© André Ringuette/NHLI

HELSINKI — To hear Esa Lindell tell it, there was no choice.

The Dallas Stars defenseman says he had to help Jokerit, a legendary hockey club in Finland that has fallen on hard times.

That’s not exactly true.

The club, based in Helsinki, has a laundry list of famous alumni and countless potential white knights who could have stepped in and tried to resurrect what is arguably the most famous of the Finnish hockey clubs.

Having a financial piece of Jokerit, the team for which he played almost all his junior and senior men’s hockey before joining the Stars organization for the start of the 2015-16 season, was a choice, one he did not ponder for long.

“It wasn’t always planned, but once they asked about it, I got excited very quickly,” Lindell said. “You always want to try to win and this a different way to win, and of course I wanted to help out the junior team and the team I grew up with when I was young. I thought it was an easy decision to get involved.”

Lindell is part of the ownership consortium, which also includes Chicago Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teravainen and retired NHL defenseman Ossi Vaananen, who had three stints with the senior team at Jokerit. Valtteri Filppula, who left the NHL in 2021, also has a piece of the team. The 40-year-old center is playing for the Finnish club this season.

“I’m trying to help the team I played for before I came to North America and hopefully do something exciting with the team,” Filppula said. “This club is a big part of us, and they do their best to help when the dream is to play in the NHL and they try to help you as much as possible.

“When you have a chance to give back and do something for the team, especially what the team has been going through for the last few years, I’m very happy to see other players are helping. It’s exciting to be a part of it.”

The excitement was obvious Tuesday, when Jokerit hosted Hokki in a Mestis game. Lindell, in town with the Stars to play in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal, dropped the ceremonial puck and also had a meet and greet with Jokerit fans.

Dallas plays the Florida Panthers at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Friday (2 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN) and Saturday (Noon ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1). On Tuesday, however, the fortunes of Jokerit were at the forefront of Lindell’s mind. Because of the seven-hour time difference, Lindell does not watch many games, but he checks the score when he wakes up after each game.

So, this was special. It showed from the moment Lindell walked into Helsinki Ice Hall.

The line for the meet and greet curled way down the corridor, fans clamoring to see Lindell, wearing Jokerit or Stars jerseys.

When he came out to drop the puck, the more than 4,000 fans rose up and cheered loudly. The hardiest fans, known as the Jokerit Fan Club or the Old Chiefs, sit behind one of the nets and wave banners and sing songs throughout the game. They were deafening when the puck dropped.

“It feels a bit surreal to be back as an alumni and now as a part-owner,” Lindell said. “This is actually the first time I have a chance to be back here at the arena and watch the team play. It felt very good to be back.”

Some of Lindell’s teammates attended the game and said they have rarely seen him so outwardly happy, that the pride he has was palpable.

“You give back to the communities that helped you get to where you were,” Dallas forward Colin Blackwell said. “That says a lot about him and his character and what this city and this team means to him.

“I didn’t want to miss this. He doesn’t get home too many times to see him hometown play, so this is really special.”

Jokerit was once a factory for developing NHL players. The current owners, along with retired NHL star Jari Kurri, are among those who have worn the iconic joker logo before making names for themselves in North America.

It is no longer the case.

Jokerit does not even play in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league. They are laboring in Mestis, the second tier of hockey, for the second season, an unthinkable place for a team that has won the league championship six times.

Jokerit left Liiga a decade ago in a controversial move to chase better competition in the Kontinental Hockey League. That experiment ended with their withdrawal from the Russian league during the 2021-22 season because of that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Returning from Russia, Jokerit did not have a place in Liiga anymore and had to start in the second division. It will have to win promotion to rejoin Liiga. Jokerit did not play in 2022-23 and joined Mestis last season, going 23-10-5 and finishing in third place. They were knocked out in the second round of the playoffs.

Now, there is hope that this will be the season it move up. And, if it is, Lindell will be a huge part of it.

“I don’t remember when [Lindell] played here, but I know he was here, now he is in Dallas,” said Onni Lind, a junior-aged forward that plays for the men’s team. His father, Juha, played in the NHL for three seasons after starting with Jokerit. “He’s given some money for the team, and that’s good for us.”

Sivire Manninan is from Helsinki and has been following the club for more than 20 seasons. Tuesday, during the game against Hokki, he was wearing a signed Lindell jersey from Jokerit as he wandered the corridors between periods.

“He’s very important to this club. I don’t think Jokerit would be what they are right now without him,” he said.