HELSINKI, Finland — When Esa Lindell shuffled to center ice in his sneakers to drop the puck at Jokerit’s game Tuesday night, there were glaring changes from when the Dallas Stars defenseman donned a teal and purple sweater himself.
The Finnish club he spent six years representing at the junior and professional levels was no longer competing in SM-Liiga, Finland’s top professional hockey league. It was also playing in a new rink that belonged to its greatest rival from its prime, HIFK.
But what matters most to Lindell has stayed the same.
“I got a little bit of chills from the chants,” Lindell said. “Other guys asked, ‘Are they the same?’ And I think pretty much when I used to play, and I was young watching the games.”
The team’s fan base stayed on its feet and cheered relentlessly through the 60 minutes of play at Helsinki Ice Hall on Tuesday night. Their cheers and chants made Lindell reminisce about his days as a Jokerit player.
But most importantly, Lindell saw the team was playing hockey in a Finnish league. In recent years, that hasn’t always been the case.
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During his trip to his home country for the NHL Global Series this week, Lindell, alongside many of his Stars teammates, visited his former team that he now co-owns. Lindell joined the ownership group in February 2023 in an effort to save the club that was at risk of going under.
Growing up in the Helsinki area, Lindell was raised a fan of Jokerit and dreamed of playing there. When he was eight, he watched the team win the SM-Liiga title, Finland’s equivalent to the Stanley Cup.
Jokerit has won six titles with its most recent coming in that 2002 season. It played in the country’s largest arena, packed with fans. Its unique joker logo and vibrant teal and purple uniforms drew people to the team, even some outside of Finland.
But after Lindell played his final game for the club in the 2013-14 season, Jokerit’s fate changed. A group of Russian-Finnish businessmen purchased the club and its arena with the intention of having it compete in the Kontinental Hockey League, a Russian-based league that was the second-biggest in the world at the time, after the NHL.
20241029 Helsinki, FINLAND. Jokerit Helsinki v Hokki Kajaani.
Valtteri Filppula #51 of Jokerit Helsinki and Arturs Homjakovs #19 of Hokki Kajaani pose as Esa Lindell #23 of Dallas Stars is all smiles after the ceremonial puck drop prior to the match-up between Jokerit and Hokki at the Helsinki Ice Hall on October 29, 2024.
Photo: Mika Kylmaniemi / APOLLO PHOTO(Mika Kylmaniemi / APOLLO PHOTO / Mika Kylmaniemi / APOLLO PHOTO)Related:Catching up with Stars great Jere Lehtinen ahead of Global Series trip to Finland
The switch saw a shift in the club that Lindell grew up loving, as the new ownership began importing older, foreign players and allowed the junior system to deteriorate.
Then, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sponsors vacated the team. Weeks after the war began, Hartwall, Jokerit’s largest sponsor and its old arena namesake, terminated its contract with the club’s parent company.
The club cut ties with the KHL in April 2022 and hoped to return to SM-Liiga. However, the Finnish league told Jokerit that it could only return if it broke ties with its Russian ownership and installed new Finnish owners.
Jokerit was without a league to play in 2022-23, keeping the club off the ice for the first time since it was founded in 1967.
That prompted Finnish businessman Mikko Saarni to begin assembling an all-Finnish ownership group that could revive the franchise.
He brought in former NHL player and Jokerit captain Ossi Väänänen, who called Lindell. Chicago Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teräväinen also joined.
“We faced a lot of obstacles along the way. It’s in the past. It happened. We recognize it,” Väänänen said. “It’s a dear club for us. We all grew up here. We can thank our NHL careers because of this club, kind of that stepping stone in a way.
“I think it’s a very strong signal to everybody that it’s kind of a big family in a way. We take care of our players and our juniors and they feel at home here and years to come you see this kind of behavior.”
Even with new Finnish ownership, Jokerit has still not been welcomed back to its former league. Instead, it joined second-tier Finnish league Mestis. But beginning this season, SM-Liiga has resumed promotion and relegation, meaning the Mestis champion and last place SM-Liiga team will square off in a playoff series with the winner earning a spot in the higher league.
Jokerit also still cannot play in its old arena, which is still Russian-owned and sits vacant.
“Jokerit is one of the strongest brands in Europe and still has a great fan base,” Saarni said. “I think it meant a lot to the whole hockey community. We know we’re going up whether it’s going to happen this spring or the next. I think the club has a bright, bright future ahead of it.”
Lindell witnessed that bright future firsthand Tuesday night and said he was optimistic about both the club’s chances to be promoted to SM-Liiga again and for the fan base to continue to grow. The club added former Stanley Cup champion Valtteri Filppula to its roster, who decided to return to his former club after a 16-year NHL career. His arrival helped revive the support around the team.
“I felt like the fan base and everything didn’t go away at all,” Lindell said. “This is pretty much where it was before. It’s so nice to see this many people, the fans and how popular this team is.”
Lindell’s first visit to Jokerit since becoming a part owner may have come with some noticeable differences. But his fellow owners said his addition has been the most meaningful change of all.
“He’s an unbelievable guy,” Saarni said. “I’ve met a lot of former NHL players and current NHL players, and he’s one-of-a-kind. His attitude and his leadership and the dedication that he has is just incredible.”
Photos: Stars’ Esa Lindell, who is part of the club’s Finnish ownership group, enjoys Jokerit hockey game in his hometown
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