Q. I thought you were going to stay home. Did you decide it was important to come here and support the team?
KIMMO TIMONEN: Well, actually, Mr. Snider, the owner called me last night and said he's going to fly in today, and he's ready to offer me a ride with his plane. So I said I probably can't fly. But then we talked to doctors today and they said yeah, you can fly.
Q. Could you just talk a little about what this news meant to you, how it hit you, and not being able to play in the series?
KIMMO TIMONEN: Well, it's been a really hard 24 hours. Thursday morning I was still ready to go on the road with the boys, and I got the news that I can't play probably in this series. Probably not the rest of the season. So it was awful. I can't even describe the feeling. But, like I said, it's been a really rough 24 hours.
Q. This team has overcome so many setbacks during the regular season. How do you think the room's going to deal with losing you at this juncture in the season?
KIMMO TIMONEN: Well, exactly like you said. We face a lot of adversity throughout the year. We lost some key guys for a long period of time. But we were still able to win games. And that tells you what kind of team we have. And I still believe we can get over this for sure.
We've got pretty good players that's can come in and play my role, and play well. And I'm really confident that's going to happen. Hopefully the guys win today.
Q. I know Coach Stevens addressed the team yesterday when he got the news. Were you able to address the team and talk to the guys? And if so, what went down?
KIMMO TIMONEN: I had a chance to talk to a lot of guys now when I got here. Everybody was saying how sorry they are, and it is a bad break. But I said, you know, don't feel sorry for me. You guys have a game tonight and I want to you win.
Q. You've been such an integral voice in the locker room while you were playing. Do you plan on still trying to be around the guys as much as possible or because you're injured, do you need to separate yourself, do you think?
KIMMO TIMONEN: No, I still want to be here. I talked to John Stevens last night, and he said he would like me to come here and be part of the team. When I got the news that I could fly, it was a no?brainer. I want to come here and I want to stay here and I'm flying back Sunday with the team.
So I'm going to be as helpful as I can. And if there's something on the power play and five-on-five play, I will be there if they need my advice.
Q. I'm just curious medically, how scary was it to find this out? And also, I believe this is the second time you've had this. So have they talked to you about maybe doing some tests that makes you see if you have something that makes you more likely to get blood clots?
KIMMO TIMONEN: It is the second time. But the first time four years ago it was a little different. It was superficial blood clot. And it's not a really dangerous, obviously, it's a blood clot. This time it was in the artery not in the vein. The dangerous thing about this is if I kept playing and the clot breaks loose, it could go to my toes and they have to cut my toes off. So obviously you don't want that to happen.
So I met three different doctors yesterday, and everybody said they won't let me play. There are too many risks of that to happen, and I've got to respect their opinion.
Q. Was there any kind of best case scenario given to you about when you could potentially return? Or are you of the mind right now that you won't play no matter how long the team goes?
KIMMO TIMONEN: Well, there's a little hope. I asked the doctors is there any chance I could return this year, and they don't know that. They said it might be two weeks, it might be two months, it might be five months.
It's really individual how the blood thinners are working, and we'll see. We're going to do the check-up every week and see how if it's any smaller or is it any better, and then we'll go from there.
Q. Is there a potential of this ending your career?
KIMMO TIMONEN: What's that.
Q. Could this be a career-ending type thing?
KIMMO TIMONEN: I've heard it is not, but it could have been. So I'm glad we found it earlier than later.
Q. You mentioned that you'd be available for advice to other players, what advice would you give Randy Jones for your position on the power play?
KIMMO TIMONEN: I haven't talked to Randy yet. But he played this game, you know, enough. He knows what to do out there, I'm sure. The power play coach showed him a lot of tape and what we'll try to do. But I won't go in the locker room and tell the guys what to do, that's for sure. If there's something that coaches wants me to do, I will. But otherwise I'm going to stay behind and just be a friend and a teammate.
Q. Is there anything that you do rehab-wise, or do you just kind of stand and wait to see what happens?
KIMMO TIMONEN: There's not much you can do. You can only wait and see what's going to happen. I was asking if any hot stuff or hot packs or stuff like that helps, and it really doesn't. The
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