Offseason talk with Timonen

The Kime 4 Kids fundraising event that Kimmo Timonen organized for a children's hospital in Kuopio was a success. The whole profit of the event was 36100 euros (46700 USD).

"I'm very happy", Timonen says. "The event brought a lot more money to an important cause than I dared to hope."

Timonen says helping sick children is close to his heart also because of personal reasons. His niece is one example.

"When I've closely followed how hard the life is for the parents, I want things to become easier for them."

Among the Finnish players who took part in helping the event become successful were also Valtteri Filppula, Tuukka Rask, Teemu Selänne, Saku Koivu and Tuomo Ruutu.

Among the auctioned items, one prize was a VIP trip to a Flyers game next season. Safe to say, none of the players wanted to win that prize.

After the successful event, Timonen says it's time to start moving the focus towards next season again. He's already practicing, but won't return to Philadelphia until late August.

"I practice in the morning and do other stuff the rest of the day. The older you get, the better you have to train in the summer, too. Otherwise the young guys leave you behind fast."

Timonen says it's really important to get some time off from hockey at his summer cabin by the lake in Kuopio.

"You're tied to hockey for ten months in a year. To get out of that environment is very important mentally. Here you get to rest mentally and physically."

Now Timonen has gotten over last season.

"It took a couple weeks to get over it. Losing in the finals was the biggest disappointment in my career afterall. I couldn't even sleep well at first."

Timonen says he doesn't have many tries left to win and hints that he will retire after his current contract is up.

"I still haven't won the Stanley Cup. I have three years left in my contract and it's very likely that that's my limit. I'm having less years, but I still have chances [to win]."

When the long career is over, don't expect to see Timonen keep working in hockey.

"I'm more interested in other things than being involved in hockey for the next twenty years. Now I have a few years to think what I'm really going to do when I grow up. I have some ideas, but time will tell."