Nearly 70% of NHL players hail from North America (41.4% Canada, 28.4% US), and in attempts to expand NHL events to cater to fans and players outside of the continent, the NHL started hosting games overseas in 1997. Games have been played from Tokyo to Prague, most recently in Tampere, Finland, where the Avalanche took on the Columbus Bluejackets in back-to-back games at the sold-out Nokia Arena.
The last time the Avs competed across the pond was in 2017 when the Global Series was hosted in Stockholm, Sweden. The Avs fell in both of those games in Landeskog’s native land. The two games came immediately following the surprise trade of Matt Duchene to their overseas opponent, the Ottawa Senators.
This year, the Avs faced off against the struggling Bluejackets, who had lost three games in a row entering the games in Finland. The Avalanche were also coming off of a two-game losing streak. For Columbus, this game was a homecoming for winger Patrik Laine, a native of Tampere, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from Pori, Finland. For the Avs, Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen both grew up a couple of hours from Tampere. It was a match-up where both teams needed a win, with players wanting to win on their home ice.
But the Moose was loose. Rantanen came up with the big moment in Friday’s game by scoring an empty net goal for a hat trick and giving the Avs a 6-3 victory. It was the fourth hat trick of his career, and the crowd started singing his name. Even Rantanen was surprised by the crowd’s response because he said Finnish people are usually pretty shy.
The following day it was Lehkonen’s turn, who scored 33 seconds into the contest. The Bluejackets tied it at one, but Martin Kaut got his first goal of the season for the Avs to give the Avs the advantage. From there, the Avs scored two more goals to make it three tallies in three minutes and 28 seconds. This time when the Avs were up by three, they didn’t give away their lead but built on it for a commanding 5-1 win.
The Avalanche have had an erratic schedule to start the season, and by adding a ten-hour flight to the mix, who knew where the Avs would land in this series? It turns out it was with getting a winning record, where the Avs are now 6-4-1, with Georgiev adding two wins as well. Players like Compher, Toews, Kaut, and Makar (finally) all got their first goal of the year, and MacKinnon racked up seven points in two games. It was a well-rounded effort by the team, with all lines contributing; even MacDermid dropped his gloves against Mathieu Olivier.
The flight home certainly will be more jovial than their departure; maybe Rantanen will even lead the team in a few high knees in the aisle.
The Avalanche will have a few days off and then will be back at Ball Arena to take on the Nashville Predators for the first time since sweeping them in the playoffs. After that, the Avs will be back to a regular schedule and expect the boys to return to their usual dominating mojo.
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To close out the Global Series in Finland, here are a couple of interesting facts about the Scandanavian country:
Finland is the world’s happiest country
They drink the most coffee; eight cups a day is not unusual for a Finn
It is the most forested country in Europe at 74%
For a population of 5.3 million, Finland has around 2 million saunas, and the word “sauna” itself is Finnish.
The longest Finnish word is “epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkään” which translates to “even with its lack of systemization.”
It has the highest water-to-landmass ratio, with over 180,000 lakes
JRR Tolkien based his High Elvish language on Finnish
With all the forests, water, saunas, and coffee drinking, no wonder they are the happiest country.