The Grand History of the Dallas Stars’ Finnish Mafia

The Dallas Stars are preparing to venture to Tampere, Finland to play NHL Global Series games against the Florida Panthers. It will be a momentous celebration of the long, intertwined history of Finnish Hockey and the Dallas Stars franchise.

Many fans know of franchise icon Jere Lehtinen from the late-90s and early 2000s, famously Finnish and an award-winning defensive forward. The recent contingency of Finnish players on the Dallas Stars roster has been dubbed the Finnish Mafia by fans and media, as their shared culture and high-level play has become integrated with the Dallas Stars fan experience.

While the modern Finnish Mafia has reigned for the past half-decade, like any good mafia story, there’s so much more history baked in. The connectivity between the Dallas Stars and Finnish hockey runs much deeper than a franchise icon, into the past and the heart of the organization. There have been 31 Finnish Stars in the franchise’s history, and they all played their part in tying their country to the team.

Today’s lesson is a collected vaguely objective history of Stars franchise Finnish players with subjective perspectives of mythos and ethos in layers.

Humble Beginnings

To understand where we are today, we must head all the way back in franchise history. Back before #TexasHockey, to when the Stars graced the Great White North. Well, the North right under the Great White North that is still pretty great and often white and north of Dallas but not as north as the Great White North. Whatever.

Minnesota. Birthplace of Prince and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Jake Oettinger and Winona Ryder. A few others, too, but mainly those four.

Minnesota is known as The State of Hockey. From the Boundary Waters down to the scraps beneath the Twin Cities that are basically Iowa and everywhere in between, they take their hockey seriously. It’s a serious culture, where even modern 5th graders will berate you for wearing a Dallas Stars jersey. They prefer their hockey be professionally serious, in fact. The state was home of the Minnesota North Stars (RIP) since their 1967 NHL expansion that also featured siblings in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Oakland (RIP).

Learning to Finnish at the Draft

Through their time in the NHL, the Minnesota North Stars drafted 12 Finnish players across 11 years, six of which made it to the North Stars’ roster.

The first Finnish draft pick in franchise history came in 1981, when Minnesota selected Jali Wahlsten in the second round. While Wahlsten was the first Finn to be drafted, he never skated in the NHL, playing out the majority of his career in Sweden. He enjoyed a couple late-career championships playing for Jokerit Helsinki in the SM-liga with a young Teemu Selanne and future Dallas Stars Juha Lind and Janne Niinimaa.

Minnesota actually drafted two Finns that year, but the other, 8th rounder Kari Kanervo, never made it to North America. Just like today, many of the players selected who never cracked the NHL still went on to have full careers playing in other leagues in Europe and North America.

If 1981 strikes as a bit late to draft a Finn for a league that touts its 100+ year history, consider that the first European players did not break into the league with any sort of regularity until the 1970s.

Even then it was a trickle. There were only about 50 European NHL players in the league by the start of the 1980s and it took until closer to the 1990s to break triple digits. Expansion, the WHA-NHL merger, and bettered international relations led to more roster spots held by European players, sometimes leading to international contingencies within single teams like the Russians in 1990s Detroit or the Finns in modern Dallas and Carolina. Today, Europeans are well-represented across NHL rosters, but numbers always fluctuate with individual and international success.

The next Finn selected by Minnesota was not only the first drafted by the franchise to play NHL games, but would also go on to help shepherd in whole new waves of European players to the NHL. Selected in 1984, goalie Jarkko Takko played 131 games for Minnesota, serving as backup for the North Stars across six seasons. He’d play another 11 games for the Oilers before his NHL career wrapped. Takko would go on to be hired as head of European scouting for the Dallas Stars in 1999, a role he still holds today. Takko was truly a pioneer within the organization in his playing days, and has been instrumental to the Stars adding Finnish and European prospects to the NHL roster.

Another Finn who got more than a cup of coffee after being selected by the North Stars was Jari Gronstrand. Drafted in 1986, the defenseman played 47 games for Minnesota his rookie year before bouncing to the Nordiques (RIP) and the Rangers for another 138 games.

The North Stars drafted three Finns in 1987, setting the franchise mark for Finnish players picked in a single draft. Only one of those three made it to the NHL: goalie Jarmo Myllys, who backstopped the North Stars for 12 games across three seasons with the franchise. Myllys spent most of his time with the Stars’ minor league affiliate, playing 115 games for the Kalamazoo Wings in the IHL. Strangely, Myllys played his final NHL season as a baby shark. Myllys was selected in the little-understood dispersal draft that fed NHL players to new expansion team San Jose, half of which came from the North Stars.

In short, Minnesota’s ownership decided they needed hockey in California, so they paid for an expansion team and brought half their players with them to San Jose. Left with two halves of two teams, San Jose and Minnesota filled out the rest of their rosters by selecting players from the rest of the league in a dispersal draft.

While Myllys had a career year for the Sharks, with a sparkling 5.02 GAA in 27 games played, the Sharks managed to snag two goalies from Minnesota and the other happened to be legendary style icon and sometimes great goalie Arthurs Irbe. Myllys left the NHL, returning to Swedish leagues and playing out a long career before retiring in 2005.

After missing the mark on a couple Finnish picks in the years following 1987, the franchise initiated a critical sea change in its connection to Finland Hockey with its final draft as Minnesota in 1992.

Minnesota Says Finn and Fin

In what was clearly a last ditch effort to put on the best show this town has ever seen and save the franchise from moving, the North Stars returned to their old triple dip Finnishing strategy in 1992.

It didn’t work. The Principal took prom away anyways, and set it up where only the Ag kids could really enjoy it, and Minnesotans were left to suffer. Prom returned to Minnesota in 2000 and it was Wild, or at least they keep saying it is despite a distinct lack of playoff success. In my opinion, something smells off, but also I’m an admittedly an Ag Kid. [Editors Note: This metaphor is vague and does not capture the objective history of Minnesota’s relocation to Dallas, especially considering how much agricultural industry is in Minnesota. As an Ag Kid, this is purposeful so as to not rile more than I’m already rilin’. There are other, better accounts of the move.]

Regardless, Minnesota snuck in three Finnish players before leaving the state in 1992, matching the franchise mark for a single draft set in 1987. This time, all three went on to play NHL games, including a franchise icon.

The first Finnish right wing selected by Minnesota in 1992? Why Jarkko Varvio, of course! Drafted in the second round, 34th overall, Varvio was the first of the three Finns to make the NHL roster, suiting up for the Stars during the 1993-94 season. Varvio managed 7 points in 13 games across two seasons, but he could not stick with the team or the NHL. He headed back to the Swedish leagues before venturing on to Swiss and German leagues. Since Varvio in 1993-94, the Dallas Stars have had at least one Finnish player on the NHL roster every season for three decades, a streak that is still current. Researchers (me in my limited free time) are still verifying if this is the longest period of continuous roster representation of a non-North American nationality with an NHL franchise.

Five seasons and two championships with SM-Liga’s Jokerit Helsinki delayed Juha Lind’s NHL debut. The eighth round pick played 39 games for Dallas in 1997-98, plus 15 in the playoffs. He returned in 1999-00 for another 34 games. Those familiar with the history of the most famous trophy in sports may have noticed Lind’s mistake: he chose to play for Jokerit Helsinki during Dallas’s Cup-winning 1998-99 season. After his gap year, during his second season in Dallas, Lind was shipped to the Canadiens in exchange for Scott Thornton. Lind managed one more season in Montreal before heading home to Europe, capping off his career playing for, you guessed it, Jokerit Helsinki.

Drafted between these two Finns was another, the rare demure franchise-altering player whose career overlapped and outlasted both Varvio and Lind.

In the 4th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 88th overall, the Minnesota North Stars were proud to select, from SM-liga’s Kiekko-Espoo, Jere Lehtinen.

Lehts Change the Game

On a recent podcast, one of the people who best knows the Dallas Stars franchise and history, Sean Shapiro, voiced that he would place defenseman Sergei Zubov upon a franchise Mount Rushmore over Lehtinen due to the stability that a franchise defenseman can provide for an organization. Zubov was no doubt pivotal to Dallas’ continuum of competitiveness from the late 90s into the new hullennia. His Stars tenure mirrors Lehtinen’s: ultra-competitive, high-grade consistency finally derailed by injuries. However, Lehtinen’s impact went beyond the exemplary play and individual trophies, down to the threads that underlie and define the Dallas Stars ethos.

Jere Lehtinen was a machine. His perfectly balanced game, offensively and defensively, earned him much praise within the organization as a standard. Combined with his humble demeanor, he quickly became every coach’s dream of all-around consistency and professionalism, echoed by similar NHLers like Pavel Datsyuk and Patrice Bergeron.

Ken Hitchcock described Lehtinen as Mr. Fix It, able to pair the Finn with any player who was struggling, to jolt them back to successful foundations. Lehtinen’s board work and positioning reframed the game of those around him, creating space and time that allowed offensive players to bloom in his presence. His superb positioning and overall persistence on each forecheck and close-quarters play made him an excellent penalty killer. The same intelligent toolbox was on display in the offensive zone, where Lehtinen continued to produce respectably throughout his career.

As his career progressed, so did his trusty snap shot. Often released just below the top of the circles off a cross-ice play or bump from the corner, Lehtinen’s scoring slowly grew the same precision as his positioning. Combining with superstar linemate Mike Modano, the pair would terrorize opposing defenses and spoil opposing offenses for over a decade. He played his entire NHL career, 875 games, with the Dallas Stars. Lehtinen retired in December 2010 after injuries severely hampered his final season.

Jere Lehtinen is the only winger in NHL history to win the Frank J. Selke award three times. He was voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the league’s best defensive forward in 1998, 1999, and 2003. Lehtinen is the only three-time Selke-winning winger in league history. No other winger has won the Selke since Lehtinen’s win in 2003.

Lehtinen is one of just a handful of ice hockey players who have represented their country in five different Olympics (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010). He also represented Finland at the 2004 World Cup and four World Championships. Lehtinen earned three Olympic Bronze medals (1994, 1998, 2010) and a Silver medal in 2006. Since retiring, Lehtinen has advanced through development and management positions within Finnish hockey. He currently serves as the general manager for the Men’s Finnish National ice hockey team.

It can be hard to explain or even credit how a single individual can impact an entire organization, but Jere Lehtinen — how he played, who he is, what he represents — is at the heart of the Dallas Stars. While certainly not the sole reason, it is hard not to trace wave after wave of Finnish ice hockey players finding success in Dallas to Lehtinen’s time with the Stars. His importance to the Stars is culture-defining, proof product of the successful growth of the international hockey community within the NHL through his era and beyond.

Jere Lehtinen had his number 26 retired by the Dallas Stars in 2017, and he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018. After selecting one of the most important players in franchise and Finnish hockey history in 1992, the Stars did not dip back into the Finnish drafting pool until Lehtinen’s career truly blossomed. Five years passed before the Stars selected another Finnish player.

Finnish Blooming

The organization returned to drafting Finns by picking a Teemu, specifically Teemu Elomo in 1997. Elomo never made it to the NHL, but it’s hard not to connect the dots of the Lehtinen effect. This was the time frame where the league was starting to notice what Stars fans already knew about Lehtinen, resulting in Selkes. When you have such a successful player, it’s only natural to return to the well, seeking the same kind of Finnish.

Thus began the next wave of Finnish players in Dallas. Center Niko Kapanen was taken in 1998 before the Stars drafted nine Finnish players between 2000 and 2006. Of those nine draft picks, only three played NHL games. Of those who did not play NHL games, most were mid or late round picks that were always long shots for the league.

Marco Tuokko was a Finnish forward taken 219th in the 7th round in the 2000 entry draft. While he began his career and grabbed the Stars’ attention winning three-straight SM-liga titles with TPS Turku, he never skated in North America, instead playing 14 seasons professionally across multiple Swedish leagues.

Jarkko Immonen was a Dallas fourth rounder in 2002, going 110th overall. He holds the distinction as the first Jarkko Immonen taken that day, as another Finn with the same name was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 8th round. While Dallas’s Immonen played out a seventeen year career mostly in Sweden, Toronto’s Immonen actually made an NHL game sheet, scoring 8 points in 20 games with the New York Rangers between 2005-2007 before a long career overseas.

Dallas took a shot in the dark with an eighth rounder in 2002, taking Finnish winger Tuomas Mikkonen 243rd overall. Mikkonen would play five seasons with Jyp HT Jyvaskyla in the SM-liga before playing a single season for the Stars’ ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads in 2006-07. While Mikkonen finished the season fifth on the team in points and was even called up for a single AHL game, his offense disappeared in the playoffs. Despite just 6 points in 22 games from Mikkonen, he and the Steelheads won the Kelley Cup as league champions. He would return to Jyp HT Jyvaskyla for two more seasons before retiring from pro hockey.

Dallas took two Finns in 2003, but neither ever made the Stars’ roster. Goaltender Eero Kilpelainen went 144th overall in the fifth round, but after a season with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, he headed back to Europe for a 17-season career. Defenseman Niko Vainio actually skated for the same Peterborough team after he was taken 259th overall in the 8th round, but records show he then only lasted a single game in the SM-liga.

Finnish left winger Max Warn was selected 150th overall in the fifth round in 2006. He never skated in North America, but enjoyed a long career across Swedish leagues and the KHL.

Perttu Lindgren was the highest selected amongst the 2000-2006 Finnish cohort, taken 75th overall in the third round in 2005. He was one of the three who made the NHL roster from the six-year run on Finns. However, Lindgren’s career much more aligns with the fizzled prospects.

Lindgren played only one NHL game, skating 10 NHL shifts, for just 8 NHL minutes and 33 NHL seconds in 2009. Lindgren had donuts in the box for every major statistical category as Dallas played the Kings at home that night, but he could sleep easy. Lindgren enjoyed a long, lovely career all across Europe. His tour included stops in the KHL and SM-liga before going on to win league MVP and a championship while playing eight seasons for Davos in the Swiss National League.

The Stars’ early-2000s Finnish drafting flamed out with Lindgren’s cuppa, where after 2006, five years would pass before Dallas drafted another Finn. Luckily, Lindgren wasn’t the only one to make the NHL in the meantime.

The First Finnish Mafia

The other two Finns who made the NHL roster from the 2000-2006 cohort were Antti Miettinen and Jussi Jokinen, selected in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Combined with Niko Kapanen, the trio constituted the first drafted and developed contingency of Finns that came to fruition within the franchise. With the 1992 cohort, Lehtinen’s career in Dallas overlapped with Varvio’s and Lind’s, but the three were never rostered simultaneously. Just past the turn of the century, the first born-and-raised Finnish Mafia of Kapanen-Miettinen-Jokinen joined veteran Don Jere Lehtinen in Dallas on the Stars roster, carving out their respective careers with the Stars and beyond.

Niko Kapanen and his gorgeous hair debuted in the NHL with 9 games in 2001-02, becoming a lineup regular the following season. He was the first Dallas Finnish draft pick to make the NHL since Lind had made the team. Not quite a playmaker, not quite a true defensive specialist, his all-around foundations and soft hands made him the perfect depth player to play up the lineup when injuries struck. He set career-highs with 14 goals and 35 points in his final season with Dallas, his third before being packaged in a deal to the Atlanta Thrashers (RIP) for serviceable defenseman Jaroslav Modry and the husk of former first round pick Patrik Stefan.

A testament to his serviceability as depth, Kapanen would be claimed off waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes (RIP) partway through his first year in Atlanta. He played one more season in the desert before jumping to the KHL, kicking off an 8-year stint in the league with back-to-back championships with Kazan Al-Bars. Kapanen played his final pro season in SM-liga for his debut team, HPK Hameenlinna.

Antti Miettinen actually played for the same organization, HPK, for four seasons prior to joining the Stars for 16 games in 2003-04. After spending the 2004-05 lockout in the AHL, Miettinen was a fixture on the bottom lines in Dallas for the next three seasons. A Lehtinen Lite both offensively and defensively, he provided solid penalty-killing and roughly 30 points per season in a consistent depth role.

Dallas opted not to sign Miettinen in the 2008 offseason, leading to a contract with the Minnesota Wild. Miettinen’s play peaked in Minnesota with opportunities playing higher in their low-scoring lineup, many times with Finnish captain Mikko Koivu. After a tidy three seasons with the Wild that included a career-high in goals, Miettinen spent the next two seasons split between the Winnipeg Jets and squads in Sweden and Russia. Miettinen opted to leave the NHL permanently after the awkward split-seasons and finished his career playing across European leagues.

Jussi Jokinen burst onto the scene with 17 goals and 55 points for the post-lockout Stars in 2005-06. Right off the bat he displayed NHL-level intelligence as an electric jolt to the Stars offense. A defensively responsible player, Jokinen played on the penalty kill and terrorized power play units with his shorthanded bursts. Through his time in Dallas, he would also play just about everywhere in the forward lineup, on both wings and as a center. His grasp of each position and ability to play off his line mates served him in his long career beyond Dallas as a defensively-responsible middle-six scoring threat.

Jokinen gained particular notoriety in his rookie season for his shootout skills, becoming a living legend in the early era of the breakaway enders. The patented move for the lefty: swinging down from the right in a sweeping arc towards the left corner before firing a perfectly-timed snap shot just over the goaltender’s pad, often just inside the left post. So simple, yet with execution so perfected that even goaltenders that knew what was coming would hear the goal horn. The angle and speed at which Jokinen drove the net, with his forehand shot available from the middle of the ice, forced goaltenders to either match his speed and easily lose their net or gamble on making a first move themselves.

When a young Jokinen was coming down on an aggressive goaltender like Tim Thomas, they may have to shake things up. In response to a goalie trying to cut Jokinen’s angle by playing further out from the net, Jokinen broke from his patented move to sneak in a Peter Forsberg. Taking the same sweeping arc from the right to the left, driving the goaltender’s momentum as they match speed, he would reach back with the puck fully-extended on the backhand, tucking the puck behind the sliding goalie. Once the trick was pulled once, the remainder of the season’s shootouts became appointment viewing, a Will-He-or-Won’t-He between pristine precision and sly leave behind.

Jokinen was eventually traded along with Mike Smith and Jeff Halpern to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. Jokinen would go on to play 951 games across 15 seasons with eight different teams, racking up 563 points before leaving the NHL after the 2017-18 season.

You can’t blame Jokinen for leaving when he did. In his final NHL season, Jokinen was traded twice and claimed off waivers at another point, resulting in 14 games played each(!) for Edmonton, Columbus, and Vancouver, sandwiched around another 18 games for Los Angeles. You have to feel for someone dealing with what must have been a headache of travel and inconsistency. Jokinen would go on to play three more seasons for the SM-liga’s Karpat before retiring from pro hockey.

Finnish flags began to pop up around the American Airlines Center as the Finnish kids came to play. All the while, the franchise went on acquiring Finns the other way: from other teams who drafted them.

Delving the Finnish Depth Chart

After an intimidating defense core helped the Stars find success in the late 90s, the next molt of the Dallas defense was spackled together with pieces attempting to complement Zubov’s prowress.

The Stars couldn’t be without the old rough and tumble. They signed Finnish defenseman Sami Helenius in the summer of 2000. Helenius was a bruiser, nicknamed “The Fighting Finn” as one of the few European players who dropped the mitts. In three seasons with the Stars, Helenius amassed 163 penalty minutes in 101 games. He was traded to Chicago for Lyle Odelein in 2003.

As the game struggled towards increased offense, resulting in the 2004-05 lockout, Dallas prioritized veteran defense that could not only hold the line but move the puck. And they had to be veterans. Extra veterany veterans. Like former captain material, if you can get it. Following this pattern, in the same vein as the Don Sweeneys and Mattias Norstroms and Willie Mitchells, came a few Finnish options on the backend (supposedly) worth trading for.

The minorest of the few, Jyrki Lumme played 985 games in his career, but only 15 of those were with the Stars. Traded from Phoenix to Dallas for winger Tyler Bouck in the summer of 2001, Lumme would last just a few weeks with the Stars before being shipped to Toronto in exchange for defenseman Dave “Killer” Manson. Lumme played one additional season in Toronto before retiring from the NHL and playing in the SM-liga for two more seasons. This microcosm of two trades would not be the last time the Stars sought what were good defenders now past their prime.

The summer following the Lumme experiment in July 2002, Dallas traded journeyman forward Mike Sillinger for Teppo Numminen. Prior to coming to Dallas, Numminen had spent 15 years with the same franchise split across two organizations. Originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, he played eight seasons in Canada before jetting down to Phoenix for another seven years in the desert. The former Coyotes captain took a few games to adjust in Dallas before settling into the same competent and competitive defending that had kept him in the league so long. While maybe not truly elite and a bit past his best years, he was still solidly a first pairing defender.

Sadly for the Stars, Numminen played just a single season in Dallas before the they lost to Colorado in the first round. Numminen signed with the Sabres and played across four seasons in Buffalo (he sat out most of 2007-08 with a heart condition), as well as taking on the captaincy. He retired after the 2008-09 season with 637 points in 1372 NHL games as one of the more underrated defensemen of his time.

Still on the search for the next veteran and with the trade deadline approaching in January 2006, the Stars shored up their blueline by trading young defenseman John Erskine to the New York Islanders for Finnish defender Janne Niinimaa. Since he was drafted and entered the league with Philadelphia in the early 1990s, Niinimaa was known for his puck-moving skills from the back end.

While he was selected for an all-star game in his prime with Edmonton at the turn of the century, by the time he was traded to Dallas, Niinimaa’s game had been declining. Some say there’s a tale whispered on the wind that a veteran can regain their prime-era skills if only they get traded to the right situation. A common fallacy, the optimist veil clouding the mind of a general manager in the National Hockey League when the trade deadline nears, it was not to be for dear Janne.

Niinimaa was serviceable, but never quite jelled with the Stars, playing just 26 games including playoffs. Strangely, he made it through most of the summer with the organization before Dallas finally found a taker looking to shed their own player just before the next season started. The September trade may represent Niinimaa’s most significant contribution to the Stars: Niinimaa was sent to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Mike Ribiero.

As the Modano and Lehtinen show transitioned to the Morrow and Ribiero show, so too did the forward depth rotate and replenish. One such recruit was a feisty Finn named Niklas Hagman.

Hagman was traded to Dallas by the Florida Panthers for a 2007 seventh round pick on December 12, 2005, and quickly became a fixture on the forecheck and penalty kill. From a distance, Hagman seemed just a depth player. Seen every night, Hagman was one of those players where if he played for your team you just knew. You knew the edge he played with. You knew the drive that defined his game. You knew tenacity that made Hagman a bottom-6 wildcard with middle-6 upside.

Three seasons in Florida led to three seasons in Dallas, as Hagman brought his rowdy play to Texas. He broke out for 27 goals with the Stars in 2007-08, a contract year playing hardy third line minutes and time on both special teams units. Hagman’s scoring priced him out of Dallas, so he signed with the Maple Leafs as they sought any semblance of scoring depth. Hagman settled down to 20 and 22 goals in his two seasons with Toronto before being traded in a throwback roster shuffle. Toronto packaged Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers, and Ian White for Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf, Keith Auile, and Fredrik Sjostrom. Hagman played three seasons in Calgary, the last shortened to just 8 games by injuries. He managed one last NHL season with Anaheim in 2011-12 before heading to play five more seasons in Europe.

With the additions of Hagman and Niinimaa, by season’s end in 2005-06, the Stars had six Finns on the roster, including Lehtinen, Kapanen, Miettinen, and Jokinen. This would be the most Finns on the Stars roster until the 2021-22 season. While none of those mentioned outside of Lehtinen played more than three seasons in Dallas, there came a goaltender who would take on the Finnish torch after the greatest Finnish Star retired.

Lehtinen to Lehtonen

It was 2010, and it was time for the Dallas Stars to move on from Marty Turco as their starting goaltender. Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk jumpstarted the turnover by trading for a 26-year old Finn, acquiring goalie Kari Lehtonen for defensive prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth round pick. Once rehabbed from an injury prior to the trade, Lehtonen took over the net in 12 games to close out the 2009-10 season. In the 8 seasons beyond, Lehtonen enjoyed highs and lows backstopping a Stars team in transition.

Despite being immediately being thrown into the roaring fire that was the Atlanta Thrashers’ crease after he was drafted second overall in 2000, Lehtonen was criticized early in his career for both mental and physical fragility. While the same harps lingered throughout his career, when Lehtonen came to Dallas, he took on the opportunity to develop into a true starting goaltender. Lehtonen’s regular season play gave the pesky Stars a fighting chance each night, and he stole more games than fans probably remember. Lehtonen was a true backbone for the team during his tenure.

Lehtonen always had detractors, many of which landed at Lehtonen’s playoff history. After helping the team break a 6-year playoff drought to make the postseason in 2013-14, neither Lehtonen nor the Stars were able to shake the swarming Anaheim Ducks, and they lost in six games. Lehtonen did shine in a game 3 shutout at home, but in the end the Stars were outmatched.

While Lehtonen had played admirably, General Manager Jim Nill wanted to take a more balanced approach to the goaltending position. Platoon incoming!

Nill sought a fully furnished Finnish two-headed goalie monster to fight the heaviest annual travel in the league. In the summer of 2015, Nill traded a seventh round pick for the rights to Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi.

Now in the back half of his career, Niemi was sometimes good, usually average, and on occasion, outright terrible for the Stars as a 1B. Niemi played his part in balancing Lehtonen’s 1A during relative success in the regular season, but ceded the crease in their one playoff season together. That is until the cracks began to show.

Lehtonen and the Stars fared better to start the 2015-16 playoffs, but in the second round the Blues seemed to break Lehtonen, disposing of Dallas in five games. This was the height of the mental fragility claims against Lehtonen, and Jim Nill once again set about restructuring his net. In the end, the Finnish platoon lasted two seasons; the Stars let Niemi walk in free agency so they could sign a newly acquired goalie.

Kari Lehtonen gracefully played his last season in Dallas and the NHL in 2017-18 as backup to Ben Bishop. At the end of the season, Lehtonen retired from the NHL and professional hockey. His nine seasons with the Stars are second only to Jere Lehtinen’s fourteen for most by a Finnish player with the franchise. With his career overlapping Lehtinen’s last season, as well as the first few seasons from the next Finnish Don in Dallas, Lehtonen carried the torch for Finnish hockey in Dallas through some lean years.

Third Wave Finnishism

After the pain of Lindgren had seemingly lingered, the Stars broke their five year Finnish silence, returning to drafting Finns with the 2011 draft. They actually went copy-paste on their previous draft résumé, once again drafting nine Finns across six years, this time from 2011 to 2017. And this time with increased returns. Five of the nine Finnish draft picks from that period have played NHL games.

How could you not return to drafting Finns when you have the opportunity to draft a player with a name so Finnish-sounding that it seems made up? Jyrki Jokkipakka was taken 195th overall by Dallas in the 2011 entry draft. Despite going in the seventh round, he was the first of the next Finnish wave to play in Dallas. He made the roster in 2014-15 and played most of 2015-16 with the Stars before being traded to Calgary for infamous shot-blocker and middling deadline pick-up Kris Russell.

It always seemed that Jokkipakka’s play was just a tick below NHL level. Two seasons in depth roles in Calgary and Ottawa, and he headed back to Europe, playing in the KHL for five seasons before another with SM-liga. Jokkipakka played last season for the German league DEL’s Mannheim Eagles, and is manning their blue line again this season.

Finnish goaltender Henri Kiviaho played 22 games for the Stars’ ECHL affiliate Idaho Steelheads after being drafted 144th overall by Dallas in 2012. Since then he’s headed back to European leagues. This season he’s suiting up for the Malmo Redhawks in Sweden.

Also at the 2012 draft, Dallas selected the modern Finnish Don, Esa Lindell, in the third round, 74th overall. After developing over three seasons in the SM-liga, Lindell made the jump the AHL in 2013-14, the NHL in 2015-16, and was an NHL regular by the following season. Since then, Lindell has become a pillar on the Dallas blueline, particularly on the penalty kill where he regularly plays nearly the entirety.

While not the most graceful skater, Lindell’s mobility and frame allow him to outwork opponents on the boards and in the crease. His stalwart defensive play is accentuated by a serviceable skill set moving the puck. Typically lauded for his simple playmaking, when he activates, Lindell is adept at jumping into the play in the offensive zone. He is also consistent in getting hard, low shots to the net.

Lindell developed into a legitimate top-four defenseman and a monster on the penalty kill. Based on his recent extension, Lindell figures to maintain the same consistent defensive presence for the next three seasons.

Another Finnish defenseman, Aleksi Makela, was taken by Dallas in the seventh round, 182nd overall, in the 2013 draft. He never made it to a North American team, instead playing six seasons in Sweden.

In a bit of a fever dream, Finnish forward Lauri Korpikoski signed with Dallas as a free agent in the 2016 offseason. He would play the first 60 games as a depth piece and penalty killer before being flipped to Columbus for Dillon Heatherington. Around the same time as the trade, the next rising Finnish prospect was pushing to make the Dallas roster.

Is this a safe space? Can we talk about Julius Honka? Taken 14th overall in the first round of the 2014 draft, the diminutive and divisive defenseman was lauded as an offensive-leaning defense prospect before becoming a martyr within the burgeoning hockey analytic community. In limited minutes, his analytics seemed to show promise of a game-changing offensive defenseman. His time in the AHL showed similar promise. Honka had high-risk, high-reward play, true vision and enough gusto to try it. The problem was, NHL coaches generally do not like risk.

Honka had progressed through three seasons in the AHL with the Texas Stars, scoring at a rate over half a point a game, and finally got his call-up late in 2016-17. Honka played 16 NHL games that season, another 42 the following year, and then had 29 in his final season in the NHL in 2018-19. All combined, he scored 13 points and was a -7 in 87 NHL contests.

Never quite trusted, Honka’s chances of making the NHL withered as the Stars retained his rights but did not roster him. Honka has since continued playing professionally in Sweden and eventually Switzerland. He did return for a 17-game AHL stint with the Stars in 2020-21, but it did not lead to another North American contract. This season, Honka is playing for HC Davos in the Swiss-A league.

A second Finnish defenseman was taken in 2014, with Miro Karjalainen going 135th overall in the fifth round. Karjalainen cracked the Steelheads roster for 21 ECHL games in 2016-17. He then left for a career in the SM-liga, where he still plays today. He won a 2019 championship with HPK Hameenlinna.

The Stars drafted a Finnish goalie in 2016, 163rd overall in the 6th round: Markus Ruusu. He never made it to North America, but is now in his twelfth season in the SM-liga.

Jokkipakka and Honka would have made for quite the Finnish contingency if they matched the staying power of Esa Lindell. However, to finish out the Finn-heavy 2011-2017 draft period, Dallas would reinforce Esa with some serious Stars.

Best Wave Yet?

Based on pre-draft odds the Dallas Stars had won big before the 2017 NHL Draft had even started. After winning in the draft lottery, the Stars jumped up five spots from 8th to 3rd, landing the opportunity to select Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen.

Heiskanen’s draft is now storied for bringing the Stars the franchise defenseman, franchise forward Jason Robertson, and franchise goaltender Jake Oettinger all within the first two rounds. Heiskanen had the hype from the jump. From time immemorial, Heiskanen was praised for his all-world composure and skating, drawing comparisons to Scott Neidermayer. When Heiskanen joined the Stars roster for the 2018-19 season, he immediately became the Stars’ number one defenseman. He likely will continue to be into the future, as he’s signed through 2028-29.

Miro’s game is smooth and seemingly effortless, underlined by working smarter, not harder. He’s a workhorse minute-muncher, capable of playing both sides of the ice. Since Heiskanen has come into the league, the Stars have been troubled in finding him the right partner. Regardless of who he plays with, his ability to reset a shift, transition the puck effectively, and sight teammates for chances is world-class. His 73-point 2022-23 campaign ranks him most for a defenseman in a season with the Stars franchise and for a Finnish defenseman in the NHL.

Drafted 49th overall in the second round of the 2016 NHL entry draft, it took forward Roope Hintz some time to season with the Texas Stars before he finally stuck with the Dallas roster partway through the 2018-19 season. His arrival shortly after Heiskanen shifted the dynamic of the Dallas Stars. Hintz went on to put up 8 points in 13 playoff games. Known as the Ace of Spades, Hintz’s size, speed, and slickness with the puck made every chance a rush.

As Hintz fully acclimated to the NHL game, his defensive acumen rounded into form. A full-force two-way threat, Hintz developed into the Stars’ number one center. His presence is strong on both the Dallas penalty kill and primary powerplay unit. Combining with a young Jason Robertson and an older Joe Pavelski for regular shifts, the three were a threat to score every time they went over the boards. Hintz’s regular seasons have largely been successful, if not dampened by lingering injuries, and in the playoffs he ramps up even further. In 78 career postseason games, Hintz has scored 57 points, including 24 points in just 19 games during the 2022-23 playoffs.

The hope is that Hintz, Heiskanen, and the Dallas Stars can find the balance that takes them to the Final again. They’ve got a bit of time. Hintz recently signed an extension that will keep him in Dallas through the 2030-2031 season.

Each of Lindell, Heiskanen, and Hintz echo Jere Lehtinen in his humble reservedness and utmost commitment to the game. The three core members of the modern Finnish Mafia are all in their prime, playing major roles for a Dallas Stars team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.

Peak Mafia Membership

It wasn’t always just three Finns. The modern Mafia built around the drafted trio of Lindell, Hintz, and Heiskanen has grown and shrunk with the seasons.

The Dallas Stars signed giant Finnish defenseman Jani Hakanpää to a three-year deal in the 2021 offseason. His punishing play-style made him a pillar of the penalty kill, tendering with Esa Lindell. Injuries plagued Hakanpää in his time with the Stars. This summer he signed to have his injuries plague him in Toronto.

Joel Kiviranta is a legend. Undrafted, he signed at two-year deal with the Stars in the summer of 2019. He managed a handful of regular season games before fate called his name for Game 7 of the second round of the Covid-bubble 2020 NHL playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche were looming, but Kiviranta was headed for the history books. Kiviranta scored a hattrick, the last being the series-clinching goal in overtime. A folk hero in both Finland and Dallas, Kiviranta played one more season with the Stars before signing on with the rival Colorado Avalanche. In classic Stars fashion, he scored when facing his old team for the first time.

The modern Finnish Mafia hit the height of their powers with a 2021 waiver wire claim. Late in the season, Dallas claimed Finnish defenseman Sami Vatanen off waivers from the New Jersey Devils, bringing their roster to six total Finns. Vatanen didn’t add a whole lot on the ice with Hintz, Heiskanen, Lindell, Kiviranta, and Hakanpää, but he remains the only 6th Finnish Mafia member. The Mafia has reduced its numbers since; today only the core of Hintz, Heiskanen and Lindell remain on the roster.

Conclusion

Seven years have passed since the Stars drafted Heiskanen back in 2017, and only this year has Dallas gone back to the well, using two of their three draft picks on Finns Emil Hemming and Niilopekka Muhonen. While Muhonen may be more of a long shot, Hemming projects to play NHL games. Whether or not he represents the next wave of Finnish players to find success for the Stars, the consistent representation and community that Finnish players have developed in Dallas has undoubtedly already altered the franchise for the better.

As the Stars venture to Finland within the month, there will be so much celebration of hockey, but also the connection between the franchise and the country’s spirit of the game.

The modern Finnish Mafia is currently whittled down to a core of Heiskanen, Hintz, Lindell, but all three will represent some of the best at their positions headed to the international Frozen Faceoff in the spring of 2025. All three will likely play for the 2026 Olympic squad, helmed by Jere Lehtinen. And all three are slated to continue hunting for a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars.

We are blessed to love such an international game, for every puck Jere won, every save Kari made, every prospect Jarkko scouts, every time Roope or Miro make you shake your head. The roots are down. The hockey is good. The Finnish Mafia is strong in Dallas.

Fin

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Data

for next two sections

Draft Year - Drafted - Round - Name

No NHL games played•

Less than 50 Stars games played^

Less than 100 NHL games*

Dallas Stars Finnish Draft Picks

2024 - 158th - 5th - Niilopekka Muhonen•

2024 - 29th - 1st - Emil Hemming• F

2017 - 3rd - 1st Miro Heiskanen D

2016 - 163rd - 6th - Markus Ruusu•

2016 - 49th - 2nd - Roope Hintz F

2014 - 135th - 5th - Miro Karjalainen•

2014 - 14th - 1st - Julius Honka* D

2013 - 182nd - 7th - Aleksi Makela•

2012 - 144th - 5th - Henri Kiviaho•

2012 - 74th - 3rd - Esa Lindell D

2011 - 195th - 7th - Jyrki Jokkipakka D

2006 - 150th - 5th - Max Warn•

2005 - 75th - 3rd - Perttu Lindgren^* F

2003 - 259th - 8th - Niko Vainio•

2003 - 144th - 5th - Eero Kilpelainen•

2002 - 243rd - 8th - Tuomas Mikkonen•

2002 - 110th - 4th - Jarkko Immonen•

2001 - 192nd - 6th - Jussi Jokinen C/LW

2000 - 224th - 7th - Antti Miettinen RW

2000 - 219th - 7th - Marco Tuokko•

1998 - 173rd - 6th - Niko Kapanen C/LW

1997 - 132nd - 5th - Teemu Elomo•

Minnesota North Stars Finnish Draft Picks

1992 - 178th - 8th - Juha Lind LW

1992 - 88th - 4th - Jere Lehtinen RW

1992 - 34th - 2nd - Jarkko Varvio^* RW

1991 - 250th - 12th - Jukka Suomalainen• D

1988 - 190th - 10th -Ari Matilainen• F

1987 - 172nd - 9th - Jarmo Myllys^* G

1987 - 130th - 7th - Timo Kulonen•

1987 - 88th - 5th - Teppo Kivela• F

1986 - 96th - 5th - Jari Gronstrand D

1984 - 97th - 5th - Kari Takko G

1981 - 160th - 8th - Kari Kanervo• F

1981 - 41st - 2nd - Jali Wahlsten• F

Dallas Stars Finnish Rostered Players

Season -to- Season - Games Played with Dallas - Total NHL games played - Name

Acquired by Trade*

Acquired by Free Agency^

Acquired by Drafting•

Acquired by Waivers+

1993-94 - 1994-95 - 13 - 13 - Jarkko Varvio•

1995-96 - 2009-10 - 875 - 875 - Jere Lehtinen•

1997-98 - (Year in Finland) - 1999-2000 - 73 - 133 - Juha Lind•

2001-02 - 2005-06 - 239 - 397 - Niko Kapanen•

2001-02 - 2001-02 - 15 - 985 - Jyrki Lumme*

2000-01 - 2002-03 - 101 - 155 - Sami Helenius^

2003-04 - 2003-04 - 62 - 1372 - Teppo Numminen*

2003-04 - 2007-08 - 238 - 539 - Antti Miettinen•

2005-06 - 2007-08 - 215 - 951 - Jussi Jokinen•

2005-06 - 2007-08 - 218 - 770 - Niklas Hagman*

2005-06 - 2005-06 - 22 - 741 - Janne Niinimaa*

2009-10 - 2009-10 - 1 - 1 - Perttu Lindgren•

2009-10 - 2017-18 - 445 - 649 - Kari Lehtonen* G

2014-15 - 2014-15 - 2 - 4 - Jussi Rynnas^ G

2014-15 - 2015-2016 - 91 - 150 - Jyrki Jokkipakka•

2015-16 - 2016-17 - 84 - 463 - Antti Niemi* G

2016-17 - 2016-17 - 60 - 609 - Lori Korpikoski^

2016-17 - Present - 604 - 604 - Esa Lindell•

2016-17 - 2018-19 - 87 - 87 - Julius Honka•

2018-19 - Present - 425 - 425 - Miro Heiskanen•

2018-19 - Present - 392 - 392 - Roope Hintz•

2019-2020 - 2022-23 - 163 - 219 - Joel Kiviranta^

2020-21 - 2020-21 - 9 - 473 - Sami Vatanen+

2021-22 - 2023-24 - 226 - 288 - Jani Hakanpaa^

Dallas Stars Finnish Player Trades

• Lumme - 2001-Jun-23 Traded from Phoenix Coyotes to Dallas Stars for  Tyler Bouck

  • Lumme - 2001-Nov-21 Traded from Dallas Stars to Toronto Maple Leafs for  Dave Manson

  • Helenius - 2003-Mar-10 Traded from Dallas Stars with round 7 pick in the 2004 draft to Chicago Blackhawks for  Lyle Odelein

• Numinen - 2003-Jul-22 Traded from Phoenix Coyotes to Dallas Stars for  Mike Sillinger and conditional draft pick

• Hagman - 2005-Dec-12 Traded from Florida Panthers to Dallas Stars for round 7 pick in the 2007 draft

• Niinimaa - 2006-Jan-10 Traded from New York Islanders with round 5 pick in the 2007 draft to Dallas Stars for  John Erskine and round 2 pick in the 2006 draft (Jesse Joensuu)

  • Jokinen - 2008-Feb-26 Traded from Dallas Stars with Jeff Halpern, Mike Smithand round 4 pick in the 2009 draft to Tampa Bay Lightning for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist

• Lehtonen - 2010-Feb-09 Traded from Atlanta Thrashers to Dallas Stars for  Ivan Vishnevskiy and round 4 pick in the 2010 draft (Ivan Telegin)

• Niemi -2015-Jun-27 Rights traded from San Jose Sharks to Dallas Stars for round 7 pick in the 2015 draft (Jake Kupsky)

  • Korpikoski - 2017-Mar-01 Traded from Dallas Stars to Columbus Blue Jackets for  Dillon Heatherington

Dallas Stars Finnish Waiver Claims

• Vatanen - 2021-Apr-12 Claimed off waivers by Dallas Stars from New Jersey Devils

All Data Sourced from HockeyDB

From past to present, bond runs deep for Stars, Finland | Dallas Stars - Heika