Tampele, Finnish — I keep in front of me, but I’m not a very adventure type.
I’m an indoor, lives faithfully on my routine, and rarely seeks a thrill. I refused to ride a roller coaster until I became a high school student. It took years to try my favorite food. I told myself that I wouldn’t do so.
In other words, many of my experiences in Finland were out of common sense.
Even when I experienced a 100 -degree temperature change from the Finnish sauna to the frozen Sea, even when I got hungry for fish (my most hated food) for the first time in 22 years, because the thermos soup was a favorite of Lope Hinz. , I told myself. Work on a new experience in Finland.
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I thought this was the only way to answer the questions I had been holding for the past 17 months.
The first time I started covering Stars was the 2023 Western Conference Finals, so I felt a distance between the team Finnish and the media. We succeeded in filling the gap between other European players such as Nils Lund Cuvi and Radec Faxa, but the Finns were still the most modest.
I had no idea whether it was the wall of the language, their personality, or if my way was wrong.
On my journey to Finland, I had a mission to fill the gap I felt in the Stars locker room. And I had to learn more about where these players came from, and how they became human and hockey.
It didn’t take much time to understand what was wrong. I had never actually tried to meet where they were.
Since the Finns arrived in Dallas, we have not only called for communicating in language that they are the most used language, but also seeking to be more comfortable in an environment that is more than this. From the environment they grew up in.
According to Hinz, Dallas has no sea, no sauna on any street corner, and no Finnish restaurants. The only way they feel connected to the house is to cook and spend time together.
In Finland, I witnessed 180 degrees speed. Immediately after getting off the plane, I met Miro High Scanen on ice link, where I learned hockey. Compared to him in the Stars locker room, he was talking and laughing with an agent and a photographer contracted in Finland. I couldn’t understand a word of their conversation, and I felt that my position was reversed. It’s no wonder that it is difficult to open his heart with Dallas.
That night, I followed Jocalit, a Finnish professional team, a co -owner of Esa Lindel. Lindel is the most open person among the three Finns registered in the list, and is always known for his smile and jokes. But for some reason, he was even more happy than usual. He said he had become more emotional a week, both during the Jokalit game and during the Stars match. They are emotions we rarely see from him.
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Hinz, not mainly about hockey, I was able to get a glimpse of his personality, sometimes hiding in Dallas, just once. We sat at the restaurant and tried to eat as much salmon soup as possible (I admit: the flavor of the soup was good, but I really don’t like fish). We talked about hockey, but we talked. He details food, travel, fashion, and his favorite places in Tampere, where he grew up. There’s more to him than the speed and goal-scoring ability you see on the ice.
Star players other than the Finnish seem to have experienced the same thing this week. Each time they talked, he told how happy he was, Lindel, and Hinz. When they demonstrated their true territory, everyone saw their different aspects.
By spending time in both Helsinki and Tampere, I was able to glimpse Finnish culture in general in addition to the three Stars players. People were kind and polite, but at the same time was modest. They are very proud of their country, especially hockey from their own country.
Stars’s coach Pete Devena pointed out interestingly on the last day there.
“Until you play abroad here, you won’t understand the NHL effects in any place around the world,” said Debooa. “It’s an eye -catching event … I expect a global NHL. There were always rumors about the European category of NHL. If possible, I will do so.
Except for long -journey, change of time, and logistics nightmares, it is very reasonable to set up an NHL division in Europe in the future, and if the proposal is realized, Finland will definitely be at the forefront. . The Global Series and the February Four Countries against February are the first steps to achieve it.
If that day is coming, I want you to be with you too. Stars and NHL European players have to eat foods they dislike, and even if their lungs are about to collapse in the frigid Baltic Sea, they will have more opportunities to meet in their comfortable zone. Naturally.
X/Twitter: @lassimak
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