KalPa will retire Kimmo Timonen’s number 44

One of the most memorable hockey nights in Finnish Liiga will be on December 3, when KalPa will retire Kimmo Timonen’s number 44 prior to their home game against KalPa-TPS. KalPa will pay tribute to Kimmo Timonen during the evening. First there will be an All-Star game, where Kimmo Timonen has chosen his dream team, who is playing against TPS alumni legends chosen by Kai Nurminen. Then there will be the jersey retirement ceremony and finally the actual Liiga game KalPa-TPS.

Timonen is a very respected hockey icon and he will become the fourth KalPa player to have his jersey retired. The other retired jerseys are #27 Jouni Rinne (in 1990), #1 Pasi Kuivalainen (2006) and #24 Sami Kapanen (2015).

24 seasons, seven medals and Stanley Cup

Kimmo Timonen played his first SM-liiga games for KalPa elite team when he was only 16 years old in season 1991-1992. He played three seasons for KalPa and after that three more seasons for TPS (Turku) and one season for HIFK (Helsinki). Timonen won one SM-liiga Championship in TPS and one in HIFK.

His fantastic NHL career consisted of 16 seasons played for Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, where he ended his career after winning Stanley Cup in 2015. During the NHL lock-out season 2004-2005 Timonen played for his hometown club KalPa in Kuopio and the club got promoted back to SM-liiga.

Timonen has always been one of the leading defensemen also in Team Finland and he has played in seven World Championship tournaments, five Olympic Games and two World Cups and has been awarded for All-Star team on each international level.

Proud to be a KalPa player from Kuopio

- Kimmo Timonen has done a remarkable job when he returned from NHL back to his hometown club KalPa and was helping the team’s promotion back to SM-liiga. He is also a KalPa shareowner and thus been enabling the growth and success of his former club. Kimmo has always been proud of his background and KalPa history, tells Toni Saksman, the CEO of KalPa. – We want to cherish and pay special tribute to Kimmo Timonen.

”I’m extremely honoured”

- This is the biggest honour one can get as a hockey player and it’s amazing that it happens in my beloved hometown and home arena, says Kimmo Timonen. – I’m extremely honoured and so are my parents. I hope that my jersey retirement will inspire young hockey players to work for their dreams. KalPa and Kuopio have always been special to me and I want to thank KalPa from the bottom of my heart for this great honour. I’ll definitely enjoy the special night in December and I hope we can all have fun then, adds Kimmo Timonen.

Career highlights of Kimmo Timonen

SM-liiga:
- Seven seasons
- 315 games 38+77=115
- Championship in SM-liiga in 1995 and 1998, silver medal in 1996
- SM-liiga the player of the month December 1995
- SM-liiga Best Plus/Minus (Matti Keinonen Trophy) in 1997
- SM-liiga All-Star team in 1997

Mestis:
- One season
- 20 games 7+20=27
- Mestis Championship and SM-liiga promotion in 2005
- Mestis Playoffs MVP in 2005

NHL:
- 16 seasons
- 1213 games 121+485=606
- Assistant Captain for Nashville Predators in 2002-2006
- Assistant Captain for Philadelphia Flyers in 2007-2014
- Captain for Nashville Predators in 2006-2007
- NHL All-Star Game in 1999-2000, 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2011-2012
- Stanley Cup in Chicago Blackhawks in 2015

Team Finland:
- U18 EJC in 1992, 1993
- U20 WJC in 1993, 1994, 1995
- U20 WJC All-Star team in 1994
- World Championship in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
- World Championship silver medal in 1998, 1999, 2001
- World Championship Most points by defenseman in 1998
- World Championship All-Star team in 1998
- Olympic Games in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
- Olympic silver medal in 2006, Olympic bronze medal in 1998, 2010, 2014
- Olympic All-Star in 2006
- World Cup in 1996, 2004
- World Cup Silver medal in 2004
- World Cup Most points by defensemen in 2004
- World Cup All-Star Team in 2004