Thursday, February 12, 2009

Panthers to Open '09-10 Season in Helsinki

It's official, but the rumour of Prague wasn't accurate. Instead, the Panthers will take on the Chicago Blackhawks for two games to start next season at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.

While the Cats would give up a home game next year (against Chicago), I'd say it's well worth it. And obviously, the Panthers seem to have said the same thing.

It's going to be fantastic exposure for the Panthers, and it never hurts to attract new fans - no matter where they are.

There will be four teams traveling to Scandinavia to open the season - Florida, Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis. While the Panthers and Blackhawks play two games in Finland, Detroit and St. Louis will play a pair of their own in Stockholm, Sweden.

For Florida, you can expect to see an exhibition against one of the Finnish pro teams, or possibly a Finnish all-star team some time in the week leading up to the games.

According to George Richards, the Panthers will likely spend a week in Europe starting on September 27th. The games will be played on the weekend of October 2-4.

Richards' article also had a little extra about the lone Finnish player on the Panthers, Ville Peltonen:
Peltonen is a pending free agent but indicated he would like to return to the Panthers for a fourth season -- and have a chance to play in his homeland in an NHL game for the first time.

"It would be really special to play there," Peltonen said. "To play an NHL game in my country would be awesome. It would be like how a lot of the guys feel when they go to Toronto."

Pretty good stuff.

No comments: