Kimmo Timonen’s Philadelphia story was born out of necessity for the Nashville Predators.

The Preds needed to shed payroll as they dealt with ownership issues, so in the summer of 2007 they traded their captain to the Philadelphia Flyers where he became one of the most beloved players in the team’s post recent history.

“It gave be goosebumps. It’s a great honor to be here. Brings back a lot of memories and good times," Timonen said. “I wanted to take my jacket off and raise my hands really high. I’m not that flexible anymore. You can’t have that in life other than playing sports and have this kind of respect. There’s no way to put it other than saying thank you to the fans. I had a great time here in Philly. Hopefully down the road I can do that for this team to help get to the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. I wish that everybody could get a chance to win it because it’s something special.”

Timonen played 519 games for the Flyers and notched 270 points. On Wednesday night he was honored before Philly’s home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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Here is the video tribute:

He also took part in a ceremonial puck drop.

Beyond the obvious, Wednesday’s game carried extra significance for Timonen. After missing most of the start of the 2014-15 season with blood clots, the Flyers traded him to Chicago for a second-round draft pick in February of 2015.

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With the Blackhawks, Timonen played 16 games and was a minus-3 in the regular season. But his veteran inspiration helped Chicago to their third Stanley Cup since 2010. It was Timonen’s first (and only) Cup as a player. He retired after the playoffs. In the postseason he played 18 games and averaged 8:40 of ice-time.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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