30 Years a Stars Fan from Finland? | Jussi’s Hockey Journey | Stars Fan Stories #4 | July 22nd, 2025

30 Years a Stars Fan from Finland? | Jussi’s Hockey Journey | Stars Fan Stories #4 | July 22nd, 2025

[Music] Hello everybody and welcome back to Starcaster Karks. Uh thank you guys for joining us for another epidition epition. I can’t talk today. Another edition an episode. There you I just try to combine the two words of Starcaster Mark remarks here today and of specifically our stars fan stories off season series. Today we have Jussi. He has Yes. And it’s exactly what his name sounds like. He is from Finland. So, uh this is going to be a very special episode for all of you guys here in the States uh to to hear his uh backstory and everything. Uh Jussi, thank you so much for coming on to the show. um tell us a little bit about yourself just like you know non-hockey related stuff and uh just to let us get to know you a little bit. Yeah. Hi Ryan and thanks for having me. I’m very happy to be here. I’ve been listening to your podcast for maybe two years now but pretty intensively. So I I listen to every single episode and and uh yeah uh it’s exciting for me to finally join your show. Um I’m 44 years old. Um of like you said from Finland. I live here in a small city of Hame Linda which is right in between Helsinki and and Tampere which are the two of the biggest cities in Finland here in southern part of Finland. And um I have two daughters 10 and 12. Um I’m a huge ice hockey fan. I I also play play myself as well, ice hockey and and uh yeah, and uh yeah, I’ve been a Dallas Stars fan for for a long time or over 30 years now. So that’s Yeah. Well, that’s that’s awesome. Uh and and by the way, we’re going to go ahead and say this now. I meant to say this before you got started, but we are making an exception for the start time for this episode because if I did it for 700 p.m. Central time here in the States, that would be like 2:00 in the morning for Jussi. So, we’re not going to do that for his family. So, yeah. So, this episode’s going to be a special edition. It’s going to go live at noon central here in the States, here in Texas, uh from for majority of Texas. That way, uh his family in Finland can watch it about 7 o’clock his time on on uh on the Tuesday that you’re watching this. So, thank you. Thank you for this. Yeah. No, no, obviously I I want I want your family to be able to see this. So, this is this is a cool thing for everyone to get a chance to do. Um, you know, you said you were nervous coming on here uh before we started recording and everything, but you’re doing a you’re doing a great job already. So, so far at least. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, you need to be a little bit nervous. So, it’s first time for me to do at least this kind of podcast. So, so that’s probably the reason. So, uh, talk to us a little bit about, uh, you know, about like how what hockey means for the the Finnish people because like for I think Canadians can kind of understand how big it is for for Finnish people over in Finland and and and you know, for the dieards, you know, who watch this podcast or, you know, for other ginormous stars fans who are hardcore fans, they understand it too how important it But, you know, typically here in the Dallas Fort Worth area in Texas, it kind of plays fourth fiddle when you’ve got the Cowboys, you got the Mavs, you’ve got the Rangers, and then you’ve got the Stars. Typically, the Stars are normally at at the very least the fourth fiddle and maybe the third fiddle for some people, but how much does hockey engross y’all’s life in Finland? Yeah, it’s huge. It’s huge. Uh I mean Finland is like like Canada of Europe when it comes to hockey. So it’s it’s almost like a religion to us. Um uh it’s it’s by far the the number one sport in Finland. Uh and and uh yeah, basically all of us are are to some extent at least hockey fans. Uh, when it comes to my kind of a fandom of of Dallas Stars, it all started in in mid 90s. Um, back then Dallas Stars wasn’t like the the sexiest team when it comes to like fandom in Finland. It was like Chicago and Los Angeles, Edmontons. These kind of teams were like more popular. But for me, it all started in um in 9394. I I I’m not saying that I was a big fan back then, of course, but but I started to follow the team because of this player called Yarov Varavio who was uh who was a big star over here in Finland. He he played in he represented my hometown team HPK Hameina and Minnesota Northstars drafted him and um then Vavio joined the club Dallas Stars that is in 9394 the inaugural season. Uh so that’s how it it got going for me when it comes to Dallas Stars. I started to follow that team more and more. Then when Yetin and joined the club in 95, I it was all in. Then then my real like fandom started. So 96 97 I was a full full stars fan. Yeah, I get that a lot from a lot of uh Finnish stars fans. That’s really they they mentioned the the guy that you just mentioned uh back in 9394 and then they always say Yuri Letin is the one that kind of started it off and you know to to be completely honest I think he is still the reason why a lot of people watch and and not not just because he he was connected to the stars for so long and he played for them for so long but he he continues to kind of push Finnish players towards Jim Nil. I I mean like uh I cannot believe Yo Kirana is a perfect example of that. Uh R2 R2uru R2uru is another example of a of someone that you know Jim Niels like uh was kind of pushed to to go and get and I’m sure Yuri Leton was like hey he’s not going to be like a superstar or anything like that but he’s going to he’s a very good player defensively responsible can put up some points when you need it. Very good depth player. So, uh, he’s still making his his mark on this team. Absolutely. And and Yetin was a national hero already back in 95 before even even going to NHL. He they won the world championship with Saku Koyu in 95 and that was a big celebration. They were like real heroes, national heroes over here. And of course what he did in NHL three selkies um Stanley Cup in 99 etc etc. Now he he has his number in the rafters. So he is one of the biggest reasons people are all stars fans over here but but yeah uh and also there’s one one name I would like to mention is Kar Taco. is this former goalie of Minnesota Northstars and he has been like a head of he’s a Finnish guy and Kitako has been like head of European scouting for Dallas for what 20 20 years might be so so yeah there’s a there’s this connection for Dallas and the Finnish players and uh this this spring when we had this uh five five Dallas star five Finnish players playing for the Dallas that wasn’t actually the first time Because back in was it like 2002 maybe 2003 there was there was also five guys at least there’s sun and niko and these kind of players and of course so it’s been always like that and that’s funny that you you talk about those players because some of those players were some of my favorite players growing up right like and I I don’t know why maybe it was just just the fact of how hard they worked worked uh when every time I think about the 2008 run, I always think of Auntie Metanin like and and he he was just a guy that just seemed to come out of nowhere and scored 20 goals that season and and he he was like he’s one of those guys that was down in the down in the I don’t want to say depths of the lineup but like you know further down the lineup that really was a reason major reason why the stars made such a big push in 2008 and then yeah and funny that you funny that you mentioned Auntie Matin because he’s like my hometown guy. He he lives at the moment he lives like less than one mile from my house. So he’s originally from from here and and of course I was following him very closely back in the day and and yeah he is a big hero of of our small town Jame and then uh the other guy we were actually just talking about him before we started recording uh one of the greatest shootout goal scorers of all time. Like a a lot of people don’t realize that he’s finished as well. Everyone knows uh Olken, but they forget uh Yuzi Yokinan and and he was fantastic for the stars for a good and a half decade, seven years, something like that. So that’s another player. He was Yeah. And they by the way they are not rel relation to each other. Just the same surname. But but yeah, only Okinan is like more famous out of those two. But Jussio had a heck of a career as well. Almost thousand games in NHL. So, so yeah, I remember when he played with Le and at Mono back in ‘ 05 06 and he was doing all the or scoring all those uh shootout goals. So, it was a good story and it was never the same thing, right? like you know there there there’s the Forsber and the and and like everyone remembers the the shootout goal that like Mike Rbero did when he turned around and he was facing the goalie backwards and you can’t do that nowadays anymore but at the time it like that was unforeseen like Jussien was the one that kind of created all the creativity around the shootout and especially when it was first introduced after ties were gotten rid of a lot of the creativity needs to go towards him. He was one of the best at it, if not the best. So, yeah, absolutely, mate. And and he was doing a lot of this kind of uh shooting it low blocker like like just underneath the blocker and it was always the same trick and it it was all almost like automatic but just always scoring. And one story that I remember is that everyone everybody remembers that game against Oilers where Patrick Stefan had the empty net. Then something happened and it was Alice. Yeah. Exactly. But Dallas Star still did win that game with Yokin and shootout goal. So yes. Yeah. And and and that’s crazy to think that years later Allesky would for a short period of time become a it’s weird how things happen and it’s like the the other thing that people point to is also and that I think about is uh in 2000 when the Stars lost the Stanley Cup tried to go back to back. It was Jason Narnett who ended the Stars season and the Stanley Cup final and then a couple of years later he becomes a Dallas Star. So it’s just weird how things happen. And that that that Arnold goal is one of the crushing memories like like worst memories of my h I I still blame Silvine Cot for getting Arnold behind his uh well let me give you another crushing moment and then I’ll ask I’ll ask you for one that might be a little different. We’ll get those out of the way first. Okay. Um the the one that I always think about in the back of my head that’s more recent than that that more people will be more familiar with is in 2019 when uh the Stars were playing the St. Louis Blues and I I don’t even think it was an eighth of an inch that the puck needed to go over on that Jamie Ben wraparound attempt and just somehow Jordan Bennington by the skin of his chinny chin chin was able to keep the puck out with his with his uh blocker or not with his blocker with his pad. Um is there a moment like that for you that you know is is maybe more recent or maybe even less recent? What what’s a a memory you can think of that is as crushing as that if not more? Well, that was certainly crushing. I especially knowing Especially knowing what happened the the Blues won the Stanley Cup. That was we we had a heck of a team back then. I think Bishop was in goal back then. Uh, I remember always when was it Ryan O’Reilly who scored the winning goal and Miro Heskan as a rookie was standing on the goal line and I was like I didn’t cry but it was this close. Um, other crushing moments. Yeah, there’s plenty of those. Um, maybe this was a wrong question to ask, but like a lot of a lot of people can kind of connect to these, but there’s like, oh, which one? Which one? I mean I mean for me I always come back to 07 2007 uh the playoffs. It was only the like the first round of the playoffs against against the Canucks but that was that was the season when I really had my hopes very high. I I was really expecting them to go all the way. They had Marty Turko. It was like his prime time. He had like what three shutouts in that series and and then Brendan Moro was was uh was emerging the first season as a captain etc. We still had mod in two of we had Eric Lindrew and and to lose to to Canox in in game seven that’s one of the things that really really was hard for me to take. So so I always remember that. So that’s one of the of course then there’s complete seasons. I remember when there was like high hopes 0 01 02 02 03 these kind of seasons uh when Joe one when Brian Marchman injured Jonu and Ike’s knee and basically they lost the whole season because of that in 98 98 playoffs. That was a crushing moment as well. But as you know, you’re you’re a longtime Dallas Stars fan, so you know, there’s a lot of these kind of these kind of moments. Yeah. But, uh, that goes to one of my sayings that before you can win, you have to learn how to lose. And I I I hope that’s what I hope that’s what the Stars are going through currently with, you know, three Stanley Cup uh, Western Conference final runs and losing there. Uh but we’ll we’ll have to wait and see how they do next season. It definitely looks like they’re going to take a little bit of a step back, but um yeah. Well, let me ask you this because I I think I’m curious about this. Uh and I I warned you about this question before we started, but uh is it really true that all Finnish fans are like either Stars fans or Florida Panther fans because of just the sheer amount of Finnish players on both of those teams? Absolutely. Absolutely. And of course, it hasn’t been always like that. Let’s let’s rewind the clock 10 years from now. There there wasn’t too many Dallas Stars or especially not too many Florida Panthers fans. Now it’s completely different. Alexander Barov is is best player, one of the best players in the world. Definitely best players from Finland. Uh he’s 29. is already probably a Hall of Famer. Uh so that that’s a big reason Florida Panthers has a huge fan base now in Finland. Of course, Dallas has to especially now after deal. Uh there’s also a lot of Colorado Avalanche fans because of Mikandare and they still remain to be Colorado fans even though he left the team. So and and Carolina because of Sebastian. So I would say that those four are like the top four when it comes to the the kind of the size of a fan base here in Finland. And and pardon my ignorance if I don’t know this, but was Tavo Terra Terrainan is he is he finished as well? Yeah, he is. Okay. And he was he was with uh Chicago for a period of time, a shorter period of time and then he was with the Hurricanes for a long time. Yeah. Correct. Okay. And he he actually won the cup in his rookie season in Chicago. That’s right. I forgot. I forgot that. Yeah, it was funny that he was a rookie back then. And then there was Kimon who was this like more experienced defense man and he was defe Yeah, he was playing for Nashville Nashville for a long time and Philadelphia as well. And Kimoton was playing probably his last season. Everybody knew that. And he was joining the club because he wanted to win the championship. And then there was Devo Deravan who was a rookie back then and then they won together and Dewa was just saying to Kimmo that yeah it’s not that difficult to win it. So yeah but there’s a lot of lot of quality uh Finnish players in NHL today and uh Yus who is a goalie in Nashville um he’s also from Hame Lina from my hometown. So, we have actually produced some quality NHL players. Uh, sorry, random side tangent question. I just thought about how do you like your chances in the Olympics this uh this year next year with uh team Finland cuz I think you’ll have a good shot like that especially the way that uh cuz a lot of people don’t realize that on international ice it’s a little bit bigger than a NHL arena uh NHL sized rink and that has goes a lot more towards the the more openness style of the game rather than the physical side of the game that you see in North America and that that is definitely, you know, advantage for uh for uh Finland and some of these other countries to kind of take advantage of like the bigger population countries like the US, like Russia, like uh Canada. So, h what what do you think y’all’s chances are in getting a gold medal? Because I think I if if the United States don’t win, that is obviously the country that I’m 100% rooting for. I do not want Canada. Good. Way to go. Uh we do have good chance. I I’m I think Finland has probably the best roster ever. They’ve never had this kind of a quality especially when it comes to offense. Uh they have such a good group of forwards good like Robins Alexander Barco and AO Ran and there’s like a lot of players that would fit into other like Canada or or USA. only problem or kind of a challenge is after Miro and and Essa uh the the the quality of the defenseman is not well we do have Nikico Mikola who who has been playing excellent in in Florida but well there’s uh well rest is wrist linen finished okay he’s he’s maybe okay he’s kind of like a labouchkin for team Finland he can maybe play a top four But you’ve also got what about uh Henry Yokiharu? Yeah, but I mean those those are NHL players. Ristolanin is is a is a good call, but but I I think he is a bit of a liability in his own end still. Um I I was happy that he didn’t join stars uh in the deadline because there was a lot of rumors going on and I I mean but yeah we have a very good goalie US is an excellent goalie. Uh he’s like top 10 goalie in the world. Um, I would say the biggest hurdle, biggest biggest challenge when it comes to our team is we have a brand new coach and u he’s kind of a kind of a Glen Guludson of team Finland. So, he’s he he needs to prove himself. So, so let’s see. But but uh I mean I mean the the roster is excellent and and we have quality players. So, and like you very well said um the the the bigger bigger eyes play it plays important role in this. So, it’s I think that’s a that’s a benefit for team Finland and also for team Sweden as well. Yeah, I I agree. Um well, uh let me ask you I asked you about some of the more like uh crushing moments. So, le let’s be happy now. Let’s think positive here. Uh what’s a moment that you will remember for the rest of your life uh that just kind of sticks into your head for for whatever reason? And and like for me it for for me like for example mine was the 1999 cup win which a lot of people think is a little surprising considering my age but I remember that day very vividly. Like I remember every detail because I thought it was amazing how uh you know very early on in my childhood I was able to celebrate a win like that and I was also only 6 years old and the stars I was able I I was super excited to stay up at till like 1:30 in the morning to to finish watching this game and I still remember to this day I was wearing my Brett Hall jersey. I just so happened to have a a 22 Brett Hall jersey and as soon as he scored I was running around the house just going nuts like I and I didn’t even fully understand like all the rules or everything like that but I understood the puck went in the back of the net and that was the end of the game and my dad had told me that the next goal wins and if we get the goal then we win the then we win the cup. So is there a moment like that that you’ll just remember for the rest of your life? There’s a lot of good moments for sure. Um, of course, boring answer, the 99 cup as well for me. Um, I was I was 18 back then. I was uh still living with my parents. I was waiting to go uh to military because we have a mandatory military service over here in Finland. I remember watching it. It was already morning. It was like what 600 7 in the morning. 6 7 a.m. I was watching the game and and my my nose was lit literally touching the TV screen and and then when Brett How did scored that goal, it was like full celebration. So I I definitely remember that forever. Um of course 08 Brendan Moro goal uh against the Sharks. That’s one of the highlights of my like my f fandom. I also remember the hit that he he gave to Milan Mhallik um in the in the closing seconds of the regular time. Uh then the bubble playoffs of course even though the atmosphere wasn’t it was quite odd. I mean having the playoffs in the end of the year like Octo October, November, whatever it was, no no audience. So it was quite strange but all those Joe Pavlski goals when what he did for the stars. Um so there’s a lot of good moments definitely and and u lot of goals that I will always remember. I also remember the first game when Brad Recharge joined the club and he had five assists and and Nicholas Hagman scored the hattrick. So there’s like all kinds of stuff that I remember but but yeah it’s good to have some positive memories as well, not just the negative ones. How big was Yo Kiri Ront for that short period of time after he scored the hattick? cuz like uh over here in the States and even now we we have like these catchphrases right with the stars. We always say uh we’re not going home or we or we we always make uh we still continue to make fun of Valushkin in that one video. He says I am Belushouchkin. We still say that every once in a while. And then obviously the the yo effing kirana but that that will live rentree in my head for forever. In terms of stories, I don’t think you can come up with one better that’s like Disney worthy like like Sandlot like Mighty Ducks kind of worthy where you go in and you didn’t even play the last game. You come into a game seven in a I think it was the second round against a really good still then a really good Colorado Avalanche team and yeah they were on their third goalender or whatever but you come in and you score a hat-tick in the most weirdest situation ever like like there will never ever be a situation again where someone can say they lived the same life experience as Yoel Kiron like no one can ever say that ever again. It will never happen. So I mean what what was what was that like watching that from Finland and what what was the countries? It was crazy. I mean and the funny thing is that Yo Kiranda was never a star player in Finland. Not even close. He he wasn’t that like the skilled guy even here in Finland. He well he he was a part of a national team and and uh he was scoring some goals etc. But there was like so many like like higher talent players and I was already surprised that he even got to play in NHL let alone scoring that hattick in the playoffs game seven. So that was crazy and and those goals were like very nice goals. They were not like like accidents or anything else or puck hitting his leg or anything like that but they were quality shots especially the second goal which he scores from the like such a narrow angle quality shots and of course the pass from Andre Sakura of all people Andre Sakura it all it’s not yeah it’s not rope it’s not Joe Pavvelski it’s not Jamie Ben or Tyler Andre Sakura And what was he doing there like behind? Yeah, I was like, okay, whatever. But yeah, I mean, Joel Kir is a good example of Finnish player. Fin Finland doesn’t necessarily produce like a high skill top like top end players uh high highly skilled players. Instead of that, Finland always has produced like this kind of very responsible, good two-way players like Ger Ein was. So very responsible, good, they play in excellent way without the puck, they defend well, etc. And Joel Gir is a good good example of that. Very hardworking, good skaters, uh tough on battles. Arur Leon is another example of that. I was going to mention that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He he’s like a he could win a Selka trophy anytime. So So that’s a typical Finnish player. And now there’s this uh Luin who plays for Florida Panthers has now two cups and he I compare him all the time to Yeti and they have a pretty similar style style of play. So always in the right right position and and knowing what to do like this kind of like Ken Hitchcock called Yetin zero maintenance player. So you don’t need to coach them. Just put them on the ice and they know what to do there. So yeah, yeah, that’s a lot coming from H Ken Hitchcock because he he was he was a drill sergeant back in the day and he he wouldn’t be able to to coach in today’s NHL, I don’t think. But the but I mean a lot you’re right, a lot of Finnish players do play like that. And and you uh you didn’t even mention uh Anton Lindell. Lundel that’s another he’s another example of that he they call I think they call him baby Barkov over there in Florida a little bit and honestly he shouldn’t be called that because he is he’s 100% his own player and it’s and and now look at Yolo Kir as well I mean even though he’s not like a you know like a high skilled player or whatever he still scored 16 goals for the Colorado Avalanche this past year that’s nothing to kind of bat your eyes at or just kind of turn your nose is up at I mean that is very very good quality work in the NHL and I I I don’t know if he’s if he’s signed a contract yet uh for next year if he’s still with Colorado. I’ll have to I I’ll go look that up here in just a second. I I was I was really kind of hoping keeping my fingers crossed that they would bring him back here. Uh but uh they they got Rodic Fox instead and uh at the time we’re recording this it is July 7th. So, let me ask you this. Uh, we’ve seen basically a lot of the stuff happen uh for the Stars. I don’t think they’re going to make very many changes to the roster. I think what you see is probably what you’re going to get, you know, for training camp. Maybe I I I mean, there there’s still some talks about Robertson being traded away. I I I don’t think that’s happening at this point. they it it’s it’s past the trade the trade deadline the uh free agency period. They’ve kind of made their decision and everything. I think they’re going to keep him. Um so what do you think about all the moves or lack of moves? And then what do you think about the the hire of Glenn Gooson? Do you have any opinions on any of that? Uh does it look like the Stars are going to take a step back next year like a lot of people are saying? Let’s see. It’s I’m I’m full of like question marks. Question marks all over my head. I really don’t know how to answer. I don’t even know what my expectations are for the next season. Uh, one thing is certain, I wasn’t happy about the hiring of Glen Goods, unlike like probably not too many other people as well. But but then after the after the um they had this um press conference. Press conference. Yeah. I was a little bit more like um it increased my like expectations for him and uh let’s see I I wasn’t too impressed with him like what what was it like 10 years ago when he when he was in Dallas last time of course he was quite like not that experienced back then now he has more experience he was in Calgary he was long time now in as an assistant in Edmonton so he’s probably probably better now than back then um I’m still not sure what to expect from him, but but I’m not judging him. Um let’s see what he’s got. So So um but there’s some positive I I think first of all I I think it was a right move to let Pete go. Uh I think Pete knew it himself as well when he was um throwing throwing Jake under the bus. He he he knew he’s gone. Um and it was a right right move to make. I mean Pete did excellent job. Um Dallas was a super super good team during the regular seasons. It’s not it’s definitely not easy to get into playoffs and Dallas was always like in very high in the rankings. So So that’s on Pete. Um we we were excellent team on the special teams etc. So let’s see. Um I’m not expecting Dallas to do that well in this like right from the getgo. I think it will take some time to adjust. There’s a new system. There’s a new coach. There’s also the the guy the Graham Graham coming from u Texas. So there’s a lot of new pieces in the puzzle. Uh so let’s see how it starts. Um what I do like is that I’m I’m expecting Dallas to be more like a players team now. There will be more responsibility on players. Mikan is I think that they will probably have more influence on the style of play they want to play and uh at least this is my hunch. Um and but as long as we have Miro Ken Mikan Roins Wyatt Johnston, we have Jake in the goal, we have Thomas Harley who is like a top 10 defenseman now in the in the game. So as long as we have those guys, I think we should do fine. But let’s see what happens. I’m sure they will get into playoffs, but what happens after that, it will be interesting to see. So there’s there’s a lot of trying to think of the right word to put. There’s a lot of uncertainty with this team right now. And I think that’s the perfect way to put it actually. Uncertainty. And it can be good uncertainty. It can’t be a bad uncertainty, right? Um I I think with Glenn Gooson, I really was I know it was not the sexy hire. I know that Neil Graham was the sexy hire. that’s what a lot of people kind of expected or wanted. He’s a young guy. He’s only 40. Uh he’s and like he was expected to, you know, possibly be a head coach at one point in his career. And I was afraid that if you didn’t promote him now in some form or fashion, whether he’s an assistant coach like he he is now, or whether he was the head coach for the Dallas Stars this upcoming season, that you were going to lose him. I don’t think he was going to go back to Texas and be the head coach of the Texas Stars. I think he he he was ready to take that next step and and I’m glad I think that’s another reason why that they are they have Glenn Gooson like I if they need someone to be and I I hate saying it this way because I like Glenn and I I loved his press conference. He said everything right. He won the press conference. That’s what I think Leah Asimacopoulos of the Dallas Morning News put it that way. He he won the press conference and that’s I mean as the new head coach that’s what you have to do. You have to get people on your side especially the fan base. But, uh, Glenn can be the fall guy if it doesn’t go well and you still have Neil Graham in in your in your system basically. I mean, it it’s just like when you’re bringing players up from the Texas Stars to the Dallas Stars players. I mean, it’s the same thing with your coaches. Like, you’ve got it you’ve got a guy in your pipeline who has the ability to be a head coach. He’s been a head coach at the AHL level. And then you’ve even got another guy in Ela Nazerdine that if Glenn does get fired for whatever reason, then you’ve still got someone that when if Neil Graham takes over, Ela Nazerdine can be there to say, “Hey, no, you you don’t make that decision. You need to chill out or let that let that go. Don’t like you know what just kind of guiding him along the way.” So like Jim Nell has set up the coaching staff in a very interesting way. And I talked about this on the podcast and that the the three guys they’ve got currently, I think they’re still looking for a fourth guy at the time of this recording. We haven’t gotten a fourth guy. I don’t even know if they will. I don’t know. But you got uh Glenn Gooson who has not exactly been there, done that, but he kind of has been there, done that, just not as a head coach recently. You’ve got Neil Graham as the brand new guy who has a lot of upside who has a lot of excitement around him. And then you’ve got Elaine Nazerdine who has done a really fantastic job with the defense considering that you know our defense is good. It’s good. It it’s it’s not average. It’s good. But it’s is it like you know elite or top tier when it’s not but the reason why they’re playing above their skill level is because of Ela Nazerdine and I believe that. So, and then the word they kept that Glenn Golson kept using in the press conference was collaboration. And that made me more excited than anything. And that’s exactly what you were just talking about. You were talking about like the players may have more control of how they play. Well, maybe that instead of playing like a fourline system like we were doing where it’s kind of you roll over four lines, which does make sense in hindsight, maybe this line plays a more skilled way. The top line, you you throw Mo with rope and Wyatt. That’s ridiculous guys with crazy high Q. And then you’ve got uh maybe maybe your third your fourth line with Foxawa on it with Steel and Blackwell. Maybe they just go in, they just bang bodies. They just, you know, make them make the other team feel uncomfortable. They’re not looking for offense necessarily, but they just go in there and they play a heavy style of game. Yeah. Like that gives them way more flexibility. And that’s why, and I know a lot of people are still a little iffy about that, but that’s why I’m so excited about this season because it’s going to be very different and it could be this could be a very good different in my opinion. Yeah, and I agree with you. Glen Gulson was definitely not like a safe hire. I think it it involves a lot. It was a right hire. It was a right hire at the right time. I think hiring Gerald Galant would have been more like a safe hire. Yes. Yes. But but I really like the fact that they brought Neil Graham before losing him to some other team just like you said. And I really like that that there’s a good connection and good relationship with between Neil Graham and Thomas Harley and Graham and and and Roins. I care about that more than Glen Guludan has a long history with Jamie Ben. I really that doesn’t play any role to be honest if you ask me. Yeah, like neither guy is the same guy. Like it’s not even close. Jaime Ben is a is a vet, like a disgruntled veteran at this point. He wants the cup and Glenn Gooson has way more experience under his belt than the last time he was here. So you you can’t judge him based off of that cuz like if you j if you judged me based off of 12 years ago, I was a teenager. Everyone will say that that when you’re a teenager, you’re stupid. Like you don’t know what the world is about. you don’t understand anything. And and even now looking back, you know, seven years from now when I was in my mid20s, like even then I I said, “Wow, that was really stupid. I’m never going to do that again.” Like, you can’t do that. So, I’m really excited. I’m just really excited about how next year’s going to go. And like you said, I I was actually quite surprised how how convincing Gulotan was in the press conference. He was like you said, he was saying all the right things. I really like the fact that he brought brought this up, this uh lack of physicality and I hope that Dollar T would be a little bit more intimidating um more aggressive um on the forward check etc. Playing like a little bit more like Florida style of hockey. Uh, I mean, and the roster is still quite I’m not saying soft, but it’s it’s not like like a bunch of very physical intimidating players because Jamie is like what 100 years old already and and these guys. So, so um they need to find a way to be more physical with that roster. But but u uh I was very convinced with how he spoke in the press conference and uh so yeah but it’s not like this roster doesn’t have guys that can’t do that though right like I I mean Miko Rantin is a I think he is like the perfect player of what you want like he’s big he’s got a lot of skill he’s got the superstar quality he’s got the confidence to him and he’s huge he’s But standing in the locker room next to next to him, I I would want him at a bar fight. Like honestly, like he would be the one I would want. And then like I know what you mean. Yeah. And like I I know that that we we lost March Mint, which really sucks. I I would have loved to see Marchment in in this style that Glen Goldson is talking about with the physicality, but he gets traded to Seattle. But again, you’ve still got guys who who can play that style of hockey. like you don’t really expect to see that from you know maybe Duchain necessarily or something like that but Robo hence I mean I could see that from them if if that was push I mean Foxa is a there’s a that is a perfect player after I I was I was so I didn’t understand why they resigned him when when I was like I was like at first I was just like you know okay I get the familiarity and he’s a great player to have and everything like that. He’s But then hearing the way that Glenn Gooson talked, I was just like, this is a Glen Golden player. This is ex this is exactly what he’s talking about that the stars needed. So I was just like, okay, makes sense. I think we were kind of like missing Foxa last year. I mean I mean that’s exactly what Jim Nil said. He’s like a Yeah, he did. So yeah, I I was actually quite happy to get him back. Uh he doesn’t cost a fortune any anymore. and uh he’s very experienced. Uh he’s a big body like you said, 63, 6’4, something like that. And uh he’s he is kind of an intimidating player. He’s he’s hard on boards, etc. So, I really like to have him back. All right. Well, I can’t believe we’re already at this point, but we’re already at uh 43 minutes, so I’m going to ask you one more question. And this is the same question I ask everybody uh at the end of uh their interview and it’s this. If the stars were listening to you right now, let’s just say any of them or the whole team is is watching this interview and they’re they’re listening to us. What would be some of the things you would like to say to them? Just trust in the system. believe in yourself even though you would lose like like six first six games out of 10. Um you still have better better roster than 75% of the other NHL teams. Uh just stay confident. Um I I’m sure it will go well. The best Stanley Cup teams don’t necessarily get first in their division. I’m just saying. Look at Florida. Look at Tampa the last half decade. that they just they don’t win the division, but they’re the best team in the playoffs. So, and I’m quite confident for the Stars because there’s a lot of experience now from the playoffs. Just think about how many playoff games Miro has played during the his whole whole career. He he has almost like 100 playoff games already and he is what 25 only. So, 26. Yeah. 26. Yeah. So there’s a lot of experience to be honest. And I think the best players are on their prime. So there’s a lot of reason to be expecting some good things this season and the season after. So we’re in a good position. There we go. Ending on a positive note. Yes. I I like that very much so. Well, uh uh Jussi, again, this has been awesome. Uh it’s been fun talking hockey with you. And uh again, I really appreciate you uh coming on. And uh for all of you that are listening afterwards or if you’re watching the premiere on YouTube, uh please consider clicking like and subscribe and hit that notification bell so you never miss an episode of this offseason series, Stars Fan Stories, and also our continuing offseason coverage. Uh every Wednesday night, we will be going live at 9:15 Central time. Uh, I’m sorry for our our our Finnish brethren over there. That’s really late in the early in the morning. I apologize, but 9:15 central time every Wednesday night and uh we’ll be we’ll be talking NHL hockey or just whatever the heck we want. So, alongside Jussi, my name’s Ryan. We’ll catch you guys on the flip side. Hope you all have a fantastic morning, afternoon, evening, whenever you guys are listening. Jussi, would you like to say anything before we close out? Uh, thank you, Ryan. Thank you for having me. It was a blast. I enjoyed it. Go Stars. Of course. Go Stars. Thank you everybody. [Music]

Recorded July 7th, 2025

This week on Stars Fan Stories, we head across the Atlantic to chat with Jussi, a diehard Dallas Stars fan from Finland who’s been bleeding Victory Green for over 30 years. From his hometown of Hämeenlinna to the heartbreak of Game 7 losses, Jussi brings global perspective, rich hockey history, and fan insight that’ll hit you right in the feels.

In this international episode:
🎯 How Jere Lehtinen and Jarkko Varvio made Dallas a Finnish favorite
🥅 Jussi Jokinen’s shootout sorcery
💔 Crushing losses, from Arnott’s Cup-winner to Jamie Benn’s wraparound
🏒 Thoughts on Miro, Rantanen, and the Stars’ future under Glenn Gulutzan
🎯 Why Finnish fans are all-in on Dallas (and a few on Florida… we forgive you)

#DallasStars #StarsFanStories #VictoryGreen #TexasHockey #FinlandToDallas

📌 Subscribe for more fan stories every Tuesday!
🎧 Available on all podcast platforms
👇 Drop your own favorite Stars memory in the comments!

#DallasStars #StarsFanStories #TexasHockey #VictoryGreen #NHLFans

Want to promote your brand to passionate Dallas Stars fans? We’re now accepting sponsors for the show!
📎 Check out our media kit on how we can help your business! https://www.starcasticremarks.com/p/media-kit/
📬 Contact: starcasticremarks@gmail.com

⭐ SUBSCRIBE for more Dallas Stars content all offseason!
⭐ Grab merch → https://starcasticremarksshop.com

Who cares? We do! And if you’re a die-hard Stars fan, you might too. Introducing The Who Cares Club, our brand-new membership packed with exclusive perks! Click the link below to join for $5/per month!
https://www.starcasticremarks.com/join/

Follow us on social media!
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@starcasticr
X: https://x.com/StarcasticR
Discord: https://discord.gg/c8xrGM4s4T
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starcasticr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starcasticr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarcasticR