The 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal will feature two teams with the strongest Finnish representation in the NHL over the past six seasons as the Dallas Stars and reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers head to Tampere, Finland, for a back-to-back set at Nokia Arena. The two-game event will bring the NHL’s total count for regular-season games played outside North America to 46 and come four months after Florida’s Aleksander Barkov (Tampere, Finland) became the first Finnish player to captain a Stanley Cup-winning team.
Resources:
* Games Outside North America
* Standings for Games Played Outside North America
SUOMI REPRESENTATION IS STRONG FOR STARS AND PANTHERS
These will be the 10th and 11th NHL regular-season games played in Finland, the second most of any country outside North America behind Sweden (17). Tampere will host its third and fourth such contests to tie Tokyo (4) for the fourth most of any city outside North America. Nokia Arena will have hosted all four games in Tampere.
* Every NHL game in Tampere will have featured the reigning Stanley Cup champions as the Panthers get set to join the Avalanche (2-0-0 in 2022 Global Series) on that list. The only other reigning Cup winners to play outside North America are the Ducks (1-1-0 in London in 2007 Premiere Series).
* Two years ago, the Avalanche defeated the Blue Jackets in both contests at Nokia Arena as part of the 2022 Global Series. Mikko Rantanen (Nousiainen, Finland) tallied 3-1—4 in the first game and assisted on the opening goal the next day – scored by Artturi Lehkonen (Piikkio, Finland) – to finish the two-game set with five points. Despite Rantanen’s performance in his home country, one player left Finland with more points than him during that trip: teammate Nathan MacKinnon, now the reigning Hart Memorial Trophy winner, collected 0-7—7 including four assists in the opener. Rantanen’s hat trick tied the benchmark for most goals in a game played outside North America, MacKinnon’s four assists set a new high, and their four-point performances fell one shy of the record held by Theo Fleury (3-2—5 on Oct. 10, 1998).
* A total of seven Finnish national players could play in the two-game set as the Panthers roster includes a League-high four and the Stars have three (tied for second in the NHL; more on each of them below).
* Overall, both franchises rank among the top three in NHL history in terms of Finnish nationals who have skated for the club: The Stars/North Stars top all clubs with 31 (25 skaters and six goaltenders) and the Panthers rank third with 24 (21 skaters and three goaltenders). The Stars/North Stars franchise also tops the list for Finnish skaters (tied w/ EDM) and ranks second in terms of goaltenders, behind the Sharks who have had seven.
* Through Oct. 24, 2024, a total of 39 players have skated for both franchises, including three Finnish players: Niklas Hagman (263 GP w/ FLA, 248 GP w/ DAL), Jussi Jokinen (237 GP w/ FLA, 224 GP w/ DAL) and Antti Niemi (90 GP w/ DAL, 2 GP w/ FLA). That list also includes Hall of Famers Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk, current Stars Mason Marchment, Evgenii Dadonov and Alexander Petrovic, as well as the first captain in Panthers history, Brian Skrudland.
* The highest end-of-season representation rate for Finland is 5.9%, achieved in 2020-21 when 60 of 1,011 NHL players were Finnish nationals. The most Finnish nationals to play in one NHL regular season is 63 in 2021-22 (of 1,123 total players; 5.6%). Finland’s presence in the NHL has been 5.0% or higher in five of the past six seasons, one of five countries that came make that claim.
* Of the 8,597 total players in NHL history, 264 are Finnish nationals (223 skaters & 41 goaltenders) who have appeared in an NHL game (regular season or playoffs). That includes 38 players (31 skaters & 7 goaltenders) this season (5.2% of the NHL through games played Oct. 23).
FINNISH FOCUS: ALEKSANDER BARKOV
While this is likely to be the second time Aleksander Barkov plays NHL games in his home country (also 2018 Global Series in Helsinki), it would be the first NHL games he plays in his hometown of Tampere.
* Barkov made a name for himself on the international stage at the 2012 World Junior Championship when, at age 16, he became the second-youngest player to score a goal at the event behind Sidney Crosby. Barkov then averaged more than a point per game a year later at the event (3-4—7 in 6 GP), part of 2012-13 campaign in which he tallied 48 points for his hometown team Tappara – the highest single-season total in Liiga history by a 17-year-old. The Panthers then selected Barkov with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, behind only Nathan MacKinnon (the only player from that draft class who currently has more goals, assists or points than Barkov).
* Barkov (18 years, 31 days) made his NHL debut on Oct. 3, 2013 at American Airlines Center in Dallas and became the youngest player since 1943-44 to score his first career goal (beating Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen to achieve the feat). He remains the youngest player to score in the past 80 years and the youngest European to score in NHL history. Barkov ranked fifth in Panthers scoring ahead of his participation in the 2014 Olympics – where he secured a bronze medal – but was injured at the event and missed the balance of the 2013-14 campaign (8-16—24 in 54 GP).
* After becoming the youngest player ever to skate for the Panthers in 2013-14, Barkov is now the longest serving player in franchise history. Much of the time, Barkov garnered nods as the most underrated player in the League – a moniker he has since replaced with a bevy of achievements. In addition to becoming the League’s first Finnish Cup-winning captain last June, Barkov became the first player in Panthers history to win three NHL Awards (two Frank J. Selke Trophy wins and one Lady Byng Memorial Trophy) to build upon a list of accomplishments that already included franchise records for goals, assists and points, as well as being the longest-serving captain in Panthers history.
* Barkov is one of 31 players with Tampere listed as his birth city who have played in the NHL (27 skaters & 4 goaltenders). Barkov (739 GP through Oct. 23) is one of four players from that group with at least 500 regular-season games played, alongside Teppo Numminen (1,372 GP), Jyrki Lumme (985 GP) and Risto Siltanen (562 GP).
* A total of 36 players have recorded a point in a regular-season NHL game played in their home country, including 11 in Finland and four who have scored a goal in their listed hometown.
FINNISH FOCUS: MIRO HEISKANEN
The highest-scoring Finnish defenseman since 2018-19 will get a chance to play an NHL game in his home country for the first time as Miro Heiskanen (Espoo) leads the Stars into their first-ever regular-season venture overseas.
* Heiskanen hails from the same hometown as Stars legend Jere Lehtinen, a Stanley Cup champion and three-time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner who spent his entire career with the franchise and is one of six players whose number has been retired by the club. Espoo is also home to four-time Olympic goalie Noora Raty. ICYMI: The Stars visited Finland with Heiskanen ahead of the 2023-24 season.
* Heiskanen was introduced to the NHL in 2017 when the Stars made him the No. 3 pick in the NHL Draft, matching the highest a Finnish defenseman has ever been selected. He was the first of six Finnish-born players selected in Round 1 that year – an NHL record. Playing as an 18-year-old the following season, Heiskanen was named the best defenseman in Liiga for 2017-18 (the youngest ever to win the award) and represented Finland at the World Junior Championship, Olympics and World Championship – just the eighth player in history to skate in all three events during the same season (via the IIHF).
* Heiskanen scored his first NHL goal Oct. 25, 2018, in his ninth NHL game. At age 19 years, 99 days, he was the youngest defenseman in Stars team history to score a goal and remains the fourth-youngest Finnish defenseman at the time of his first tally, behind Ville Heinola (18 years, 220 days on Oct. 8, 2019), Rasmus Ristolainen (18 years, 363 days on Oct. 25, 2013) and Olli Maatta (19 years, 58 days on Oct. 19, 2013).
* After scoring 12 goals as a rookie in 2018-19 – tops among Stars defensemen that season (just ahead of fellow Finn Esa Lindell) and the most by a rookie defenseman in Stars team history – Heiskanen supplanted himself among the NHL’s elite blueliners during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He led all Dallas skaters in points during its run to the 2020 Final (6-20—26 in 20 GP), posting the highest postseason point total by a defenseman since Brian Leetch in 1994 (it remains the sixth-highest count by a blueliner in playoff history) and the highest by any Finnish skater since 1988.
* Now in his seventh NHL season, Heiskanen (53-206—259 in 433 GP) has accumulated the second-most points among Finnish defensemen at age 25 or younger – with the entire 2024-25 campaign to catch Reijo Ruotsalainen (98-217—315 in 386 GP).He now ranks seventh in franchise history for scoring by defensemen and fifth among Stars blueliners since 1993-94 when the club began play in Texas (within reach of passing Derian Hatcher on the team list during the club’s trip to Finland). Heiskanen already is the franchise leader in playoff goals by a defenseman and ranks second in both assists and points among that cohort.
FACTS ABOUT FINNS: A CLOSER LOOK AT OTHERS SET TO PLAY IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY
A quick fact about the other Finnish players expected to skate in their home country during the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal:
* Anton Lundell (Espoo): One of 12 active Finnish nationals who has recorded 100+ points at age 23 or younger. His 73 career assists (through Oct. 23) are the most among current Finnish players who have yet to celebrate their 24th birthday.
* Eetu Luostarinen (Siilinjarvi): One of four Finnish-born players on the Panthers’ Stanley Cup-winning roster last June, which was the most ever by a Cup champion.
* Niko Mikkola (Kiiminki): Part of Finland’s gold-medal winning entry at the 2016 World Junior Championship, held in Helsinki. The roster was loaded with current NHL stars including Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Patrik Laine and Stars forward Roope Hintz.
* Roope Hintz (Nokia): One of eight Finnish nationals in NHL history to record at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons (with a chance to make that four straight in 2024-25). The others: Jari Kurri (10), Teemu Selanne (6), Mikko Rantanen (4; active streak), Petri Skriko (4), Sebastian Aho (3; active streak), Patrik Laine (3) and Olli Jokinen (3).
* Esa Lindell (Vantaa): Ranks among the top three for goals (2nd), assists (3rd), points (3rd) and time on ice per game (3rd) by Finnish defensemen since his first full NHL season in 2016-17 – teammate Miro Heiskanen is the only player ahead of him on all four of those lists. The second game of the Global Series is slated to be the 700th of Lindell’s career (including playoffs).
THIS AND THAT: OTHER FACTS AHEAD OF THE 2024 GLOBAL SERIES FINALE IN FINLAND
* Five players on the Panthers and Stars have already been named to rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February: Aleksander Barkov, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell make up half the announced players for Finland, while Gustav Forsling (Sweden) and Matthew Tkachuk (United States) also have been named.
* Tyler Seguin (DAL) is one of 35 players to make his NHL debut in a regular-season game played outside North America, doing so with the Bruins on Oct. 9, 2010, in Prague – a contest that also saw Oliver Ekman-Larsson (a Stanley Cup champion in 2024 with Florida) make his League debut (with the Coyotes). Seguin also became the third player to score his first NHL goal overseas – a list that has since grown to five, including Seamus Casey (NJD) earlier this season.
* The Stars have four players with experience in NHL regular-season games played outside North America: Matt Duchene (1-1—2 in 4 GP), Evgenii Dadonov (2-1—3 in 2 GP), Tyler Seguin (1-0—1 in 2 GP) and Alexander Petrovic (2 GP).
* The Panthers have eight players with experience in NHL regular-season games played outside North America: Evan Rodrigues (0-2—2 in 3 GP), Dmitry Kulikov (3 GP), Sam Reinhart (3-1—4 in 2 GP), Aleksander Barkov (0-1—1 in 2 GP), Zac Dalpe (0-1—1 in 2 GP), Aaron Ekblad (2 GP), Jonah Gadjovich (2 GP), and Jaycob Megna (1 GP).
* None of the goaltenders on the Stars or Panthers have played an NHL regular-season game outside North America.
* Sam Reinhart (3-1—4 in 2 GP) has scored three goals in NHL regular-season games played outside North America, tied with 10 others for the second most all time behind Finnish forward Patrik Laine (5-1—6 in 4 GP). Reinhart could become the 15th player with at least five career NHL points recorded outside North America.
* Florida will play its fifth and sixth regular-season games outside North America, which will match the most among all clubs. All six will have been played in Finland, the most by an NHL team in that country and tied with Ottawa (6 GP in Sweden) for the most in any country outside North America.
* The Panthers also have played three preseason games outside North America – two in Finland (against Tappara Tampere and Jokerit Helsinki in September 2009) and one in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Sep 23, 2006).
* Dallas will contest regular-season games outside North America for the first time in franchise history. The club previously had two global tours while known as the Minnesota North Stars, both for preseason action – a venture to Sweden in September 1980, followed 10 years later by a trip to Russia and Kiev in September 1990.
* Nineteen different Finnish-born players have won the Stanley Cup, including multi-time winners Esa Tikkanen (5x), Jari Kurri (5x), Reijo Ruotsalainen (2x) and Olli Maatta (2x).
* Not only will this be a “home game” for players on both sides, but it will also be a clash of recent titans as the Panthers and Stars have each played in each of the past two Conference Finals and combined for appearances in three of the past five Stanley Cup Final series.
