Rantanen and Lehkonen's Guide to Finland

Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen shared their top tips and recommendations about visiting their home country of Finland.

MUST DOS:

Lehkonen:You've got to go to a wooden sauna, that's number one. There's tons of them in Finland. Most of the saunas you've got [in the U.S.] are electric. Ours are with fire and it's a totally different experience.
Most people do it everyday. They go to work, come home and take a sauna. You can go to ones where you jump in the ocean, it's my favorite thing to do. There's nothing like it.
Rantanen:Go to a sauna. You have to. It's completely different than what you have [in the U.S.] I'd say that's the top thing. It's as Finnish as it gets.
Lehkonen:You have to try reindeer. We eat reindeer. You can eat it with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.
The chicken wings are a Tampere thing. That's all they talk about there, but it's not really traditional Finnish food.
The best is Finnish chocolate. You have to try the milk chocolate, it's the best. It's better than Swiss or anything else. It's not even close. There's not really a specific brand, but it's all good. For sure the best in the world.
Rantanen: Reindeer is a big one. There's not a lot of traditional Finnish food I'd say, but the chicken wings are big in Tampere. Juusi says they're the best in the world, he could tell you more about that. He's from there.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

Lehkonen:Never compare a Finn to a Swede. That won't get you anywhere. Finns hate that.
Rantanen:I'm not sure if there's anything not to do, you could learn "Hei mitä kuuluu" to say, "Hey, how are you" or "kittos" for "thank you." Might be helpful to know. Other than that, maybe just that the weather is going to be different from [Colorado], so be ready. Just not a lot of sun. It is what it is so just go with it. We told the guys before we left to just enjoy the sunlight.
Lehkonen:It won't be too cold, maybe like 0 degrees [celsius]. It can be tough. Now, it gets dark in Finland. There's not a lot of sunlight. Just don't expect to see the sun more than like three hours if we're lucky. You get used to it.

ON PLAYING AN NHL GAME IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY:

Lehkonen: It's obviously special. To have all your family and friends and get to play an NHL game in your home country is cool. Not everyone gets to do that. It'll be fun to show the guys around Finland too. We'll of course take them to a sauna. They're already asking me all kinds of questions. Lots are about the weather. It won't even be that bad, but just don't expect to see much sun.
Rantanen:It's probably once in a lifetime situation to play NHL games in Finland. Maybe once in your career you get to play in Finland. Now, to be able to do it in Finland is even more special. I had lots of tickets [to get for family and friends] in Sweden. It's just a boat trip over or a 30-minute flight basically. I'm really excited [to play in Finland].