Global Series Finland blog: Hurricanes’ Kotkaniemi on open practice, seeing family 

The Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes have taken a break from their North American portion of the NHL schedule to play at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki for the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland. The Carolina Hurricanes won the first game 4-1 on Thursday, the second game is Saturday (1 p.m. ET; HHN, Prime Video, CARNHL, KONG, KING, NHLN, SN1).

Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi will keep a blog with NHL.com throughout the Global Series, giving fans a taste of what life is like on the ground as they go through the experience in Finland. Kotkaniemi’s third entry focuses on the victory Thursday, which was a Finnish showcase with teammate Sebastian Aho scoring twice and defenseman Juuso Valimaki also scoring. The Hurricanes took part in an open practice on Friday and Kotkaniemi also did meet-and-greet sessions with some children from a nearby hockey program.

Last night was great. Just seeing a lot of familiar faces in the stands. It's kind of fun, you know, you kind of recognize who's Finnish and who's not in the stands. So, it was fun experience after a little while of being away from home.

I think it was a good game for us, too. It was kind of a nice touch that Sebastian and Jusso each scored. That was awesome to get the Finnish guys on the board. Now, I need to get one. I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything. 

I was a little bit nervous going into the game last night, but it was more a funky feeling from a bunch of things: the time change, having family around, showing the boys around our home in a way.  It was a weird feeling, but I think when the game started, it kind of went back to normal pretty quick.

I had my family here, probably like 15-20 people. It was just the kind of closest family, like grandparents and my parents and brother. We got together quickly after the game. It was good catching up. They were waiting in the stands and they were happy about the game. They said it was fun to watch that one. They don't get to see me play live very often. They come over once or twice a year, see a couple games, but it's pretty special for them to see a game like this. 

The open practice today was cool. It was great to have all those kids in the building. They were really into it. The whole thing reminded me of when I was young, doing the same things. It's funny. They're passionate about hockey, that's their thing and they are pumped to see all the players. That was a lot of fun.

Afterward, me and Sebastian met some young players from local club HIFK as part of the NHL Players’ Association’s Goals and Dreams program. We did something similar this summer in my hometown. I did that one with Joel Armia of the Los Angeles Kings. It is cool to give something back to the kids and to see the kids smile. It always put you in a good mood as well. The little things can help everyone. 

Now, that we are done here, I’m going to see the family quickly for lunch and have a coffee with them. Maybe take some guys out for dinner from the team later and get some rest and get ready for the game. 

We only have another day here. You start to get the feeling like you need to fit a lot of stuff in a short time. I feel like there's still so much to do and show for the guys, but, you know, even a little while being here, it's just been great.