The Dallas Stars made several announcements over the past week regarding players who will attend the Winter Olympics. Thomas Harley was the first announced to go to Italy to represent Team Canada. This morning, it was announced that Jake Oettinger will suit up and cross the Delaware River to bring the gold medal home. Lastly, we can't forget our Finnish players on the team. It wouldn't be a Winter Olympics without the Stars flexing their Finnish muscles. Here's more on each mafia member representing the Stars at the Olympics.
Finnish Mafia Winter Olympics: Roope Hintz
You have to have the Ace of Spades on the Finnish national team. Hintz is deserving of representing his country next month in Italy. He was selected to represent the Four Nations Faceoff team for Finland last season. It will be interesting to see which line Hintz will be on when the Olympics get underway. Hintz is a great two-way center and will bring significant experience to the Finnish team. The Stars would be in a world of trouble if he got hurt over there.
Finnish Mafia Winter Olympics: Mikko Rantanen
The Stars will be sending their giant moose to represent Finland at the Olympics as well. Mikko Rantanen has been a godsend since arriving in Dallas last year at the trade deadline. His hat trick in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche extended their playoff run as they advanced to take on the Winnipeg Jets. I'm sure he will be on one of the top lines as his scoring plays a pivotal role to the success of the team. I'll be interested to see if Rantanen embarrasses someone during group play with a highlight-reel goal.
Finnish Mafia Winter Olympics: Miro Heiskanen
Dallas will be sending their top defender to Italy to join the Finnish national team. Heiskanen will bring a lot of experience to the blueline and could be paired with his current teammate, Esa Lindell. Miro has done so much for Finland in growing hockey. He deserves to represent the team at the Winter Olympics before being too old to suit up. If I were the one picking Team Finland for the Winter Olympics, the first defender I'd write down is Heiskanen. That's how good a player he is.
Finnish Mafia Winter Olympics: Esa Lindell
The only reason why Esa Lindell is on the Finnish team is his smile, jk lol. Lindell is another deserving player to represent the Dallas Stars at the Winter Olympics. He's so good on the penalty kill that Stars fans freaked out when he went to the penalty box last night in Chicago. Lindell will probably be paired with Heiskanen since they have played together for a while. I can't wait to see the Stars flex their Finnish muscle at the Olympics next month.