Miro Heiskanen is back with the Stars after birth of child, and that's all your going to get on that
The Stars top defender also discusses his chance to represent Finland in a best-on-best competition next season.
NEW YORK, NY — One of Miro Heiskanen’s only requests before we started our interview was to not ask about the birth of his first child this weekend.
Mom and baby are doing well, he said, but Heiskanen is a very private person and prefers to keep his private life, well, private.
In fact, if it wasn’t for him missing a game on Monday against the Boston Bruins for the birth of a child, no one from the outside world probably would have known his family was growing.
“The most important thing is family for me,” Heiskanen said. “And everyone is doing great.”
Heiskanen said he was able to watch the Stars game on TV against the Bruins on Monday after, a 4-3 shootout loss. He flew into New York from Dallas on Tuesday morning in time to partake in an optional morning skate at Madison Square Garden before playing the Rangers tonight.
And Heiskanen has gone through an interesting season by his standards.
After a 73-point season during the 2022-23 campaign, Heiskanen is playing at a 52-point pace this season. He’s taken a step back offensively, but feels he’s been better defensively this season.
Heiskanen also missed three weeks due to injury after colliding into his own goalie and net in a game on Jan. 4 against the Colorado Avalanche.
For Heiskanen that time away “wasn’t fun,” and it “sucked to sit at home laying on the couch watching the guys play.” Heiskanen also said he originally thought the injury was only going to keep him out for a week, maybe two.
During that time, even on days he was at the game, Heiskanen said he’d watch closely on TV.
“It was a chance for me to watch a little bit differently, look at how things fit, and think if there is something differently,” Heiskanen said. “It’s not the most fun thing, but I’d be watching during games while with the trainer and picked up on some things I could do when I got back.”
Heiskanen said he had a similar experience watching the game on Monday vs the Bruins. He specifically said he watched how Thomas Harley has grown and effectively made his life easier this season.
“He’s made huge steps in a couple years, especially his defensive side,” Heiskanen said. “I think the first time I saw him in (a training) camp, you could tell he’d be good player, real smart can move well, and was already good offensively. But I think his defensive has taken big steps and I think that’s why he’s been playing this well.”
Harley played a career-high 29 minutes, 13 seconds on Monday. Heiskanen, coming in fresh — well fresh from a hockey perspective — could play close to 30 minutes tonight with the rest of the defensive core playing it’s second game in less than 30 hours.
It’s the type of role Heiskanen relishes in Dallas, and he also looks forward to back in Finland next season.
Next season Heiskanen will have two opportunities to effectively represent his country at the top level.
The first will be with Dallas, in November, in a pair of NHL games against the Florida Panthers in Tampere.
“It’s gonna be awesome, I remember watching when Chicago and Florida played in Finland (in 2009), and I saw that and always hoped some day I could play an NHL game back home in Finland,” Heiskanen said. “It’s gonna be a lot of fun for sure, all my family and friends will actually be able to watch me. And I’m excited about being able to show all the non-Finnish guys here in Dallas about my home.”
After playing NHL games in Finland, Heiskanen will be the No. 1 defender for Finland at the Four Nation Face-off in February. It’ll be the first best-on-best international hockey tournament with NHLers since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“You know it’s a great test to see where we are going as a Finnish team and as a country in hockey,” Heiskanen said. “I like it, it’s a chance for our young group, we’ve got many young good guys in the NHL now, to really remind how Finland is one of the top hockey countries.”