The first leg of the 2024 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland went quite well for the Florida Panthers.
Despite suiting up as the visiting team, Florida felt right at home at Nokia Arena, taking an early lead and never falling behind en route to a 6-4 victory over the Dallas Stars.
It was a great night for the Panthers, but especially for their four Finnish players, all of whom were in the spotlight as they played in their native country.
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Naturally, the evening meant something unique and special for each of them.
For Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov, playing an NHL game in the same area where he grew up had to be different.
Let’s get to Friday’s Finnish hockey takeaways:
BIG NIGHT FOR BARKOV
The Panthers have four Finnish players on their roster, and all of them were in the spotlight during the visit to the NHL Global Series in Florida.
Yet Bakov has been one of the most popular hockey players in Finland for over ten years.
That’s why concerns about Barkov’s lower-body injury, which kept him out of action for three weeks, caught the attention of far more than just South Florida hockey fans.
Fortunately for everyone, Barkov recovered and returned to the Florida lineup prior to their trip across the pond to Finland.
Now that he’s back home and feeling physically fine, it’s no surprise that Barkov put on a show on Friday.
He finished with a goal and three assists, one of which was short, while winning eight of the 11 faceoffs he took and posting a plus-3 on-ice rating.
“We’re happy for him, but I think maybe we saw that game from him and we see him a lot, that’s why he’s a star in our league,” Maurice said. “It’s so nice to see the people who have been part of his development, and not just his hockey development, but the teachers in town. I asked him if he lived around here, and he said, “About a mile,” and both schools he went to (so did), so his life is here, it’s in this area. So there are a lot of proud Finns tonight, from his third grade teacher to his pee-wee hockey coach and all the people who had a part of his development. It seems right because he’s a special guy, and he’s a special person for our team, so everyone is cheering for him.”
FUN GAME TO WATCH
As for the game itself, there was a lot going on on the ice to get the fans going.
High chances went both ways and the goals came fast and furious.
Not exactly the kind of game that would make either coach particularly happy, but better for Maurice because he came out on the winning side.
Still, don’t be surprised if you see a tighter, more play-off-like game on Saturday.
“So ten goals,” Maurice began. “Neither coach is particularly happy about that, but there were probably ten more that didn’t finish. The Dallas Stars are an incredible skill team. I think they are the most experienced team in the league. So they own the puck, they are never out of the game, in fact they become more dangerous as the game goes on. We take charge, then they become more dangerous, because their risk profile changes only slightly. They still respect the game and therefore compete for the cup every year. It was a lot, they had a lot of good opportunities to score, so it wasn’t a boring hockey game. A lot of things happened on both sides. Pete (DeBoer) and I are going to try to bore you to death tomorrow, if we can.
BIG CROWD OF SMART HOCKEY FANS
One thing that was clear to both the players on the ice and the coaches behind the bench was that they were in the presence of some genuinely wise hockey fans.
When Maurice was asked to assess the crowd after the match, he had some heartfelt words of respect for the Finnish faithful.
“In markets where the game has been around for a hundred years, they make oohs and aahs at the right time,” Maurice explains. “When there’s a play that’s really close, yet subtle, or someone is doing something special with the puck, you hear them notice it. I would call it a sophisticated audience. The people who came tonight have seen a lot of hockey, they know beforehand when something is going to happen (it happens), they could feel it building, the game developing, and there is excitement. So I definitely think they know the game.
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