‘This is my home’: Panthers arrive in Finland for 2024 NHL Global series

The Florida Panthers’ early season trip to Finland is off and under way as the team is set to play two games against the Dallas Stars in captain Aleksander Barkov’s hometown of Tampere on Friday and Saturday. 

Before they hit ‘Barkov City’ for the 2024 NHL Global Series, the team took in Finnish capital Helsinki, with Anton Lundell leading the charge on tour guide duties.

“Oh boy, it’s been a little stressful to be honest,” Lundell said regarding the planning . ‘Barky’ told me, ‘You take care of Helsinki,’ and I was like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ But I’m happy to show my favorite places here to the guys and for them to try some Finnish traditional things is going to be awesome as well.”

Lundell is a native of Espoo, a Helsinki suburb that’s just west of the capital. The 23-year-old Panthers forward played for HIFK, a Helsinki-based team in Finland’s top division — Liiga. 

“It’s pretty weird (to be in Helsinki with the Panthers), but it’s awesome,” Lundell said on Tuesday. “When we arrived, just seeing the streets, this is my home. It’s awesome to be back here and to be able to bring my team to Finland and play some NHL games.”

Eetu Luostarinen, from Siilinjarvi, Finland says the last time his parents saw him play in Finland was about five years ago when he played in Liiga for Kalpa. Like the other Panthers FInns, he’ll have a good amount of supporters in his section.

“I’ve got a bunch of guys coming,” Luostarinen said. “Friends, my parents and some other family, so that’s going to be nice.”

Florida is a household name for hockey fans in Finland, boasting a league-high four Finnish players on the active roster. Assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu also hails from the Nordic nation. 

“It’s a special moment for all our Finns,” Ruutu said on Tuesday. “I was fortunate enough to play here once (2010, Carolina, under HC Paul Maurice), with a good result — two wins — so hopefully we can get another two wins this time.”

Kiiminki, Finland native, Niko Mikkola, said he’s excited to return to Tampere after playing one season for Tappara back in 2017.

“It’s going to be nice,” Mikkola said. “It’s a nice city, I liked it there… and it’s a new arena, I’ve never played there before.” 

Mikkola will be introducing his Panther teammates to Finnish cuisine and of course, hitting some saunas. He said Finnish wings and some fish will be part of the menu.

“There’s a lot of guys that haven’t been here or even in Europe so it’s cool to show them around and do traditional stuff,” said Siilinjarvi, Finland native Eetu Luostarinen. 

While Mikkola, Lundell and Luostarinen will all be playing an NHL game in their home nation for the first time, that’s not the same for Barkov, who was part of the Panthers team that played against a Paul Maurice coached Winnipeg Jets team in 2018. Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad is the only other Panther who was there with Florida in 2018.

When it comes to who holds the Finnish Global Series crown, Dmitry Kulikov takes the throne as this is his third NHL trip to Finland. Kulikov made his NHL debut in Helsinki back in 2009 when the Panthers took on the Blackhawks — with current Stars head coach Pete Deboer behind Florida’s bench. Kulikov was also there in 2018, as a member of Paul Maurice’s Jets. 

“This is my third trip to Finland, so not as much excitement as some of the guys that are going for the first time,” Kulikov said. “It’s nice to showcase the league in other countries. Finland has a good fan base. The two times I’ve played there the crowd’s been really good. It was fun to play.”

Speaking of Maurice, this will be the Panthers head coach’s third time in Finland. Before going to the Northern European country this week with Florida and in 2018 with Winnipeg, the 57-year-old first went in 2010 with Carolina. 

Despite all the travel to Finland, it still hasn’t been enough for the Sault Ste. Marie, ON. native to pick up the language.

“No. No. I should — from probably Niko Mikkola — I’m pretty sure he’s swearing at me when he comes to the bench,” Maurice said when asked if he understood Finnish. “It may not always be me but I’m pretty sure he’s swearing, nobody is really sure. But the other Finnish guys are laughing, so that’s the only thing I know. That’s as close as I can get to it.”

When Florida and Dallas take the ice on Friday evening at Nokia Arena in Tampere, it’ll be a special moment for all of the Finns involved, but all eyes will be zeroed in on the city’s most revered son, Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov. 

“In the end it’s a Barky city,” Mikkola said. “Probably he’s getting the most [out] of it.”

Before Florida’s franchise player was drafted second-overall in 2013, and way before he led the franchise to their first Stanley Cup, the now 29-year-old was a teenager playing for Tappara — one of Tampere’s two top-division  professional hockey teams. 

When the Panthers won the Stanley Cup in 2024, Barkov became the first Finnish-born captain to do so. Over the summer, he returned to his hometown as a champ, bringing the Cup to the city  and displaying it in front of thousands at a sold out Nokia Arena.

“It was a special and amazing moment for me,” Barkov said of his trip back home at Panthers media day. “ [I’m] forever thankful, grateful for that city, the city of Tampere, to be that kind and celebrate that big moment of my life.”

If Barkov’s day with the Cup was any indicator for what’s to come when the Panthers hit the ice in that same arena later this week, it will be a loud and very Panther friendly crowd in Tampere. 

“It’s amazing [to play again in Finland], especially in my hometown,” Barkov said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. All my friends are there. It’s going to be fun to play in front of them.”