Without Kimmo, the show will go on

By Steven Lienert
The Phanatic Magazine

My Mom is a religious person. So over the years I've gotten used to hearing things like “God may close a door but He always opens a window” or “God only burdens people with things they can handle.”

After hearing about Flyers' defenseman Kimmo Timonen and the blood clot in his ankle that has sidelined him indefinitely, on the eve of the Eastern Conference Finals no less, I think I better park my rear-end in a pew.

Because, at first, I thought that only God could help the Flyers now. After all, Timonen shut down Alex Ovechkin all by himself and, with Evgeni Malkin and Cindy Crosby healthily skating through the first two rounds, the Flyers needed Timonen now more than ever. He is their best defenseman, period.

But then, my Philly-ness kicked in: “What? That's all you got? The boys'll be just fine.”

For Flyers' fans, this is just deja vu all over again. We've been through this before, with Eric Lindros in 2000.

That was the year the Flyers' shipped Rod Brind'Amour to Carolina for Keith Primeau, Lindros was oft concussed and, after he criticized Flyers' management, the organization publicly stripped Lindros of the captain's 'C.' Good times.

Lindros' bruised brain kept him out of the end of the regular season and through the Flyers' playoff run. With him in the press box, however, the Flyers rallied from a 15-point deficit in the standings to win the Atlantic Division and earn the No. 1 seed in the East entering the playoffs.

But without Lindros, the Flyers were supposed to first-round fodder or fade away entirely. Instead, they took a 3 games to 1 lead over the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. After the Flyers lost Game 5, Lindros returned, much to the fans' delight.

He would surely put the Flyers over the hump, they thought. Instead, Devils' defenseman Scott Stevens ended Lindros' career as a Flyer after a vicious (but legal) check left him in a crumpled fetal position at center ice.

Which brings us back to Timonen. He will be missed – there's no disputing that. But without Lindros or Brind'Amour, the Flyers found a future captain in Primeau (who scored the five-overtime goal to even the series with Pittsburgh in Round 2 that season), goaltender Brian Boucher got hot (he made perhaps the greatest save in Flyers' history against the Devils in the conference finals) and defenseman Andy Delmore played like the second coming of Paul Coffey (the Edmonton years.)

Starting Friday against the Penguins, the Flyers will have to ride another future captain (Mike Richards), another hot goaltender (Marty Biron) and another defenseman will have to play like the second coming of Scott Stevens (that's a lot to ask of Derian Hatcher, Randy Jones, Lasse Kukkonen or captain Jason Smith.)

Without Timonen, the Flyers are supposed to be swept by the Pens and fade into a pleasant memory.

That said, my brain tells me to make my fingers type “The Penguins in Six.”

But I don't wanna --- I just can't. This Flyers team has too much heart, too much moxy, too much resilience.

Flyers in Six.

What? That's all you got?

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com