Joel Kiviranta will go down in Stars history as “that dude” from game seven against the Colorado Avalance in the Stanley Cup run of 2020 that sent the Dallas Stars to the Western Conference Finals. Kiviranta, a relatively unknown Finnish forward, netted his first career NHL hat trick with his third goal serving as the dagger in the hearts of Av’s fans ending their season. A dumbfounded Nathan MacKinnon sat, baffled, on the bench as Kiviranta celebrated with his Stars teammates in jubilation. Fast forward to today, now the one holding the dagger is having flashes of success with the team he so brutally sent packing in the bubble and Stars fans are shouting from the rooftops about how they miss Kiviranta.
I get it. I truly do. As hockey fans, we have every right to miss players who are traded away or signed elsewhere in the offseason. I am guilty of it. Antoine Roussel and Steve Ott are prime candidates in my heartbreak-departing category. (Mike Modano as well, but that was ridiculous and we all know it.) That being said, allow me to sit on the other side of the seesaw, I don’t miss Joel Kiviranta. Not even a little bit.
Now before you come for my head, say I am not a Stars fan, or yell at me for having an opinion. Allow me to explain. While Kivi may have been a delight off the ice and part of the “Finnish Mafia” as it stood, he didn’t produce and quite frankly was not good enough to remain as part of the Dallas Stars organization. Hockey is a tough business and you connect with players on a different level more than ever thanks to social media, even if the league itself has absolutely no idea how to market its own players whatsoever. Also, have you seen the NHL app? Woof, but Kiviranta not being good enough to be on the Dallas Stars is a GOOD thing, and here is why.
As it stands the Dallas Stars head into Saturday night’s tilt with the aforementioned Kivi Avalanche with a record of 11-3-1, good enough to sit atop the Central Division with a three-point lead over the Avs and a goal differential of 13 early in the latest NHL season. Now if we take a look at Kivi’s NHL stats he has played….two games. Albeit he has made the best of his opportunity with three points behind one goal and two assists, he has played two games at the NHL level this season while spending the majority of his season with the AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles. This is why I don’t miss Kiviranta.
Kivi is a character and a loveable dude, but the Dallas Stars have cemented themselves as a team to beat not only in their division but in the entire league. Yes, we could easily go down a rabbit hole of why Suter needs to be shipped out but I don’t think any of us want to focus on the negative for this Stars team right now. Ride the wave of positivity. Kivi will remain a fond memory for Stars fans for decades to come, and I will always be grateful that Joel brought a glimpse of joy in a time when so many felt down and out thanks to the circumstances of the world but the Dallas Stars are for real and Jim Nill saw the potential in the next generation to not feel the need to keep Kiviranta around.
While you may hate me for saying I don’t miss Joel Kiviranta, I know you share my excitement for names like Matt Duchene in the now and Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque, and Lian Bicshel in the near future. So, miss Kiviranta all you like and I will respect you for it, but it feels damn good to be a Stars fan right now and for that, I don’t miss anyone no longer with the franchise at this moment. This Dallas team is good, and just getting started.
Leave a Reply