Global Series blog: Josh Manson

Josh Manson is writing a blog for NHL.com while the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche are in Finland this week for the 2022 NHL Global Series. The Avalanche play the Columbus Blue Jackets in an NHL regular-season game at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Friday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, ALT, BSOH) and Saturday.
Today, in his third installment, the veteran defenseman writes about how he and his teammates have had a chance to embrace the culture and customs of Finland this week before preparing to take to the ice for the opener of this two-game set.

First off, it's easy to sum up the experience my teammates and I have had in this great country this week.
Simply put, it's been a blast.
Let's start with the sauna experience we had on Tuesday. It was amazing.
We're big sauna people. The Avalanche are exactly that back at home. When I first came to the team last year after being traded by the Anaheim Ducks, a lot of guys would have saunas after games.
Here there were three different saunas. And then you'd go right into the Baltic Sea. Maybe 42 degrees Fahrenheit. I think they said it was 8 degrees Celsius. And I have to say, I feel awesome. I love that personally. It was definitely a great experience for me.
I'll break down the three saunas. There was a smoke one. There was a normal one. And there was a private one. The normal one and the private one were pretty much the same. The smoke one? I'll be honest: I'm not sure what the benefit of the smoke was. Nonetheless, all three were great.
As for swimming in the sea, it was cold. Eight degrees is pretty chilly. When you dunk your head, well, it's a good hit.
The entire week has been awesome. We've had a number of team dinners and they've been great. We've had lots of experiences together. Wednesday was a mandatory day off so we toured around Helsinki to go to the mall, check out the shops, sit and have coffee, all that stuff.
What's great, too, are the cobblestone streets in Helsinki. It's a very European thing and it's such a cool place to be. So much fun.

After taking the train here from Helsinki, we had an open practice today and the kids were screaming every time (forwards) Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen touched the puck. I can't imagine how those guys are feeling right now, being back here and hearing the kids shout their names. Those two guys, and (forward) Patrik Laine of [the] Columbus [Blue Jackets] as well, those are the guys who come from this general area and are living the dream. And the kids can look at those guys and see that it's possible for them to make the NHL through those guys, that it's not an impossible dream that shouldn't be followed.
I just think it's such a cool experience for those players to receive such adulation here. I think it's a lot of fun and, for them, such a unique experience.
Having said all this, I don't think we'll have any issues focusing on these games. Once we start preparing for the Blue Jackets, it's easy to get back into hockey-first mode. Once you get to the rink and into the locker room, you don't really see everything else that's going on outside.
The one thing I hope to hear are different chants and crowd reactions, things that will make this even more unique experience for all of us. I've heard Laine is a rock star here because he's from the actual city of Tampere. Maybe that will give them a bit of an edge.
We'll find out when we step out on the ice on Friday.
I can't wait.