Saunas, reindeer and hockey: Stars and Panthers enjoy their time in Finland before 2-game series

The first time Florida coach Paul Maurice went to Finland, he didn’t know a whole lot about the country’s intense love of hockey.

He learned. Quickly.

“I think one of the real benefits, kind of side benefits for the NHL coaches and players coming over is you get a full appreciation that the game actually isn’t owned by Canada and the United States,” Maurice said. “When you grow up and you don’t leave, that’s what you think, right? ‘Nobody loves the game more than we do.’ You get over here, and they love the game every bit as much as we do. It’s a nation of people that love the game.”

Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million people, is the homeland for about 5% of the players in the NHL this season. Divide the number of NHL players into a country’s population, and Finland sends about as many players to the league per capita as Canada and Sweden do — and at a rate way, way ahead of the U.S. and Russia.

And on Friday and Saturday, the gorgeous Nordic country gets to celebrate seven of those players — four from Florida, three from Dallas — when the Stars and Stanley Cup champion Panthers play a pair of games in Tampere.

“I've been excited for this,” Panthers captain and Tampere native Aleksander Barkov said, “for a very long time.”

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger feels that extra-special vibe when he plays in his native Minnesota. For the Finns in these games -- Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell for the Stars; Barkov, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola and Anton Lundell for the Panthers – he knows it will be different.

“It’s like Christmas Day for them,” Oettinger said. “I know how special it is when I get to play in Minnesota, and for these guys it’s even more special because they’ve never done this before. It’s pretty cool for them.”

The NHL has played 19 previous games in Finland — nine regular season, 10 preseason. It’s a marathon trip for these teams, a nine-hour flight from Dallas for the Stars and a 7 ½ hour flight from Buffalo (where Florida last played) for the Panthers.

Nobody is complaining. The teams clearly are enjoying this opportunity.

Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito once played in Finland, and had a long list of places he wanted to see again this week. He was asked what he hopes the non-Finnish players get from the trip.

“An appreciation for how wonderful Finland is,” Zito said. “Just everything about it. You just smile. It’s a great place.”

The Panthers and Stars have soaked up (literally, in some cases) much of the culture that Finland has to offer. The country is very proud of its saunas, which Stars coach Peter DeBoer joked offered some a chance to sweat out the Finnish beer that was consumed in the first night or two of the trip.

Some players have jumped into the sea, an ultimate cold plunge of sorts. Maurice said he will try to consume all the smoked fish that he can find, Zito said he intends to buy all the chocolate he can get. The Panthers got their fill of salmon soup — something Lundell had been bragging about for weeks — and there’s one other delicacy that got enjoyed as well.

That would be reindeer.

“I’m just hoping it wasn’t Rudolph,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said.

Added Stars forward Tyler Seguin: ““It scared me to start but tastes pretty good.”

The food has been a big part of the story in the early days of this trip. A Finnish newspaper had the headline “Suomen herkut maistuivat” — translated, “Finnish delicacies tasted great” — under a photo of Barkov giving teammate Matthew Tkachuk his first taste of Finland on the trip.

“One dessert that Barky is going to have to explain; he said it was like a cake he had in school,” Tkachuk said. “That was a good one.”

Another bonus for the Finnish fans: They got two pretty good teams out of this deal. The Panthers are off to a 7-3-1 start and the Stars are 7-2-0 and many picked both to advance the Stanley Cup Final next spring. Tickets were gone quickly, and the Finnish players on both sides will have tons of people that they know in the stands both Friday and Saturday.

“I’m actually very excited,” Tkachuk said. “I think I’m most excited for the Finns on the team. What a cool opportunity for them. … That’s first and foremost. Hockey is going to come second here.”