Florida Panthers Global Series Trip Was All About Aleksander Barkov
Aleksander Barkov was the star of the show as the Florida Panthers took two wins at the NHL’s Global Series in his hometown of Tampere, Finland.
Aleksander Barkov is more than just the colloquially named “NHL’s most underrated player” in Tampere, Finland.
It was apparent when he and the Florida Panthers arrived for a two-game set against the Dallas Stars — one they swept with two regulation wins.
Even with Stars standout Roope Hintz coming from nearby Nokia, Finland and playing with Ilves Tampere prior to making the NHL, and even with many other Finnish players and legends on display, it was apparent that nobody meant more to that city than Barkov does.
“I’ve heard he’s kind of like a god up here,” Matthew Tkachuk said prior to the start of the weekend. “Especially since winning and becoming the first Finnish captain to hoist the Cup, so it’s going to be really cool to see all that comes with him and us being here.”
When you add in all of those accolades, plus his stellar career with Tampere’s Tappara (the club whose stadium the Panthers played those two games in and the one he now co-owns) and his utter two-way dominance, it makes sense.
Barkov embodies the two-way play that Finnish players are brought up with when they go through the country’s hockey system — one which the Panthers have seen multiple other success stories from in Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell.
The crowd made it clear that Barkov is king in that town, giving him the loudest ovation when his name is announced, and even late in Game 2 of the doubleheader, booing the referees for even daring to call a penalty against him.
Barkov watched the Panthers when they made the trip to Finland for a preseason game in 2009, and after two trips with the team in 2018 and 2024, he is now the guy the kids of Finland are looking up to when they watched these games in the stands.
“I’m really look to have been able to see both sides of it,” Barkov said. “I was one of those kids a long time ago in ‘09, and right now, I’m playing in front of them. I was asking for sticks or anything and now they’re asking for sticks from me, so I was lucky to be able see both sides and enjoy it.”
In the states, he is often forgotten about or even ridiculed by clueless fans for not putting up the numbers his peers like Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, but over there, his name means so much more.
“It’s pretty cool,” Reinhart said. “Especially getting off the train today, you see the support he has here. Obviously, he meant so much to this city growing up and still to this day. You see that support. Even overseas, we see it from people traveling to see him, so it’s a pretty cool experience to go through it with him and see how excited he is.”
Barkov rewarded those fans handsomely with a one-goal, four-assist performance in the two-game set, and it was a weekend nobody in Finland will ever forget.