Ex-Flyer Coburn slow to get over Cup disappointment

TAMPA, Fla. - Braydon Coburn got his turn last night to stand and gaze toward the rafters of Amalie Arena as a black curtain was lifted and a banner was revealed. A little less than 24 hours earlier, his friend and former teammate, Kimmo Timonen, who is now retired, was at United Center in Chicago as the same thing happened.

For Coburn and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the banner read "Eastern Conference Champions," a feat Lightning coach Jon Cooper said was much more of an accomplishment than a disappointment.

Timonen, of course, was in Chicago to celebrate the unfurling of another Stanley Cup banner.

Coburn and Timonen spent seven years as teammates in Philadelphia, eight if you count last season, when Timonen missed the first five months with blood clots. He was traded to the Blackhawks in March before playing a game for the Flyers. He played 16 regular-season games for Chicago, and 18 more in the playoffs.

The two were traded three days apart, with Timonen's coming first. Both went to contenders, as the Flyers acquired assets to help them for the future. The Flyers used the first-round pick (No. 29) they received in the Coburn trade in a package to move up in the draft to select Travis Konecny 24th overall. Defenseman Radko Gudas, also in the Coburn trade, was a healthy scratch for the Flyers last night against the Lightning.

Both Timonen and Coburn were key cogs on defense when the Flyers won the Eastern Conference in the 2010 playoffs before falling to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Final.

Coburn tasted defeat again to Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, while Timonen was the first player Toews handed the Cup to during the postgame celebration following Game 6.

Coburn was long gone.

"We got the hell out of there," Coburn said after yesterday's morning skate.

"I guess it's probably selfish of myself. I wasn't thinking about him too much. It's an incredible disappointment to get to that point and not be able to finish the dream, finish the goal. When everything's kind of said and done and you move along, I think about my friend in Kimmo and the fact that he got his Cup . . . I guess at my expense a little bit, my team's expense.

"He's a great human being, he's a great hockey player. So I was happy for him that he could finish his career with that."

While Timonen's career came to a close, Coburn - the eighth overall pick in the 2003 draft - is back with the Lightning, a team with great expectations.

Yesterday was Coburn's first game against the Flyers. At Luke Schenn's wedding this summer, he said he was telling all his former teammates how excited he was to play against them.

"It's just perfect that we play the Flyers (in the home opener)," Coburn said.

The Lightning locker room is full of hunger to get back to the final series and come out with a different result. They have a deep lineup filled with a good mix of youth and experience.

Only three players in the Lightning lineup last night are older than Coburn, 30, including fellow former Flyer Matt Carle. Coburn has embraced the mentor role.

"I've always kind of felt like I've got an older soul," Coburn said. "It's really fun to be around some of these younger guys."

Coburn said he wasn't all that surprised the Flyers made a coaching change in the offseason, saying he had heard some of the chatter. And he'll still be paying attention to the Flyers when he can.

"You're kind of busy enough with your own stuff," Coburn said. "You've got hockey, hockey, hockey while you're at the rink. I got two rambunctious kids to keep us pretty busy away from the rink. You keep an eye out. I've still got friends and buddies and people you care about over there. But it's a lot of fun when you get a chance to play your old team."

Timonen, meanwhile, is taking some time off with his family while living in Haddonfield. He was around the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, N.J., this offseason. A return to the organization in some capacity has not been ruled out.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper was asked after his team's morning skate whether he watched the Blackhawks raise their Stanley Cup banner on television Wednesday night: "Nope. Movie night," Cooper said. "Watched some guy stranded on Mars for two hours" . . . Cooper said he thinks Flyers captain Claude Giroux is a "top five" player in the NHL.