Esa Lindell has golden memories of World Juniors

Stars defenseman Esa Lindell was asked recently what he remembered about playing at the 2014 World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden. He smiled and looked at teammate John Klingberg.
"Oh, we beat Sweden in their home tournament," Lindell said. "That's the best memory."
Lindell, who is from Finland, and Klingberg, who is from Sweden, are teammates and defense partners right now in Dallas, but when it comes to rivalries, it doesn't get much better than Finland and Sweden. The two countries will square off again at the 2017 World Juniors on Dec. 29 in Montreal.
Klingberg can claim bragging rights in 2012. He and Stars defenseman Patrik Nemeth were part of Sweden's team that won a gold medal at the World Juniors in Canada, beating Finland in the semifinal and then Russia in overtime in the championship game.
But at the 2014 World Junior Championship in Sweden, it was advantage Finland. And Lindell played a big part at the Under-20 tournament. He registered five points (two goals, three assists) and a plus-six rating in seven games, and he played on both sides of special teams. He tied for second among defensemen in scoring at the tournament and tied for sixth among all players in plus/minus rating.
"It's a big opportunity, and you can see where you are going, how good you can be. It's a great tournament," Lindell said. "Got a lot of confidence after that. Felt so much better to play."

Most important, he took home a gold medal. At the time, it was just the third gold medal for the Finns at the World Juniors and their first since 1998. Among the players on that Finnish team were Dallas defense prospect Julius Honka, Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen and Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros.
"We had a great group of guys," Lindell said. "We beat the big countries like Canada; we won against Russia and Sweden."
But it was no cakewalk to the championship for the Finns. They went 2-1-1 in preliminary round play, beating Norway and Russia, but losing to Sweden in regulation and then to Switzerland in overtime. They finished second in their group and then met Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
A goal by Radek Faksa 14 minutes into the second period gave the Czechs a 3-1 lead, but the Finns scored the final four goals of the game to win 5-3 and advance to the semifinal.
"That win gave us a lot of confidence, and we just kept rolling," Lindell said. "In the early games we were down and we came back and won, so that gave us more and more confidence."
In the semifinals, Finland defeated Canada, 5-1, behind a three-point game from Teravainen and a 23-save effort from Saros. The Finns scored twice in just under two minutes early in the second period to take a 2-0 lead and never looked back.
"That was unbelievable," Lindell said. "Big win."
That set the stage for the championship game against the Swedes, who had won all six of their games at the tournament including over Slovakia in the quarterfinals and Russia in the semifinals. The Swedes also owned a 4-2 win over Finland in the preliminary round.
Lindell scored from the top of the left circle 28 seconds into the gold medal game to put Finland up 1-0. It was Lindell's second goal of the tournament. Both goals came against Sweden, and both came in the first minute of the game. In the championship game, Sweden overcame that early deficit and a 2-1 hole later in the game to force overtime, where Ristolainen won it by driving the net and beating Swedish goaltender Oscar Dansk five-hole with a backhand shot, giving the Finns their first gold medal at the tournament since 1998.
"It was the first one in 16 years," Lindell said, "so it was a big deal."
And as Lindell was quick to point out, the Finns weren't done at the World Juniors. They won the tournament again in 2016, this time in Helsinki.
"Twice in the last three years," he said, "so it's quite good."
But it's the 2014 tournament that will remain firmly etched in Lindell's memory, his strong performance and winning gold against arch-rival Sweden in Sweden.
"It was a lot of fun," Lindell said. "Great memories."
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.