Hurricanes, Kraken to play pair of games in Finland in 2026-27
The Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken are heading overseas for two games in the 2026-27 NHL season, set to face off in competitive contests at the Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki on Nov. 12 and 14.
With the latest foray into Europe, announced by the NHL on Monday, the league will play at least 4 regular-season games there next season. The others include a pair of games between the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Dec. 18 and 19.
“I was always thinking that it would be fun to play there in Finland in front of all of my family and friends,” Seattle Kraken and 2026 Finnish Olympic team forward, Kappo Kakko, said in the Kraken’s team release. “Now, I’ll get to do that, so I’m real excited about it.”
Internationally, Finnish hockey has enjoyed a near-unparalleled level of success, winning gold at the NHL-less Beijing 2022 Olympics before beating Slovakia to capture a bronze medal at the recent Milan Cortina 2026 Games, featuring NHL players.
“If you look at it now, it’s already the most popular sport in the country,” Kakko said. “So, this will make it even bigger and bring attention to just how big and respected the game is over there. The fans will be tremendous, I’m sure.”
The Veikkaus Arena, with a capacity for 13,349 fans, is the home of Jokerit in the professional ranks. The team used to compete in the Russian-based KHL before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to its withdrawal from the league, and it went on to set up operations in the SM-Liiga, Finland’s top domestic division.
Playing games outside North America is far from new territory for the NHL, having done so since 1997, when the Anaheim Ducks faced the Vancouver Canucks in Nagano, Japan, ahead of the first Olympics featuring NHLers.
The two games in Finland will mark the NHL’s 50th foreign contest, with the league already at 48, including 22 games in the Global Series, a worldwide outreach initiative that began in 2017.
In addition to Kakko in Seattle, Carolina boasts Finnish stars Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, with those three likely to lead a heavy marketing effort.