NEW YORK/TORONTO -- The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), together with Live Nation, today announced the 2026 NHL Global Series™ Finland, a pair of regular-season games matching the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, Finland, November 12 and November 14.
These games expand the League’s slate of 2026-27 regular-season games in Europe to four. As previously announced, the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks will be meeting in the 2026 NHL Global Series Germany December 18 and December 20 in Düsseldorf. Tickets for all four 2026 NHL Global Series matchups go on sale later this month. Purchase information is listed below for each game.
2026 NHL Global Series Finland, Veikkaus Arena, Helsinki
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Seattle Kraken
Game 1 – Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, 7 p.m. EET
Game 2 – Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, 8 p.m. EET
Tickets go on sale Tuesday, March 31, at 10 a.m. EET, at https://www.ticketmaster.fi/artist/1197393?venueId=425
2026 NHL Global Series Germany, PSD Bank Dome, Düsseldorf
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Ottawa Senators
Game 1 – Friday, Dec. 18, 2026, 7 p.m. CET
Game 2 – Sunday, Dec. 20, 2026, 2 p.m. CET
Tickets go on sale Friday, March 27, at 10 a.m. CET, at https://www.ticketmaster.de/artist/1197393?venueId=37907&brand=de\_livenation
The 2026 NHL Global Series games in Finland and Germany will mark the 13th season, and fifth consecutive campaign, that the NHL has traveled to Europe to play regular-season games. These games reward the legions of loyal and passionate fans in Europe that enjoy live NHL games available via international media rightsholders and, in certain territories, on NHL.TV on DAZN. The NHL’s biggest star players are also featured across numerous social media platforms, and on NHL.com in seven languages, for the League’s international fans. Of the 48 previous regular-season games played outside North America, there have been 11 played in Finland, of which seven have taken place in Helsinki, and one has been played in Germany. That was an NHL Premiere Series Matchup in Berlin Oct. 8, 2011, in which the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2.
Veikkaus Arena, formerly known as Hartwall Arena, has hosted a total of seven previous NHL regular-season games. The most recent of those were in the 2018 Global Series, when the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets played a pair of games at the venue.
Two of the Hurricanes’ top forwards will be returning to their homeland for the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, as current team point and assist leader Sebastian Aho (25-47—72 in 70 GP) hails from Rauma and fellow center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was born in Pori. The Kraken roster also features a pair of Finnish natives in its forward group, in Eeli Tolvanen (born in Vihti), who skated in a total of 74 games for the Helsinki-based KHL club Jokerit, whose home ice is Veikkaus Arena, during the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons, and Kaapo Kakko (born in Turku).
The 2026 NHL Global Series Finland games will be the first regular-season action outside North America for the Kraken, as they become the 27th active franchise to play in such games. The Hurricanes will be making their second trip outside North America, and to Finland, for regular-season play. Their first was the 2010 Premiere Series, which saw the Club win a pair of games at Hartwall Arena over the Minnesota Wild, 4-3 on Oct. 7 and 2-1 in a shootout Oct. 8.
Links to a complete history of NHL regular-season games played outside North America are below.
- Regular-Season Games Played Outside North America
- Standings for Regular-Season Games Played Outside North America
Additional information on the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, including broadcast details, will be available here.
