Masters of the craft: Stars equipment staff navigating busy week in Finland with poise

The irony is rich for Dennis Soetaert and the Dallas Stars equipment staff.

During the busiest week of the season, they get a day off on Wednesday.

“First one of the year,” Soetaert said of the fact he and his crew moved the organization’s skates, sticks, sweaters and accoutrement from Helsinki, Finland to Tampere, Finland on Tuesday ahead of the team taking the train ride on Wednesday. “It falls in the right place.”

Called the hardest working group in the organization, the equipment staff has an endless list of tasks to perform each day. While the team travels from town to town, it needs an incredible amount of infrastructure to perform its job. In addition to the basics, there is medical equipment for the trainers, video equipment for the coaches, and trunks of “extras” that help the organization function.

“They’re there to turn on the lights in the morning and they’re there to turn them off at night,” said Jason Rademan, the Stars director of team services.

In a normal week, that means getting things from the practice rink in Frisco to the American Airlines Center for a home game and then getting it all to the team’s charter plane and to whatever road stop is next. Last week, it was Frisco on Monday, Buffalo on Tuesday, Boston on Wednesday and Thursday, and back to Dallas on Friday and Saturday. This week, it’s a little more complicated.

Because the Stars are participating in the Global Series in Finland, everything had to be shipped to Helsinki on Sunday and set up for practice on Monday and Tuesday. Then, the whole operation had to be trucked to Tampere for practice Thursday and games Friday and Saturday. Then, everything has to be prepared for the flight back to Texas on Sunday, and the routine continues for the next eight months or so.

“It’s incredible what they do,” said Stars captain Jamie Benn. “It seems like the guys don’t really sleep.”

The moves this week are different, said Soetaert, who is in his 19th season with the team. There are challenges that come with international travel and the additional responsibilities of working with the NHL on a big event. For these two games, the team has to bring full home and road uniforms, and an extra set of sweaters for the players to keep. The jerseys are all unique to this event and have additional patches and branding that had to be sewn on.

“It was more planning than anything,” said Soetaert, who was elevated to head trainer last season after the retirement of Steve Sumner. “We have a guy who does all the sewing and it was a matter of having everything organized and finding out what the roster was, and then just making sure everything is taken care of.”

While all of that work is incredibly detailed and intensive, GM Jim Nill said the equipment staff makes it look easy.

“They’re so good at what they do that I don’t think this is that difficult,” Nill said. “They have been through customs going to Canada, they have been on week-long trips with more stops than this, so I think this is kind of routine for them. That says a lot about what they do.”

Rademan has to move the people in the organization and knows all about the extra work to get overseas. There were special concerns about lithium batteries in the belly of the plane or simply making sure the Finnish authorities were happy with how the Stars did their jobs. The equipment guys had to get clearance to unload at the airport and drive the trucks in and out of the facility.

“There’s a lot of new restrictions,” Rademan said. “They’re very strict on taking inventory, there’s different procedures, it’s a lot of little things and they need to be on top of all of it.”

That’s just one of the strengths of the equipment staff that includes Nick Lazor, Andrew Stegehuis and Trevor Heinzerling. In addition to all of those details, they also are a huge part of the human element of the dressing room. When Brenden Morrow was inducted into the Stars Hall of Fame recently, he talked about being able to wind down after a game by sharing a beer with the equipment staff when everyone else had gone.

“We’re a big family and they’re at the rink longer than anyone else,” said Benn. “So if you want to just hang out and talk, they’re always going to be there. There are some great times there, lots of jokes, lots of conversations, nothing in particular, but it’s just great to talk.”

Benn said he wears a lot of skates and has to have them heated up and fitted, so he also gets time in the skate room with the equipment guys. Other players might have specific needs for blade sharpening, what sticks they get or just how the equipment fits. It’s the kind of things that can really make a difference when a player gets on the ice.

“Honestly, everything you don’t see that allows us to do our jobs, they do it,” Benn said. “Some guys are pretty particular and they make them feel comfortable.”

On this trip, the Stars are also including the Dallas Stars Ice Girls and their team mascot, Victor E. Green, and that means extra equipment like flags and the mascot costume. And, just like that, everything will appear in Tampere for the two games.

“When we land and go to the hotel and we’re tired, they’re going to the rink to set up and have it ready in the morning,” Rademan said of a typical game. “It really is impressive.”

Soetaert, whose dad Doug was a goalie in the NHL and a general manager in the AHL, grew up in Kansas City and has been around the game his whole life, yet this is his first trip overseas.

“I’m excited for some in the traveling party that have never been,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said before the team left Texas. “Our trainer Dennis Soetaert has never been to Europe, and he has spent a lifetime in hockey. We have a handful of people like that that are going to experience that for the first time, so I’m excited for them.”

And that makes an off day like Wednesday extra special and very well deserved.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.