A quick sidenote to the Flyers' acquisition of Kimmo Timonen. Although there will be a lot of talk about Kimmo joining his brother Jussi (a Flyers' prospect), the older Timonen brother is actually closer with new teammate Sami Kapanen.
Both Kapanen and Kimmo Timonen came up through the KalPa Kuopio system and then played for HIFK Helsinki-- although not at the same time -- before coming to the NHL.
More recently Kimmo Timonen and Kapanen became co-owners of the KalPa club.
Another player who took a similar path to the NHL was Olli Jokinen. The Kuopio native was lured away from the small market club to bigger budget HIFK early in his career. Who grabbed him away? Kuopio native, former NHL player and current St. Louis Blues assistant GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, who was HIFK's general manager at the time.
Related link (in Finnish): KalPa ownership group
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