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Carolina Hurricanes: A Case for a Global Series in Finland

By Austin Isham

HELSINKI, FINLAND - OCTOBER 30: A practice puck sits on the ice during the Winnipeg Jets practice for the 2018 NHL Global Series against the Florida Panthers at Hartwall Areena on October 30, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
HELSINKI, FINLAND - OCTOBER 30: A practice puck sits on the ice during the Winnipeg Jets practice for the 2018 NHL Global Series against the Florida Panthers at Hartwall Areena on October 30, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The NHL has committed to playing regular season games in Europe annually in the Global Series. With all of the elite Finnish talent on the Carolina Hurricanes, they should get the chance play in Finland again in the 2020-2021 season.

Way Back in 2010 when Brent Burns was a member of the Minnesota Wild and Jeff Skinner was a rookie, the Carolina Hurricanes opened up their season in Helsinki, Finland. With Finnish stars like Tuomo Ruutu, Jussi Jokinen, and Joni Pitkanen on the roster the two teams played a two game series. Jumping ahead almost a decade, the Hurricanes should get a chance to return to Finland in 2020-21.

Every year the NHL is looking for new ways to grow the league, with the Global Series playing a large part since its introduction back in 2007. Under its original name, NHL Premiere, the Anaheim Ducks faced off against the Los Angeles Kings in London, England September 29th 2007, marking the first NHL regular season game played in Europe.

Since then the NHL has played games in Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, etc. Typically durning these events the NHL team’s chosen have star players native to the host country. Last year Patrik Laine, of the Winnipeg Jets, and Aleksander Barkov, of the Florida Panthers, highlighted the event.

Looking ahead, the Hurricanes roster is loaded with Finnish Talent. With players like Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teräväinen, Erik Haula, and Saku Maenalanen being established NHLers who have played for Finland’s national teams, on one level or another,  they will certainly be able to draw in fans if the Hurricanes were apart of the 2020 Global Series in Finland.

Tom Dundon has already made it know publicly that the Carolina Hurricanes want to be included in more league events. Although they are looking into a potential Stadium Series game in Raleigh, the Global Series could be another option for the club. Any event of this magnitude will help increase their national and global attention, further putting the Hurricanes and Raleigh back on the hockey map.

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What opposing team(s) do you want to see the Hurricanes face off against if they were in a Global Series?

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