VANTAA, Finland — Warmups are winding down at Trio Arena. Players have started to leave the ice, and the 3,700-seat venue has begun to fill up for a KHL preseason game between Jokerit and CSKA Moscow.



The ice hasn’t been laid at Hartwell Arena, Jokerit’s home in the heart of Helsinki, forcing this preseason game to be played out in the suburbs at the home of the KHL team’s minor-league affiliate. It’s a general admission ticket; I paid 22 Euro to get in and grabbed a seat about 15 rows from the ice, roughly even with Jokerit’s defensive blue line.



That’s when Esa Lindell walks in, accompanied by his girlfriend, Anna Virta, and parents, Liisa and Ari-Pekka. Lindell and I have a planned meeting the next day in downtown Helsinki; this was unexpected. Seats are filling up, so Lindell takes the one directly behind me.



We’ve both come to Vantaa for similar reasons. I’m on a week-long tour of Finland, trying to...