Thoughts on Tampere: Stars’ week in Finland offers unique perspective

As writers, we like to draw pictures with words, using metaphors to get our point across or simply make a subject easier to understand.

That’s why a season can often be seen as a “journey,” because you can imagine yourself riding in the back of the Family Truckster or having to share a hotel bed on vacation with your siblings. It evokes memories and lets you understand a little better what the athlete is navigating.

If there is a signpost in the adventure that is the 2024-25 Stars season, it definitely reads “Tampere.”

The guess is we are going to be looking back on this week for the remainder of the hockey campaign, and the flashbacks and lessons will be compartmentalized in a couple of ways. On one hand, we will have the sauna and the long drink and reindeer, the bonding moments that allow the human beings to learn and grow and meld together like a fine Finnish stew. On the other hand, we have the two games and the frustration that came from them. That might be the lasting tutorial that guides this Boeing 780 the rest of the way.

“It’s a good lesson for us this weekend, playing that team and seeing what you have to do to win,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of losing twice to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. “Those are the details that decide games come playoff time. They were better in those areas. It’s a great lesson for our group.”

Sporting events take preparation, including “fuel,” strategy, body maintenance and mental acuity. There is also an army of experts working on the finely tuned bodies of these athletes like Teemu Selänne’s crew worked on his race cars. And all of that is important.

I remember looking down during preseason and watching some lineup of unknown reserves from Minnesota or St. Louis and thinking to myself, “These guys are good.” Because of technology and drive and just better humans, the parts of our sports machines are much improved. They can all skate, many are very large, they can all shoot. When you think about the science that goes into making sticks and skates, and even helmets that are safer and more comfortable and visors that allow better sight, it’s no wonder the range of raw talent has been so finely balanced.

I mean vacuums are better today, cars are better today, TVs are better today. Why wouldn’t athletes be better?

And that means the difference between teams is slim. When you look at the standings through October, you see that the vision you had hasn’t worked out on the ice. The Jets are on a roll, the Avalanche are not. The Blues might not have to rebuild as much as we thought. The Sharks might have further to go than we thought.

So, the details clearly matter.

That was never more obvious than in the games against Florida at Nokia Arena. The Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions and have been to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. They have a great system and some high-end players. And they seem like they can roll out of bed and play a great brand of hockey

They kind of had to this week, as they played in Buffalo on Monday, flew to Finland and adjusted well to the challenges. The Stars played on Saturday, flew in early, did everything they could to be well-prepared for Friday’s game and then...fell flat.

It’s difficult to pinpoint why. They are relatively healthy, they have a large group of players in their prime, and they had all the motivation in the world to excel for their three Finnish counterparts: Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell. That trio comprises three-fifths of the team’s “Letter Leadership,” with each wearing an “A.” They are not fringe players, so you would think that would carry a lot of motivational weight in the dressing room.

And yet Dallas gave up a goal in the first minute on Friday and was generally outbattled in the first period.

Ironically, the team has been pretty decent at starting on time, and the goaltending has fixed a lot of problems, but that game does open the door for the discussion of what went wrong. Coach Pete DeBoer said he warned the players. The players themselves said they were aware of the unique challenge of not playing for a week. So, what happened?

Part of that could be travel circumstances. Part of that could be the styles of the two opponents. Part of that could simply be that Florida is truly that good.

But that performance certainly deserves introspection. This group under DeBoer and his coaching staff has often out-prepared the opposition. They have been on top of scouting, they have been great on details, they have a strong hockey sense. So then a look into moments like these can be helpful.

The Stars were much better in the second game, but then it became an example of Florida taking a lot of body punches and still coming up with a big swing when it counted most. Dallas had the edge in most of the numbers, but it just couldn’t finish some fantastic scoring chances. Spencer Knight is a capable backup, but the likes of Hintz, Heiskanen, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston should have been able to solve him.

DeBoer said one of the key elements in the mini-series was that the top end talent for Florida was better.

“These games are usually decided by goaltending and whose best players are at their best,” DeBoer said. “I thought this weekend Florida’s best players were better than our top-end players. But it’s early in the season and we all have to be better.”

The Stars are an intriguing mix. While Robertson has the potential to be a 100-point guy, most of the scorers on this team do not. But they all have skill, and they can overwhelm opponents with the fact that every line can score a huge goal. Right now, Matt Duchene is leading the second line and they have been dynamic almost every night. But the top line is still looking for its mojo after Joe Pavelski retired, and Hintz has to be a catalyst there. The third line drive, right now, falls to Johnston. He’s just 21, but he has matured so beautifully and was their best player in the playoffs last season, so the expectation gets dialed up for him as well.

Johnston has played well with Jamie Benn in the past, but he and Robertson should be able to create together. Hintz, meanwhile, should get a boost from playing beside the relentless energy of Logan Stankoven. Benn and Tyler Seguin have shown they can still score goals. Mason Marchment and Evgenii Dadonov offer offense in their own ways.

“We have to be able to use our depth, that’s our advantage,” DeBoer said. “We don’t have Connor McDavid or two or three of that type of player. Our strength is in our depth, and we have to use that.”

Dallas set a franchise record with eight 20-goal scorers last season. They need more of that this year.

And they need it at crucial times.

When you look back at the playoffs, Duchene dried up for long stretches. Hintz had his slumps. Heiskanen was too quiet at times.

When you look at the start of this season, Robertson and Johnston are playing catchup after preseason injuries and Heiskanen needs to find a way to be more dynamic. It’s a problem they have dealt with before, so the inner sanctum is certainly aware.

But just like it was in the two games against Florida, they confronted the issue, they were a much better team, and they still lost. When you look at the final standings, five wins means a lot. You can be in first or be a wildcard on the strength of five wins, so consistency is a huge asset for your organization.

The Stars have been masters of consistency, so they know how to do this. But if they need a reminder, all they have to do is look back to a couple of games in Tampere. A lot was revealed on this little business trip.

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.