Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will get to show off his hometown to his teammates next season when Florida plays the Dallas Stars in Tampere, Finland.
The NHL announced Tuesday that the Panthers will be making a third trip across the Atlantic as a part of the NHL’s Global Series with games on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 at Nokia Arena in Barkov’s hometown. Dallas forward Roope Hintz is also from Tampere, and both played for SM-liiga teams there, Barkov with Tappara Tampere and Hintz with Ilves Tampere.
The Panthers previously played in Helsinki in 2009 against the Chicago Blackhawks and again in 2018 against the Winnipeg Jets. Florida forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and defenseman Niko Mikkola are also from Finland, and Tobias Bjornfot, Oliver Ekman-Larsson Gustav Forsling and Kevin Stenlund all hail from nearby Sweden.
The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils will start the 2024-25 regular season with games in Prague, Czech Republic at O2 Arena on Oct. 4-5 as part of the 11th season of NHL games in Europe.