Sam Reinhart Sports Gold Helmet, Enjoying Finnish Traditions
Sam Reinhart has been getting the full Finnish experience from his teammates during their Global Series trip — and he got a shiny new piece of headwear out of it on Thursday.
Photo via NHL (Twitter)
When Sam Reinhart got to his locker for the Florida Panthers’ first practice in Finland, he saw a new piece of equipment by his locker.
There laid a shiny, chrome gold helmet.
“It seems like there are a couple leagues where this is a tradition,” Reinhart said. “It was in the stall, so I thought I’d give it a go for a couple drills.”
In Finland’s Liiga, the leading scorer of a team dons the golden bucket throughout the following season, and Reinhart earned that honor after leading the Panthers with 57 goals and 94 points last season.
It was one of many Finnish traditions that Reinhart got to enjoy alongside his teammates during their trip to Finland for the NHL’s Global Series.
On Wednesday, the Panthers took a tour through Helsinki, jetting off on a boat to an island full of saunas and cold plunges, in part to help them prepare for a two-game set against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1 and 2 in captain Aleksander Barkov’s hometown of Tampere.
Barkov has a lot planned for his teammates on Thursday night when he gets to show off his hometown to his teammates.
“We’ve been spoiled by the Finns the last couple days,” Sam Reinhart said. “It’s been pretty fun.
“Saunas hit a little different here, it’s been nice seeing photos of Barky littered around the room, so it’s been a nice experience.”
Reinhart, a Vancouver native, has grown up doing cold plunges and hanging out by the ocean, but he has not quite tried doing it at this time of the year.
Let’s just say it was a different experience doing so when the high temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It hits a little different here, that’s for sure,” Reinhart said. “I can’t think of too many times in the winter or this time of year where I would’ve been in the ocean in Vancouver, but it was pretty refreshing yesterday.”
But Reinhart’s favorite part of the trip is sensing the excitement of his teammates throughout the trip.
The Panthers have four Finns on their roster — Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola — and they all have been looking forward to having the opportunity to show their teammates their hometowns and play in front of their families.
“We spent a lot of time together the past couple days,” Reinhart said. “It’s been cool to see how excited they are and how happy and proud they are to show off their childhood experiences and their separate home cities, so it’s going to be fun exploring them again tonight.”
BEST READS FROM FINLAND
Covering something like this from home just is not the same from being there live. And I understand that I cannot do this thing justice from what I’m writing, so every day, I will link a few stories at the bottom of my articles from people who were there so you can get the coverage you deserve. (The Pucks and Palms travel budget just could not cover this trip. My sincerest apologies.)
Panthers GM Zito calls playing, living in Finland 'greatest experience ever' (Tom Gulitti, NHL.com)
Panthers to experience Finland with help from player tour guides (Tom Gulitti, NHL.com)
