HELSINKI -- The Florida Panthers will be on Aleksander Barkov's turf when they play the Dallas Stars in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal at Nokia Arena in his hometown of Tampere on Friday (2 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN), and Saturday (Noon ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1).
With the Panthers (7-3-1) spending two days in Helsinki after arriving in Finland on Tuesday, however, Barkov deputized Anton Lundell to act as event organizer for the reigning Stanley Cup champions while they're in the city the 23-year-old center considers his second home.
"Oh boy, it's been a little stressful, to be honest," Lundell said Tuesday. 'Barky' told me, 'You take care of Helsinki,' and I was like, 'All right, let's do it.' But I'm happy to show my favorite places here to the guys, and for them to try some Finnish traditional things is going to be awesome as well."
Lundell is from the Helsinki suburb of Espoo, played for HIFK, a Helsinki-based team in Finland's Liiga, the top professional league in the country, and has lived in Helsinki during the offseason. He grew up watching his father Jan Lundell play goalie for HIFK before taking over as the team's goalie coach, and his younger brother Kasper currently plays for HIFK.
So Barkov thinks Lundell was the right pick to handle tour guide duties in Helsinki before he takes over after the Panthers arrive in Tampere on Thursday.
"We'll see," Barkov said. "He's from here and I think he's doing a really good job so far."
Sometimes called "Little Barkov" because of similarities in his playing style to the Panthers captain, Lundell is used to filling in for Barkov. When Barkov missed eight games with a lower-body injury before returning with a goal and assist in a 5-2 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, Lundell took his spot as the Panthers first-line center. Lundell thrived in the temporary assignment, getting 10 points (five goals, five assists) to help Florida go 5-2-1 in Barkov's absence.
There's a different kind of pressure that comes with taking the lead on organizing team activities and showing off your home country to teammates – some of whom have never been to Finland previously. The Panthers have four players from Finland, including Lundell, Barkov, forward Eetu Luostarinen and defenseman Niko Mikkola, along with assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu.
Lundell sounded confident, though, that he's put together a full schedule of activities for the Panthers to enjoy on their day off Wednesday.
"I don't want to reveal my secrets, yet," he said. "But we'll have the guys try some different saunas, try some different Finnish foods, show them around town a little bit. But I think it's going to be awesome. … There's a lot to do. Just walking around the downtown is pretty cool.
"As the weather looks now, we're pretty lucky with the weather. It's a little sunny. Sometimes you don't see the sun here, so we better enjoy that."
Luostarinen, who is from Siilinjarvi, said he knows some of what Lundell has planned and believes it has the potential to be a fun day.
"Well, he knows this area much better than us," Luostarinen said. "I think he's done a really good job. I heard the schedule, and we'll see how it is in reality."
After doing a brief workout to loosen up after their seven-and-a-half-hour flight from Buffalo to Helsinki, the Panthers had the late afternoon and evening to themselves Tuesday to begin to experience the city. Barkov took forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is American, to sample some Finnish foods at Vanha Kauppahalli (translated Old Market Hall).
"I liked the fish, the salmon," Tkachuk said. "It seems like a lot of traditional dishes here are the salmon with the rye bread, so we had a few of those that I liked. And then the one dessert that 'Barky' is going to have to explain. He said it was like a cake he had in school. That was a good one."
The cake was a Runebergin torttu or Runeberg cake (named after late Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg), which is a Finnish torte flavored with almonds or rum and topped with raspberry jam and a white icing rim.
"I had them all when I was a child, so it's been a while," Barkov said. "… It was good."
There will be more foods to sample and traditional Finnish activities in the coming days.
"Sauna, sea, lake," Barkov said. "The food here is really good. I miss that a lot when I'm in America, so I'm sure all the guys will love the food, for sure, and then obviously, being in a real sauna, which we have here, and jump in the real lake or sea is also amazing."
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was in Helsinki twice previously, coaching the Winnipeg Jets against the Panthers in the 2018 NHL Global Series and the Carolina Hurricanes against the Minnesota Wild the 2010 NHL Premiere Series, and knows how invaluable these experiences can be for a team. He wants his players to enjoy what Finland, and their Finnish teammates, have to offer before they get down to business with practice Thursday and the games against the Stars on Friday and Saturday.
"All the Finnish are under a tremendous amount of pressure right now to show Finland off and I want all our guys to take it all in," Maurice said. "These are incredible trips because we spend a lot of time on the plane together. The players get to do things they never get to do. It's a completely different environment. I think they're fantastic for our players. They're great for the game, for sure, but on a selfish point, you love getting your players together and we've got five of them.
"So, five Finns are going to show us Finland in two or three days and then we're going to drop the puck and get after it."
