Philadelphia Flyers general manager, Ron Hextall, announced today that veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen has been diagnosed with blood clots in his lower right leg and both lungs. Timonen is currently receiving treatment in his home country of Finland.
Although this comes as a shock to fans, teammates, Flyer’s staff, and Timonen himself, this injury is not a complete surprise seeing as Timonen has suffered from blood clots before. Early in his career while Timonen played with the Nashville Predators, blood clots were found in Timonen’s ankle causing him to miss a few games while undergoing treatment. However, the resurfacing injury is more dangerous this time due to the clots appearing in Timonen’s lungs; there is no timetable set for his recovery at this point.
Despite the 2014-2015 season predicted to be Timonen’s last in the NHL, the Flyer’s will be missing a lot of depth on the blue line if the defenseman’s career is cut short. Timonen appeared in 77 games last season for the Flyers and posted 35 points while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game. Hextall stated that he hates to speculate on whether or not Timonen will be able to play next season, but will keep an open mind while the 39 year old recovers.
Timonen is expected to be released from the hospital sometime tomorrow, but will be unable to travel for the next 2-3 weeks.
