The Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes have taken a break from their North American portion of the NHL schedule to play two games at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki for the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland. The games are Thursday (12 p.m. ET; HHN, Prime Video, CARNHL, KONG, NHLN, SN+, TVAS) and Saturday (1 p.m. ET; HHN, Prime Video, CARNHL, KONG, KING, NHLN, SN1).
Kraken forward Berkly Catton 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. Catton’s first entry was written after the Kraken held their first practice at Veikkaus Arena’s underground rink, known as “The Cave”, on Monday.
This is my first time in Finland. I’ve been to Europe before, but never Finland, so it’s really exciting to get here,
We flew to Helsinki from Seattle on Saturday after we played the New York Rangers. It was a 2 p.m. game and then we jumped on the plane. I got a little bit of sleep, but it’s weird with the time change.
I didn’t get the best sleep last night with the time change. I got up pretty early, but that’s kind of part of the whole experience, I guess.
We practiced today in the underground rink below Veikkaus Arena. It was cool. Originally when we got there, I thought we were going to practice on the big sheet, but it’s pretty cool down there. It almost looked like rock. I don’t know what it was, but it was pretty cool.
I felt good on the ice. I thought the team looked good. I thought we were making good passes and stuff, so it was good.
I think it’s just super different coming here for these two games. Talking with Jordan Eberle, our captain, he’s been in the League 17 years now and he’s never done something like this. So, I feel really fortunate to be able to do this in my second season in the NHL. I’m just trying to take everything in and get to learn the Finnish culture a bit.
I play on the same line with Kaapo Kakko and we’ve talked about this trip a bit. He’s a proud Finnish guy, so he’s pretty happy to be here and kind of share his culture. He’s from Turku, but I think he comes to Helsinki during the summer a little bit, so he’s been kind of raving about it.
Later today, we’re planning to go sauna and then for a team dinner afterward, so hopefully we’ll get the full Finnish experience.
