Her great grandparents are Swedish so they both appreciated a chance to explore some of her family’s heritage.
As for Finland, Steve Hagan said neither of them realized how many islands the country has.
“You’re surrounded by water,” he said. “They’ve got more boats here than in Seattle, I think.”
They both said some natural camaraderie has developed within the group, which is different from the other STM they ordinarily hang out with.
“None of them could make it,” he said. “They’re jealous that we’re here.”
Right before the reception, the Kraken fans sat mostly together at consecutive open practices for both teams attended by thousands of fans – many of them youngsters getting their first glimpse of NHL players up close. Kraken players high-fived the youngsters leaning across their dressing room tunnel entrance to the rink.
“During the practice you’re kind of dialed-in to what you’re doing,” Kraken alternate captain Matty Beniers said. “And then after, it’s a lot of fun. You see everyone cheering and how excited you are that you’re there and wanting sticks and pucks.
“You just remember what it was like when you saw guys in the NHL when you were a kid. And how much you looked up to them and that (shift in) focus from practice to trying to make someone’s day, that’s kind of the focus at the end and it’s fun.”
And the chance to make someone’s day didn’t end with the kids as Beniers afterwards joined teammates such as Berkly Catton, Jordan Eberle, Mackie Samoskevich, Brandon Montour, Adam Larsson and others in rubbing elbows with older fans at the Victory Travel event. Kraken radio play-by-play commentator Everett Fitzhugh, working the games here for the Kraken Hockey Network, served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
Not far away from where Beniers was chatting up a small group of fans, Drew Shirk, a STM from Roslyn since the team’s inception, was discussing how much fun the week had been. Shirk agreed the side trips were a huge highlight, especially going by ferry to the Estonian city of Tallinn and getting to compare its former Soviet Union era buildings with more modern ones and then the medieval 13th century Old Town as well.
But the hockey part itself was something he also found fascinating, taking in the differences between hockey played in a Nordic nation versus what he’s used to.
“There’s less advertising and less marketing over here about the series to some degree but I think the (Finnish) fans are still very serious about it,” he said. “They’re kind of hardcore, so I think that’s interesting. They love their Finnish players and I hope the moment they got with (Carolina forward) Sebastian Aho the other (Thursday) night was the last of it.”
Aho wound up scoring twice as the Hurricanes beat the Kraken 4-1 in the opener of the two-game series.
Shirk, whose grandmother came from Finland, said he and his fellow Kraken fans have really bonded during the trip.
“It's been really great seeing all these fans who are coming from Seattle in such a long way,” he said. “That's been really exciting because they're so passionate about the team and they just love the Kraken and I think that's really awesome.”
They’d gone to Thursday’s game eager to erupt and finally got the chance when Freddy Gaudreau scored the lone Kraken goal with under seven minutes to go.
“We were waiting for the team to score because we all wanted to yell and all wanted to go, ‘Let's-go-Kra-ken!’,” Shirk said. “And so we got to do that, and everybody was really into it.”
So much so that they were willing to overlook the final score to savor an international hockey experience they may never get to see again. Until Saturday, that is, when they hope to release their Kraken lungs a lot more early and often.
