by Corey Long. We can definitely set ourselves up for success. With the seriousness of the injury, the Flyers ruled out Timonen indefinitely. Last August, Kimmo Timonen wasn't sure if he would ever play professional hockey again. "Nobody knew if I could play again.
But I think what makes me a successful player is being able to walk on that line and not cross it; get under guys’ skin and hopefully push them to the point where they take penalties instead of myself." There weren't many high-quality looks, but he was tested with a couple of power plays and got exactly what he needed to out of the appearance to feel good enough for Saturday.A storybook career was given the proper ending for Timonen as the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in Game 6 on Monday evening to capture their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.If DeBrincat is able to find his offensive game, he will be a serious scoring threat for the Oilers. I’ve been on the losing side of the story so many times that I know guys realize that. "After accepting the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Blackhawks Jonathan Toews eyed one teammate in particular that would be the first player to get his hands on the Cup.In 16 regular-season games and 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games with Chicago, Timonen failed to register a point. "I kind of expected him to get fired up, maybe raise his heart rate a little bit this morning. Chicago's third combo of Alex DeBrincat--Kirby Dach--Drake Caggiula — that we saw in Wednesday's 4-0 exhibition win over the Blues — has more offensive talent than their likely counterpart for the series: Andreas Athanasiou--Riley Sheahan--Josh Archibald.In anticipating how the matchups in the Blackhawks-Oilers best-of-five play-in series will pan out, it's hard not to picture the Hawks' third line having a major opportunity to break through.During Thursday's Zoom call with the media from Edmonton, Dach credited each of Chicago's lines with the ability to be the difference-maker for the series before agreeing with the third line's ability to do so.It's hard to imagine that after 20-plus years of professional hockey, Timonen has never been crowned a champion. But it was an ending that Timonen never could have predicted when he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers last summer. And it wasn't a surprise to Timonen after a conversation with Toews earlier Monday morning. Despite missing the first 12 days of training camp because he had tested positive for COVID-19, Corey Crawford said on Thursday he doesn't have any doubts that he'll be ready for Game 1 on Saturday when the Blackhawks take on the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.'
Born: … At the end of the day, I’m glad nothing happened to me during the games. Buried at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference and knowing that Timonen wouldn't have a chance to hoist a Cup in Philadelphia, Flyers GM Ron Hextall found a suitor for Timonen. This is my hometown and this being his ex-team. #44, D, Chicago Blackhawks. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. On Thursday, Colliton said Dach was one of the Hawks' best defensive players. Nearly 10 months later the 16-year NHL veteran can finally call himself a champion.