Filppula having ‘good time’ as player-owner for Jokerit in native Finland

HELSINKI -- Valtteri Filppula doesn’t want to hear the comparisons to Jaromir Jagr.

Take that fantasy somewhere else, he says.

“That hasn’t happened once in my career, to feel like him,” Filppula said. “Obviously, I can’t talk about myself in the same sentence as him.”

Point taken.

Jagr had 1,921 points (766 goals, 1,155 assists) in 1,733 NHL regular-season games, the second-highest total behind Wayne Gretzky (2,857 points; 894 goals, 1,963 assists). The forward won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the scoring title five times, was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players and is an honored member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Filppula, a center, had 530 points (197 goals, 333 assists) in 1,056 NHL regular-season games with the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders. He never won an individual trophy, but he did win the Stanley Cup in 2008 with Detroit.

The comparison is not found in the past, but in the present.

Jagr, 52, owns Rytiri Kladno, the Czech team which he played for as a junior. After retiring from the NHL during the 2017-18 NHL season, he has played on and off with Kladno, either trying to get the club in the Czech first division or avoid relegation.

Filppula, a native of Vantaa, Finland, ended his 16-season NHL career in 2021 and, after two seasons of playing for Servette in the top league in Switzerland, he returned home to play for Jokerit, the club of his youth.

Jokerit plays in the second division in Finland.

Filppula is 40 years old, born in 1984, eight years before Jokerit won its second of six league titles. The most recent title was won in 2002. There are eight players on Jokerit’s roster who weren’t alive when that happened.

So, what is a member of the “Triple Gold Club” -- owner of an Olympic, World Championship and Stanley Cup title -- doing going on 10-hour bus rides with players half his age?

“I’m excited to be back,” Filppula said Tuesday after Jokerit defeated Hokki in a Metsis match at Helsinki Ice Hall to move into second place in the league, one point behind TUTO Hockey.

“Obviously, the hockey is a little bit different than I have been playing the last little bit. It’s a good time, a lot of young players, so it makes me feel young.”

Filppula, who has 13 points (six goals, seven assists), is playing for free. That’s right. Like Jagr in Czechia, Filppula is a player-owner, leading these young players in a bid for promotion to Liiga, the top level of the Finnish hockey pyramid.

However, he still refuses to concede the similarities.

“He’s been doing it for 10 years, and I definitely don’t have that in me,” he said. “It’s been a good example that a guy of that stature is doing that. It’s fun to watch him.”

Others will make the comparison for him.

“Val is everything for Jokerit,” said fan Sivire Manninan, who has been supporting the team for two decades. “He started here and he came back; 40 years old and he comes back here. It means everything to this team and this organization.”

Dallas Stars forward Colin Blackwell was on hand Tuesday with defenseman and teammate Esa Lindell, a part-owner on the team. The 31-year-old watched Filppula win a title with the Red Wings and then played against him during the twilight of Filppula’s NHL career.

Dallas is in town to plays the Florida Panthers in the 2024 NHL Global Series presented by Fastenal. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Friday (2 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN) and Saturday (Noon ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1).

Blackwell didn’t expect to see Filppula on the ice, but he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“I think it’s awesome,” Blackwell said. “You can see some of the birth years on this team, younger guys and then you have him. I’m sure it means a lot for a lot of those guys because he is just a legend, still is a legend. A lot of those players got to watch him. When you have a chance to save your club, that’s something special.”

Filppula’s presence is special to the younger players.

Onni Lind is a forward with Jokerit’s junior team. He plays up with the senior team and is a bright light for the club’s future. His dad, Juha, also played for Jokerit, as well as three seasons in the NHL with Dallas and the Montreal Canadiens.

“It’s pretty awesome; I don’t know what to say about that,” Onni Lind said. “He’s a nice guy, pretty chill and easy. I give some jokes to him, and he gives them to me sometimes.”

The future of the team is no joking matter. There is a belief the club belongs in the first division, which it called home before leaving for the Kontinental Hockey League for the 2014-15 season. That experiment ended with its withdrawal from the Russian league during the 2021-22 season because of that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Returning from Russia, Jokerit did not have a place in Liiga anymore and had to start in the second division. It will have to win promotion to rejoin Liiga.

Jokerit did not play in 2022-23 and joined Mestis last season, going 23-10-5 and finishing in third place. It was knocked out in the second round of the playoffs.

This season, it is promotion or bust, at least in Filppula’s mind.

He thinks this is his last season, although he won’t commit to it. Earning promotion to Liiga for his boyhood team would make it a lot easier to hang up the skates.

“I think if everything goes as planned right now, it would be a really great way to step out and let the young guys play,” Filppula said. “I’m excited. I hope it goes well.”