueline looks like it's in a world of hurt.

Even if he did return, it wouldn't be for a while. Timonen hasn't skated in months, but has been allowed to work out off the ice. If conditioning weren't tough enough, then there's the issue of errant pucks causing more blood clots.

"I don't think blocking shots is the issue," Timonen told WIP. "I think it's more there's a really good chance you'll get a new blood clot in your lungs if you stop the medicine. I think that's gonna be the issue: how I can play hockey and probably take some kind of medicine for preventing the blood clots to form. It's gonna be a lot of talking the next few weeks and making sure if we can find a way which is safe for me to play. If not, we all know what's the story there. I don't really know what's the outcome of the next four weeks."

Timonen, a four-time All-Star and Olympian, as well as a veteran of 1,092 NHL games, was hoping he'd be able to try for the Stanley Cup one last time. It seems he's no closer to a return now than he was when the team laid out a long-term plan last September.

"I still want to get into the playoffs and hopefully get one more playoff run for me and that's it," Timonen said. "This is gonna be the end of story for me anyway. That's still my passion. We'll see what happens with that. I don't know where we're gonna be in a few weeks."