Kraken Finns Bring The Heat In Cultural Glimpse

Kraken defenseman Ville Ottavainen grew up in northern Finland thinking everybody all over the world had a sauna in their home.

For him, a relaxing summer afternoon would be spent sweating things out in the sauna at the family cottage, then hopping into a cool lake nearby. Or, taking his daily in-home sauna in wintertime and then immediately diving into the snow for some “fun” extreme temperature change.

“You don’t even realize that not everybody in the world has it,” Ottavainen said. “It’s just like over here, everybody has a garbage disposal in their sink. In Finland, we don’t have those. But we have saunas in our homes. People even have them in their apartments.”

Finnish teammate Jani Nyman backed Ottavainen up on his claim when asked whether his family’s home also had a sauna growing up.

“Of course we did,” Nyman said, seemingly perplexed by the question. “Everybody in Finland has a sauna. It’s just something we like to do.”

They like it so much that Nyman and Ottavainen jumped at the chance last week to film a Kraken social media skit at Seattle Sauna, built on a converted 40-foot boat docked on Lake Union. The short skit, filmed along with Kraken forward Ben Meyers, was to help promote the team’s upcoming NHL Global Series trip to Finland, where they’ll play two games this week in Helsinki against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Sauna – Finnish for “bath” or “bathhouse” – is arguably the biggest of the country’s more notable cultural traits, with about 3.5 million of them in existence for a population of 5.6 million people. UNESCO recognizes the Finnish sauna tradition on its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list, while citizens view it as a cornerstone of daily life, health and social bonding.

Other hallmarks of Finnish culture include “Sisu” – a type of stoic resilience – and the “Jokamiehenoikeus” legal right to roam freely in the country’s vast wilderness while foraging for wild berries and mushrooms and camping across both public and private forests and lakes.

Not to mention, a very strong culture of summer “mokki” cottages where families retreat to lakeside cabins to fish, swim and disconnect from daily stress during brief summer months. And a vibrant coffee culture, where Finland leads the world in annual consumption at 26.4 pounds per person – much of that occurring during legally mandated workplace coffee breaks.

Most of these cultural traits are owed to the Nordic nation’s geography. With its northernmost parts inside the Arctic Circle – and claiming the North Pole and Santa Claus as its own – Finland is among the colder countries on Earth, though slightly warmer on average than Russia, Mongolia and Canada.

Saunas began in Finland an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 years ago as chambers where small pits were dug into the ground or sloped terrain. From there a fire would be built, then rocks put inside to heat up. After that, the rocks would be covered with a roof or animal skins and then water poured on top to create steam.

These chambers became essential for warmth during harsh winters in a country where average temperatures range from 25-32 degrees in northern Lapland and 41-45.5 in the southwest. They also played vital roles as clean, sterile spaces for bathing, healing, giving birth, and preparing the dead.

Finland is Europe’s most heavily forested country, with three quarters of its land covered by some type of wilderness. It has 188,000 lakes and the equivalent of 10 trees for every person on Earth, which partly explains the “Jokamiehenoikeus” culture of camping, picking berries, swimming, fishing or boating on whoever’s rural property you happen to be on. A few rules apply, such as the camping needing to be only temporary, with no campfires started without permission, or damage to the property itself.

But generally, it’s mutually understood that you leave the place as you found it.

Many prefer experiencing the wild in a cottage, with about 485,000 to 500,000 scattered across the country around nearby lakes and forests. About one-quarter of Finns own such a place or share family properties or rent them or visit friends owning them.

This all stems from a sacred cultural tradition of escaping city life and immersing in untouched nature.

Getting away from it all in summertime is considered essential for mental well-being given the country’s long, dark winters. The south of Finland can stay snow covered for up to four months annually, the north up to seven months. About half of Finland’s cottages are also now insulated and have electricity, heating and even high-speed Internet meaning they can be used year-round as winter “holiday” retreats.

And if inviting guests to a cottage, better have some coffee brewed. Offering the country’s staple light-roasted coffee to guests visiting the home or workplace is mandatory etiquette and most people pair the smooth, low-bitter brew with sweet buns, donuts and celebration cakes. Declining it is considered rude.

Most Finns brew their own coffee at home or around campfires rather than engaging in café culture. Again, the long winter months have plenty to do with the nation’s coffee affinity. The average Finn drinks four to five cups daily and workplace labor agreements often mandate two 15-minute daily coffee breaks.

You’d think this would make for a very open and social nation. While it is to a certain degree, it also takes time to build the loyalty and trust needed for true friendship.

Finns value personal space, quiet and sincerity over superficial small talk.

“The Finnish people are pretty reserved,” Ottavainen said. “There’s probably not going to be a lot of chit-chat with strangers.”

Or with Rudolph and his buddies when they aren’t pulling sleds for Santa up around the North Pole – known in Finland as the town of Rovaniemi – which is only about a 2 ½-hour drive from the city of Oulu where Ottavainen was raised. Reindeer meat is very popular in Finland, though their limited numbers make it a luxury food or specialty item rather than a daily staple.

“Sauteed reindeer, that’s unbelievable,” Ottavainen said.

More common foods are a Karellian Hot Pot slow-cooked meat stew known as “Karjalanpaisti” and widely considered a national dish of Finland. Also, a Karellian pie known as  “Karjalanpiirakka” made with a thin rye crust pastry traditionally filled with rice porridge and topped with egg butter.

And there’s the rich, comforting “Lohikeitto” creamy salmon soup as well, made with potatoes, carrots, leeks, and fresh dill.

But while waiting for their team to touch down in their homeland, which it did in Helsinki on Sunday, Ottavainen and Nyman had to content themselves with partaking in the filmed spa session on the banks of Lake Washington.

They asked Kraken production crew member Marcus Allen about the skit he and staffer Hannah Zeigler planned to shoot as they changed into bathing suits outside the sauna room.

“Are you going to tell us our lines beforehand?” Nyman asked.

Allen told him: “We’ll have you speak in Finnish about what you’re excited to do when you get back home.”

Minnesota native Meyers, whose mother is half-Finnish and who has twice visited the Nordic country, changed into full Kraken gear for a skit requiring him to sit next to the Finns as they took their saunas in swimsuits.

The sauna’s owner also had traditional, bell-shaped sauna “saunahattu” caps made for the players to use on camera with Kraken logos on them.

Setting up the shot took some work, since the video cameras can only withstand the full sauna heat for 10 minutes or fewer. The sauna’s temperature was kept on the cooler side right before shooting began and then was heated up for the players, who entered and quickly delivered their lines in just a couple of takes.

Meyers closed the skit off with a pre-arranged line from a Seinfeld TV episode involving a sauna and then the day wrapped seemingly as quickly as it had begun. With one notable exception.

As camera equipment was quickly dismantled from the fast-heating sauna room, the sauna’s manager reminded the two Finnish players still in their bathing suits that they were free to use the facilities for another two hours.

Beyond the sauna room itself, the boat also had two buckets filled with ice water for the post-sauna cooling off and then a second level outdoor deck with a view of Seattle’s skyline.

That was apparently all the Finns needed.

“We’re going to stay,” Nyman said.

And stay behind they did, getting a headstart on the culture they’ll hope to show their Kraken teammates this coming week.