Flyers Notes: Timonen says this season could be his last

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen is undecided about whether this will be the final season of his stellar 15-year NHL career.

But he conceded that if the Flyers overcame the odds and won the Stanley Cup, it would be "the perfect way to leave the game."

Timonen will make his decision in the summer, he said before the Flyers hosted the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. "I want to see how we do in the last 18 games. I want to feel the playoff atmosphere. That's a goal where I want to be . . . because once you get in the playoffs, you don't know what's going to happen. You have as good a chance as anybody once you get in."

Physically, Timonen - who can become an unrestricted free agent in July - has not had many problems this season. But the offseason work to prepare for another year, he acknowledged, can be daunting for an aging player.

Timonen, who will turn 39 on Tuesday, said "there's a lot of different issues" regarding his decision this summer. "I have to talk with my family. My son is getting to the age where he's moving out of home pretty soon and I haven't seen him play in four months."

Entering Tuesday, Timonen had four goals, 26 points, and a plus-5 rating.

Flyers coach Craig Berube said Timonen "looks like he has a lot of life out there and a lot of jump."

"It's never easy to leave the game," Timonen said. "Sometimes it gets to the point where you have to say it's enough and move on and do some other stuff in your life and focus on your family."

The Flyers recalled Chris VandeVelde from the Phantoms to replace Zac Rinaldo (upper-body injury). . . . New Jersey's Jaromir Jagr greeted the Philadelphia media with: "You miss me and Bryz?" Jagr, 42, later said he could play 10 more years. He was kidding, we think. . . . The time for the Flyers' March 30 home game against Boston has been changed from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. It will be televised by NBC.