Lehtinen enjoys trip down memory lane with Stanley Cup

ESPOO, Finland - The Stanley Cup keeps on giving to Jere Lehtinen.

Lehtinen, who spent his entire 14-season NHL career with the Stars and was part of their 1999 Stanley Cup championship team, couldn't stop smiling when he took the Stanley Cup to Matinlahti Primary School on Friday.
It was like celebrating his championship again.
"I think it's just how hard it is to win," said Lehtinen, now the general manager of Finland's national men's team. "Every player knows that, what they go through. When you've won you know how tough it was. The guys who have won it many times, that's incredible. And there are so many great players who have not won it.
"That's why I'm smiling. All good memories, that year (we won)."

The Stanley Cup is in Finland as part of the 2018 NHL Global Series at Hartwall Arena this week. The Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers finish the two-game series Friday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3, FS-F, NHL.TV). Winnipeg won the first game 4-2 on Thursday, and native son Patrik Laine had a hat trick for the Jets.
Lehtinen had 514 points (243 goals, 271 assists) in 875 NHL games, and won the Selke Trophy three times (1998, 1999, 2003).
When he was a boy, he attended Matinlahti, so the visit to share the Cup and talk to the 530 students seemed like unfinished business for him.
"I feel like a flashback to 1999 because I wasn't able to do it at that time," Lehtinen said, discussing his day with the trophy 18 years ago. "I had thought about bringing the Cup to the school but it was summer and school was out. Coming back here to do this, lots of old memories."
When Lehtinen had his first day with the Cup in 1999, he took it to the Matinkyla Sports Center, home to the local ice rink, down the street.
"We lived close and everything was right here," he said. "I think that was a huge thing. Hockey rinks, soccer fields and the school, they were all just a couple of yards away. It helped a lot. You could do everything with your friends."
Lehtinen spoke to two assemblies at the school.
He was asked many questions, about hockey and about his childhood in the neighborhood.
Among the questions was a solicitation from a student for his opinion on which team will win the Stanley Cup this season.
"I told him I didn't know, but I think it would be a team with a Finnish player that was going to win," Lehtinen said. "That's what I'm rooting for and I want every year see a new Finn win the Stanley Cup."

Principal Kirsi Paukku said she was thrilled when she was asked Thursday if the school visit could be arranged on short notice.
"This is a very exciting day, and exciting for the adults too," Paukku said. "I was happy to see [the children] were very quiet and listened to Jere and what he had to say. And Jere had the right words, to go to school and to study hard, that it is very important. I am going to thank him for those words."