Finnish Stars set to show teammates home country at Global Series

HELSINKI -- There was no wiping the smiles off the faces of the Finnish players from the Dallas Stars on Monday after they arrived here from a longer-than-expected travel day.

“Home country and now we are with the team, and we can show them around a little bit,” defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. “It’s great to be here and we are really excited.”

Heiskanen was standing in a ballroom just minutes after the Stars arrived at the downtown hotel that will be home base for the next three days before they relocate to Tampere, where they will play two games against the Florida Panthers in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal.

The first game at Nokia Arena is Friday (2:00 PM ET; NHLN, SN, Victory+, SCRIPPS), followed by the second game Saturday (Noon ET; NHLN, SN1, Victory+, SCRIPPS).

“Special moment to come here to our home country and show the boys how we do it here and get ready to play a couple of games,” forward Roope Hintz said.

The Stars arrived later than expected after a delay at the airport in Dallas, but nobody was too worried about that.

Practice was scuttled, but there were things to do, places to go and sights to be seen.

“Everyone [is] in a good mood, even though there was that delay,” said forward Esa Lindell, who is from Helsinki. “Most of us, if not everyone, slept quite a lot (on the plane), so it went faster than you think. We had a stretch [session] and now we will have an activity. Everyone is excited to be here and the flight is behind us.”

The activity is a trip to a traditional Finnish sauna, followed by dinner.

“I’m not sure how those two things go together, but we’ll see,” coach Pete DeBoer said, chuckling.

Lindell was looking forward to the sauna and how his North American teammates would enjoy the experience, particularly the bracing plunge into the Baltic Sea that is de riguere to the experience.

It’s the first of several outings that Lindell, Heiskanen and Hintz selected for this trip. There is an optional outing Tuesday to see a game involving Jokerit, a legendary hockey club of which Lindell owns a part. Plus other events that have been kept secret.

Lindell said Monday that the three Finns arrived at the itinerary collectively. There was no fighting or pulling rank.

DeBoer has enjoyed watching his Finnish players embrace this unique opportunity. They are at the forefront and the focal point, which is not always the case. While each is an important part of a team that is a perennial contender for the Stanley Cup, those three players rarely seek, nor embrace, the limelight.

Not so this week.

This trip is all about the Finnish Mafia, which is a nickname for the Stars’ Finnish players.

The coach says that the trio is super motivated to put on a show throughout the week, on and off the ice.

“We have been talking about it last year since it got announced. I think they are very excited to play in front of their families first, but also to show our team where they are from and their culture,” DeBoer said. “They have things planned, things that are uniquely Finnish that we don’t get in North America. They are excited, they have been planning it for a long time now.”

He admits he will worry at some point about the games against the Stanley Cup champion Panthers and where his team’s game is, because that is what coaches do.

But that will come down the road.

For now, the plan is to have a good time and embrace the opportunities before him. He wants his players to do the same.

DeBoer said he believes the Stars (7-2-0) will be ready on Friday and that the Finnish players will lead the way.

“We have a pretty mature group,” he said. “I have seen these guys dial in. It’s not a young team. We have some young players, but it is not a young team. We have great maturity, great leadership. This group is focused and has won a lot of hockey games over the last two years I have been there. They know when to focus and be ready.

“At the same time, you want them to enjoy the other parts of what we are doing. You don’t get to do this very often and it’s a unique opportunity and it’s not something you want to waste thinking about the game on Friday. We can do that in North America.”

His players were already taking the message to heart, laughing and teasing each other as they walked out into a brisk fall evening here, piling on buses to go to the sauna. They were ready to begin their adventures.

And they will be ready to play hockey, said Heiskanen.

“We have time to enjoy here and then we have those two important games, so I don’t think it is going to be hard,” he said. “I mean we have good times on every trip we do, so it’s basically the same thing. It’s just in Finland. It’s probably not going to be anything different.”