A patriotic Finn at Finnish Heritage Night at the Minnesota Wild game on Sunday, March 13th (Photo: Zeke Fuhrman)
(KDLM) – The following article is part one of a five-part series by Zeke Fuhrman. In March, he set out to learn more about Finnish culture in West Central Minnesota, the impact of Finnish immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and, through interviews with community business leaders, learns what life was like growing up Finn.
For the last month, I’ve been learning about Finnish heritage and the impact that Finnish-Americans have had in our region and in throughout the upper midwest. My great-grandfather, John Frederick Nissila, immigrated to the United States from Hauloto, Finland in April 1906 and worked as a farmer in Douglas County. My great-grandmother, Anna Koskinen, immigrated from Mikkell, Finland in 1924. The two were married in New York in 1929 before returning to Douglas County to farm in 1933.
Over the past month, I’ve had had conversations with area leaders and businesses about their Finnish heritage, including Ten Finns Creamery, Hendrickson Insurance Agency, Irene’s Favorite Things, the Salolampi Finnish Language Camp, and the Minnesota Wild.
My Finnish culture journey began at the Minnesota Wild game on Sunday, March 13th as the team held Finnish Heritage Night at the Xcel Energy Center. Hockey is the number one sport in Finland, with the recent Olympics drawing nearly 5.5 million viewers when the Finnish team competed in Beijing. 1.3% of the Finnish population is registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation, second only to the US.
When a Finnish superstar joins the NHL, a lot of their fans become fans of that team which is why the Wild are often referred to as the “Finnesota Wild”, especially during the late 2010s.
The Wild have had a strong Finnish presence throughout the last three decades, including players like Erik Haula, Mikael Grandlund, Niklas Backstrom, Antti Miettinen, Kaapo Kahkonen, Antti Laaksonen, and Teemu Pulkkinen.
But no Finnish star shone brighter than Mikko Koivu.
Koivu was drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2001 NHL Draft. The then-18-year-old Koivu would return to Finland to play for TPS of the SM-Liiga for three more seasons, then for the Wild affiliate Houston Aeros during the 2004-05 lockout.
“I remember stepping off the plane in Minnesota for the first time and thinking about how hot it was outside,” recalled Koivu. “It was the summer of 2004, and I had just flown in from Finland. I was headed to rookie camp at Breezy Point…not a bad way to get introduced to the state of Minnesota.”
He made his debut for the Wild on November 5th, 2006, then scored the first of 205 career NHL goals the next night. At the end of his fifteen-year career with the Wild, Koivu led the franchise in games played, points, assists, game-winning goals, and had helped lead the Wild to the playoffs nine times.
In conjunction with Finnish Heritage Night on March 13th, the Wild also retired Koivu’s number…the first player to have their number retired by the team since the NHL returned to Minnesota in 2000.
Number Nine heads to the rafters #CapFinn #MikkoKoivu pic.twitter.com/4dTeOJUvs4
— Zeke Fuhrman (@JustTheRadioGuy) March 13, 2022
To celebrate Koivu’s number retirement, the Minnesota Wild partnered with the Salolampi Finnish Language Village to donate a portion of the proceeds of a special Finnish Heritage ticket package to the Salolampi camp.
“We were really excited about this event,” said Senior Manager of Ticket Sales AJ Tomeny. “This is the first year that we did the heritage night. We selected Finland, not only because of our history with great Finnish athletes but also with our current roster, too. We had over 250 people purchase the special Finnish Heritage ticket package tonight to come to see Mikko and his number retirement ceremony, but those people also get a postgame photo op on the ice. Part of the donation element of this will go back to the Salolampi camp and Finnish scholarships here in the Twin Cities. Five dollars from every ticket sold from that ticket package will go to Salolampi.”
SAINT PAUL, MN – MARCH 13: Former Minnesota Wild player Mikko Koivu speaks at his jersey retirement ceremony prior to the game against the Nashville Predators at the Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2022 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
“We were honored to be a part of heritage night,” said John “Jussi” Hanson, President of Salolampi Foundation. “When the kids are playing hockey at the camp, they’re all pretending to be Mikko Koivu.”
Part Two of our five-part Finnish Heritage will feature the Salolampi Finnish Language Village near Bemidji with interviews from foundation president John “Jussi” Hanson and dean Amy “Iida” Tervola Hultberg.
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