The National Hockey League has made a conceited effort to expand the game throughout Europe under Gary Bettman, playing games overseas to get more eyes on the product. They've been pushing especially hard over the last five years, and next season's efforts will include the Carolina Hurricanes heading abroad for the first time in a long time.
The league announced on Monday morning that the Hurricanes will take their talents to Helsinki, Finland, in November, playing a pair of contests against the Seattle Kraken. The first game will be played on Thursday, November 12, with the second game coming that Saturday. Thursday's contest will drop at 7 pm local time, or 12 pm on the East Coast, and Saturday will be at 8 pm (1 pm EST).
This is the second time that the Hurricanes have played internationally in the regular season. In 2010, the Canes opened their season against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki during the Premiere Series. The Canes won on consecutive days, 4-3 and 2-1 in a shootout, to sweep the Wild. The 2010-11 team featured a trio of Finns in Jussi Jokinen, Joni Pitkanen, and Tuomo Ruutu.
Between the Hurricanes and the Kraken, their rosters currently feature five Finns. Seattle has three in Eeli Tolvanen, Jani Nyman, and Kaapo Kakko, while the Hurricanes have Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho, who is certain to be the biggest draw of the group. He recently surpassed 700 points in his NHL career and won Olympic bronze for Finland with Tolvanen and Kakko in Milan last month.
The tilts in Finland are one of two sets of Global Series games scheduled to be played next season. The league will also play a pair of games in Germany in December when the Ottawa Senators face the Chicago Blackhawks. It's the second time the league has played a regular season contest in Germany, last doing so in 2024.
I'll always be a fan of trying to get more eyes on the NHL, and if the Canes get to be a part of it, that's even cooler. Going beyond the games, it has to be cool for the Finns involved, playing a game that will count at home again, or adopted home, in Seth Jarvis's case. There is sure to be a ton of buzz surrounding the game in the coming months as more information is released.