Aho meets kids from hometown ahead of Global Series final for Hurricanes

HELSINKI -- Drives to the hockey rink are a staple for kids throughout Finland.

Rarely though are they 10 hours.

But none of the 12 kids from the under-10 team Karpat club team based in Oulu were complaining Saturday, the day after their half-day trek.  

Because the payoff wasn’t a rec game in their municipal rink. It was the opportunity to meet Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes at Veikkaus Arena, home of the 2026 NHL Global Series game between the Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken later Saturday (1 p.m. ET; HHN, Prime Video, CARNHL, KONG, KING, NHLN, SN1).  

Aho, who grew up in Oulu before charting a highlight-filled career in the NHL, joined the kids, who were selected through a random draw, after the Hurricanes held an optional morning skate.

“(The kids) were asking some tricky questions and just having fun,” Aho said. “The parents had some nice questions where you are trying to send the message of just have fun and work hard and just love the game and everything else will take care of itself.”

It was an important and valuable message, said Jyri Junnila, a coach in the program.

"They were definitely nervous, as this was such a big event for them,” Junnila said. “The kids were a bit shy at first, but they eventually loosened up and even asked some questions.”

The message resonates more strongly because it is the path that Aho followed in his journey to the NHL.

Aho, who scored two goals in a 4-1 victory against the Kraken here on Thursday, says he knows the hopes and dreams of these kids. He says he has lived them. 

“Kind of surreal,” Aho said. “The whole week here, you see a lot of Finnish kids, you see Caniacs all the way from Raleigh. Everyone is excited and there has been good energy around this event all week, but this is even more special because they are from my hometown and I was literally in those kids’ shoes.”

When the NHL played a Premiere Games series here in 2010, pitting the Hurricanes against the Minnesota Wild, Aho made the trek to the capital city with his family to see the spectacle and to cheer on the Finns involved in the game, particularly Joni Pitkanen, a member of the Hurricanes at the time, who also hailed from Oulu. 

On Saturday, Aho took pictures with each player, signed cards, jerseys, hats and pucks and answered the questions, fun and serious, in the event set up by the NHL Player Associations’ Goals & Dreams program.

“He is a rock star,” said Matt Langen, the NHLPA’s senior manager, community relations and Goals & Dreams. “It’s unbelievable how much the kids light up around him.”

It was the final NHLPA-organized meet-and-greet with players involved in the Global Series across the past three days.

Kaapo Kakko of the Seattle Kraken met with players from Turku, his hometown team, on Thursday. Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, with some help from Aho, visited a collection of youth players from Helsinki club HIFK, also on Thursday.    

Through the Goals & Dreams program players donated equipment to the local hockey teams, helping the mission of growing the game at the grass-roots level. 

“I appreciate the PA and the people working to set that thing up,” Aho said as he walked to catch the bus back to the hotel after the optional morning skate. “To be one of their idols, I don’t know, I just think it is super cool and I’m just glad they are here. 

“Hopefully, in 16 years, somebody is repping the Canes and coming back here to play as a Canes player or something like that. That’s what this all about.”