Barkov enjoying 'amazing' homecoming ahead of Global Series in Finland

TAMPERE, Finland -- Aleksander Barkov looked at the players from Tappara's U12 team surrounding him at Nokia Arena on Thursday and thought back to when he played in the same youth program in Tampere.

"It's amazing," Barkov said. "I was one of these kids maybe 20 years ago."

Barkov is back in Tampere with the Florida Panthers to play the Dallas Stars in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal on Friday (2 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN) and Saturday (Noon ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1). He has been looking forward to these games in his hometown since they were announced in March, but it felt almost surreal to the 29-year-old center to be practicing at Nokia Arena on Thursday.

A crowd of 15,000 was in the building when Barkov brought the Stanley Cup there July 31 after he became the first Finnish-born captain to win it when the Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final. The arena will be packed again the next two days, in part, to see Barkov, one of the best hockey players Tampere has produced, play NHL games.

"To come here in the summer, celebrate with the city and having the Cup here was amazing and now bringing the teammates here to play two NHL games, it's really hard to describe how great it feels right now to be able to be here," Barkov said. "I was talking to (former NHL forward) Jussi Jokinen before the practice and he told me to try and enjoy these couple days and I'm like, 'I don't even know if I have enough time to enjoy it.'

"This is so nice I don't know if I can realize how special this is."

The Panthers have three other players from Finland -- center Anton Lundell (Espoo) and Eetu Luostarinen (Siilinjarvi), and defenseman Niko Mikkola (Kiiminki) -- but more of the spotlight will be on Barkov because he is from Tampere.

"I heard he's kind of like a god up here, especially since winning and being the first Finnish captain to hoist the Cup," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "So, it's going to be really cool to see over the next few days everything that comes with it and us being here. It's cool for him to show off his hometown. I know he's so proud of it."

It will be similar for Stars center Roope Hintz, who is from nearby Nokia, though teammates Miro Heiskanen (Espoo) and Esa Lindell (Vantaa) are also from Finland. Hintz played two seasons for Ilves (2013-15) and Barkov two seasons for Tappara (2011-13) in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland.

Both teams are based in Tampere and play at Nokia Arena. In fact, Dallas is dressing in Ilves' locker room and Florida in Tappara's during the NHL Global Series.

"They probably realized that I'm from [Tappara] and Roope Hintz is from other team," said Barkov, who became one of Tappara's co-owners in 2020. "So, probably they didn't want to mess that up and did it right. So, I'm thankful for that."

Barkov began playing in Tappara's youth program when he was 4 years old while his father, Aleksander Barkov Sr. was playing in Liiga for Tappara. The younger Barkov worked his way to Tappara's professional team in 2011 and had 48 points (21 goals, 27 assists) in 53 games with them in 2012-13 before being selected by Florida with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Now in his 12th season with the Panthers, Barkov is their all-timer leader in goals (267), assists (447) and points (714), won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward twice (2020-21, 2023-24) and captained them to their first championship last season.

This won't be his first time playing NHL games in his home country. Barkov and the Panthers played the Winnipeg Jets in Helsinki in the 2018 Global Series. He had one assist in the two games.

His teammates can see how much it means to him to come home to Tampere and to the city for him to be here.

"Especially getting off the train today, you see it," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. "You see the support he has here. He obviously has meant so much to this city."

As Panthers coach Paul Maurice has noted many times, however, Barkov never acts like a star.

"What's interesting is that if you spent some time with him, you would never assume that he is that popular – not by his personality, just by the way he carries himself," Maurice said. "He could walk into his old rink and work at the concession stand and everyone would think that's normal because that's 'Barky.' He's just that guy."

Barkov's humility showed again Thursday when some asked Tappara's U12 players to name their favorite player. Before they could answer, Barkov asked slyly, "Mikkola?"

The youth players' smiles showed the time Barkov spent talking with them and signing autographs was appreciated.

"Really excited to be here," their coach Miikki Hartman said of his players. "This is a great, great day for us."

Barkov hasn't forgotten what it was like to be in those youth players' position. He wanted to make sure they went home with a lifetime memory along with the photos he signed.

"For me, it was very special when I saw guys like that or even my dad when he played," Barkov said. "I was looking up to him a lot and his teammates and I got to spend in the locker room and watching his games. So, it was special for me, and I hope now I can give something back and make it special for them."