Lia Assimakopoulos: How my trip to Finland helped me better understand the Stars’ Finnish Mafia

TAMPERE, Finland Let me preface this by saying Im not really the adventurous type.

Im an indoorsy girl that lives for my routine and is rarely caught thrill-seeking.

I refused to get on a roller coaster until high school, and its taken me years to try foods that I actually love because I convinced myself I wouldnt.

So, many of my experiences in Finland were out of character.

Whether it was experiencing a 100-degree temperature change from a Finnish sauna to the frozen Baltic Sea, or stomaching fish my least favorite food for the first time in 22 years because salmon soup is Roope Hintzs favorite, I told myself Id commit to new experiences in Finland.

I figured it was the only way Id be able to answer the questions Ive had for the last 17 months.

Since I first started covering the Stars during the 2023 Western Conference finals, I felt a distance between the Finnish players on the team and the media.

While we managed to bridge the gap with other European players like Nils Lundkvist and Radek Faksa, the Finns remained the most reserved.

I could never tell whether it was the language barrier, their personalities or something I wasnt doing right.

On my journey to Finland, I was on a mission to bridge that gap Ive felt in the Stars locker room and learn more about where these players come from and how theyve become the people and hockey players they are.

It didnt take me long to figure out where we had been going wrong.

I had never truly tried to meet them where they are.

Since the Finns arrived in Dallas, weve not only asked them to communicate in a language that isnt the one theyre most comfortable with, but weve asked them to be comfortable in an environment that couldnt be further from the one they were raised in.

Theres no sea, no saunas on every street corner and not even a Finnish restaurant in Dallas, according to Hintz.

The only way they feel connected to home is through cooking and spending time with each other.

In Finland, I witnessed a 180.

I met Miro Heiskanen shortly after getting off the plane at the ice rink where he learned to play hockey.

Compared to how he is in the Stars locker room, he was loquacious, chatting and laughing with his agents and the photographer we contracted in Finland.

Not understanding a word of their conversation, I felt a role reversal.

No wonder it can be a challenge to get him to open up in Dallas.

That night, I shadowed Esa Lindell during his return to Jokerit, the Finnish professional team that he co-owns.

Lindell may be the most open of the three Finns on the roster, known for always smiling and often cracking jokes.

But somehow, he was even happier than normal.

He said multiple times during the week that he got emotional both during the Jokerit games and the Stars games.

Those are emotions we rarely see from him.

With Hintz, it just took one conversation, largely not about hockey, to get a glimpse into his personality that it feels like he sometimes hides in Dallas.

As we sat at a restaurant and I tried to eat as much of the salmon soup as I could (I will admit: the broth had good flavor, but I just really dont like fish) we talked some hockey, but spoke more about food, travel, fashion and his favorite places in Tampere, the area where he grew up.

Theres much more to him than the speed and goal-scoring abilities we see on the ice.

The non-Finnish Stars seemed to experience something similar to what I did this week.

Each time one of them spoke, they said how happy Heiskanen, Lindell and Hintz were.

Everyone saw a different side of them once they were in their element.

Spending time in both Helsinki and Tampere gave me a glimpse into Finnish culture in general, beyond the three players on the Stars.

The people were kind, polite and welcoming but reserved at the same time.

They have a lot of pride for their country, and especially the hockey players that come from it.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer made an interesting point on one of our last days there.

Until you play overseas here, you dont realize the impact of the NHL everywhere in the world, DeBoer said.

Its eye-opening.

...

I foresee a worldwide NHL.

Theres always been rumblings about a European division of the NHL.

I have no doubt at some point in the future hopefully, Im around to see it that thatll be the case.

Beyond the long travel, time change and logistical nightmare, it makes too much sense to have a European NHL division in the future, and Finland would undoubtedly be at the forefront if that proposal ever grows legs.

The Global Series and Februarys 4 Nations Face Off are the first steps toward bringing it to fruition.

If that day ever does come, I hope Im around, too.

European players on the Stars and across the NHL deserve more opportunities to be met in their comfort zones even if it means we have to eat some food we dont like and feel like our lungs are collapsing in the frigid Baltic Sea.

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