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One win from Cup, Chicago Blackhawks' Timonen says risk worth it

At first, Kimmo Timonen's wife said no way.

No way was she going to allow her soon-to-be 40-year-old husband, who had blood clots in his legs and lungs, put himself in a life-threatening situation by returning to the NHL.

At first, Timonen's former GM said no way as well.

"I'm not putting you on the ice," Timonen recalled the Flyers' Ron Hextall telling him earlier this season.

Timonen, who was traded to the Blackhawks from Philadelphia on Feb. 27, even admitted Saturday that there probably are plenty of doctors who would give him the same advice: No way. Don't play.

Their concerns stem from the very real risk that blood clots in athletes - while relatively rare - are very serious. According to stoptheclot.org, athletes will suffer from deconditioning and depression while trying to overcome them.

Returning to sports such as hockey, football and basketball is considered more risky than runners or cyclists returning to their sports.

But after doing the research and consulting with blood-disorder doctors, Timonen got the OK and his wife jumped on board as well. Although, according to Timonen, she isn't watching much of the Stanley Cup playoffs on TV.

"She always sends me a text after," Timonen said.

Timonen said he understands there's still risk involved. But at this point, with the Hawks 1 victory from lifting the Stanley Cup, he said it's all so very well worth that risk.

"Where I left in August and I'm standing here, it's crazy," Timonen said. "It's crazy what I went through. There's a risk involved, obviously. But I wanted to do it. It was totally up to me.

"I wanted to take that chance to have one more chance (to win it all). … In my dreams, I was picturing this situation in December."

Timonen hasn't always felt great after games, and it took him a lot of time to get into anything resembling the kind of shape you need to be in to go up against guys like the Lightning's Tyler Johnson, Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. Or Anaheim's Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.

He sat out five straight games but has been a steadying presence while playing limited minutes in Hawks victories in Games 4 and 5 over the Lightning.

"We have to remember I'm 40 years old and I didn't skate for eight months," Timonen said. … And I knew it was going to be a struggle the first 10, 15 games because obviously I didn't have a training camp. I had two weeks I skated by myself and I found myself in Chicago playing games.

"It was kind of unreal."

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