The National Hockey League will play regular season games in the Czech Republic and Finland in the fall of 2024. To start the 2024-25 NHL regular season, the Buffalo Sabres will play the New Jersey Devils on October 4 and October 5 at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Then the Dallas Stars will play the Florida Panthers at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland on November 1 and November 2.
Who on the Sabres and Devils are from the Czech Republic?
There is one player from the Czech Republic on the Buffalo Sabres. That is right winger Lukas Rousek of Ostrov Nad Ohri. So far this season, Rousek has zero points in seven games.
There are two active players on the Devils from the Czech Republic. They are center Tomas Nosek of Pardubice and assistant captain and left winger Ondrej Palat of Frydek-Mistek. Nosek has zero points in 21 games with the Devils this season.
Palat has nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points this season in 54 games. He has zero plus/minus, with 33 penalty minutes, five power-play points, 88 shots on goal, three faceoff wins, 42 blocked shots, 75 hits, 18 takeaways, and 22 giveaways.
Who on the Stars and Panthers are from Finland?
There are four players from Finland on the Stars. They are defensemen Miro Heiskanen of Espoo, Jani Hakanpaa of Kirkonummi, and Esa Lindell of Helsinki, and forward Roope Hintz of Tampere. Heiskanen and Lindell are assistant captains.
Heiskanen has seven goals and 37 assists for 44 points in 56 games. He is a +2 with 22 penalty minutes, 17 power-play points, one game-winning goal, 128 shots on goal, 76 blocked shots, 43 hits, 31 takeaways, and 33 giveaways. Heiskanen’s game-winning goal came in a 3-2 Stars win over the Anaheim Ducks on October 19. Heiskanen scored from Sam Steel of Adrossan, Alberta and Tyler Seguin of Brampton, Ontario at 6:47 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie.
Hakanpaa has two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 62 games. He is a +10 with 33 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, 54 shots on goal, 121 blocked shots, 189 hits, 13 takeaways, and 31 giveaways. Hakanpaa’s game-winning goal was unassisted with four seconds left in regulation, and came in a 3-2 Stars win over the Nashville Predators on December 23.
Lindell has five goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 67 games. He is a +16 with 10 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, 92 shots on goal, 128 blocked shots, 66 hits, 24 takeaways, and 27 giveaways. Lindell’s shorthanded point was an assist on a goal by Jamie Benn of Victoria, British Columbia in a 4-3 Stars win over the Calgary Flames on November 1.
Hintz has 26 goals and 30 assists for 56 points in 65 games. He is a +23 with 20 penalty minutes, 15 power-play points, four shorthanded points, six game-winning goals, 145 shots on goal, 262 faceoff wins, 28 blocked shots, 29 hits, 17 takeaways, and 31 giveaways.
There are four players from Finland on the Panthers. They are centers Aleksandr Barkov, Anton Lundell, and Eetu Luostarinen, and defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Barkov is the Panthers captain and is from Tampere. In 60 games this season, he has 18 goals and 48 assists for 66 points. Barkov is a +25 with 20 penalty minutes, 28 power-play points, four game-winning goals, two shorthanded points, 163 shots on goal, 509 faceoff wins, 46 blocked shots, 86 hits, 48 takeaways, and 26 giveaways. Barkov’s two shorthanded points were shorthanded assists and came in Panthers wins. The first came on a goal by Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia in a 3-2 Panthers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 27, and the second came on a goal by Reinhart in a 4-3 Panthers win over the Montreal Canadiens on February 29.
Lundell is from Espoo. In 62 games this season, he has nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. He is a +18 with 36 penalty minutes, four power-play points, one game-winning goal, one shorthanded point, 129 shots on goal, 375 faceoff wins, 30 blocked shots, 37 hits, 24 takeaways, and 26 giveaways. Lundell’s game-winning goal came on February 20 in a 3-2 Panthers win over the Ottawa Senators. Lundell scored from Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona and Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario at 1:36 of overtime.
Luostarinen is from Siilinjarvi. In 66 games this season, he has 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. Luostarinen is a +1 with 18 penalty minutes, two power-play points, two game-winning goals, one shorthanded point, 86 shots on goal, 82 faceoff wins, 44 blocked shots, 97 hits, 40 takeaways, and 19 giveaways. Luostarinen’s first game-winning goal came in a 3-1 Panthers win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 8. Luostarinen scored from Evan Rodrigues of Toronto, Ontario and Lundell at 6:10 of the third period. Luostarinen’s second game-winning goal came in a 4-1 Panthers win over the Montreal Canadiens on December 30. Luostarinen scored from Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario and Oliver Ekmann-Larsson of Karlskrona, Sweden at 7:34 of the third period on the power-play. In this game, Luostarinen also had both of his power-play points on the season as he also scored from Sam Bennett of Holland Landing, Ontario and Rodrigues. Luostarinen’s shorthanded point was an assist on a goal by Kevin Stanlund of Huddinge, Sweden in a 5-1 Panthers win over the Calgary Flames on March 9.
Mikkola of Kiiminki, Finland has three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 66 games. He is a +11 with 40 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, 78 shots on goal, 103 blocked shots, 156 hits, seven takeaways, and 29 giveaways.
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