Jokerit's new league means a new pre-match routine. The national anthems are played before every game, which usually means that the Russian national anthem rings out across the Helsinki Arena when Jokerit take to the ice in the KHL.
On the ice things have gone pretty well, with two wins and a defeat from their opening three games.
That leaves the Helsinki team in fourth spot in the western division of the league, but on Thursday the real tests begin: the road trip. The club is heading off to play four away games in six days, and their punishing itinerary takes them beyond the Ural mountains.
That kind of schedule is not only gruelling for the players, it's also a test for the fans. While more than 30,000 people watched the first three matches at home, the numbers following their idols on tour in distant Russian towns will indicate just how durable Finnish participation in the KHL really is.
The club’s switch brought protests from the fans, with one prominent newspaper columnist declaring he could no longer support the club. During the summer one supporter left flowers in memory of the club she said had died with the switch to Russia.
Jokerit's new part-owners--and owners of the Helsinki Arena, having bought it from Finnish businessman Harri Harkimo--Gennady Timchenko and Boris Rotenberg are also now subject to sanctions from the United States over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
That's an atypical background for Finnish sports club owners, and it remains to be seen how sustainable it is.