All-Star weekend a family affair for Timonen

Share

OTTAWA -- Kimmo Timonen wasnt sure he was going to come to this All-Star Game, but his 12-year-old son, Samuel, insisted he had to.

Sunday, Samuel was on the bench with his dad during Team Charas 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson (see recap).

Not many hockey players can do that, actually, Timonen said. Get a chance to come here and bring your son over here. That was probably the biggest reason why we came here. Im sure hes going to remember that for a long time.

The highlight for me was my parents flew in from Finland. I got to spend four days with them. My family was here. Its a busy four days, but at the same time, you can spend time with your family. I like to see that skill competition. Its pretty cool.

Lupes gets two
Former Flyer Joffrey Lupul is having a career season with the Toronto Maple Leafs with 52 points. He scored twice for Team Chara.

He counts his blessings he was here because of a serious back injury in 2010 resulting in surgical complications that caused to miss nearly a year.

I didnt know what the future held for me as far as hockey went, Lupul said. To be here, somewhere where Ive never been before, post-injury, is almost surreal. I never would have guessed it.

I knew I could come back and play, but to play at a higher level than ever before, it feels pretty good. The season is not over and theres a lot of hockey to be played, but this is definitely a good accomplishment.

Great move
Evgeni Malkin had one of the prettier goals on Henrik Lundqvist for Team Chara.

It felt awesome, Malkin said. We played against a good team. They had great lines, but we played better in the end, scored the big goals in the last five minutes, so we won.

He wasnt the only player for Team Chara who wanted to win. Charas team scored three straight in the third period and when Daniel Alfredsson hit the post and, well, that was it.

You could see that guys wanted to win, Chara said. I didn't say a thing.

Goalie Tim Thomas had some nice saves.

That's Timmy, Chara said. "He's very competitive. You can't blame him. That's the only way he can play. Otherwise, he's not effective.

Hartnell chirping
Because he miked up for the CBC broadcast, Scott Hartnell was giving guys grief. One of them was Dion Phaneuf.

I was basically chirping everybody in the game and trying to have fun with it and enjoy every single minute, Hartnell said.

Chirping at an All-Star Game though? Any repercussions to come?

No, Phaneuf said. He had a mike on so he was trying to make a show of it. He did a good job of that.

Say hello
Hartnell said he got to meet, and liked, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Saturday. Ditto for defenseman Dan Girardi.

Its nice to meet those guys, Hartnell said. You play against them how many times and you dont get to know them on a personal level. When you get that chance you kind of hope for them to be kind of an expletive to you I guess so it makes you hate em even more on the ice but they turn out to be awesome guys.

Like, wow, this guy is a good guy even though you hate him on the ice. But push comes to shove next time we play them itll be the same thing Im going to try and hit him every chance I get and Im sure hes going to do the same to me.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

Contact Us