President of Finland Visits Florida Panthers. White House Next?

The Florida Panthers have not made it to the White House yet, but Saturday night, they got a visit from Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

President Stubb came into the Tappara Tampere locker room — which the Panthers had been using since captain Sasha Barkov is a part-owner of the club — following Florida’s 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars to sweep the two-game NHL Global Series.

Barkov, as well as the other Finnish players on the Panthers including assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, met with Stubb over the summer when they brought the Stanley Cup to Finland.

“We usually see him when we win, so that’s a good thing,” Barkov said.

“Big honor. Obviously, he’s President of my country and where I was born and where I grew up. It’s always an honor to be around him. We all know he loves hockey more than anything. It was a big honor.”

President Stubb is in fact a big fan of hockey and was spotted watching Saturday’s game alongside Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

According to NHL.com, Stubb was at Nokia Arena after flying in from a diplomatic trip to China that day.

His father, Goran, was the NHL’s Director of European Scouting for 40 years before retiring in 2023.

“It means a lot,” Stubb told NHL.com. “It’s a little bit like the Super Bowl in the NFL. It’s always a big event. And then when you get two basically Finnish teams playing good ice hockey, it means a lot. It’s a lot of fun.

“We are a hockey-crazy nation and, of course, to see our big stars playing here means a lot for all of us.’’

Finland President Alexander Stubb, center, greets Florida Panthers Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, Sasha Barkov, Anton Lundell, and Tuomo Ruoto — and their significant others — over the summer. // Photo courtesy @AlexStubb Instagram

Coach Paul Maurice said that having the President of Finland come visit following the game — Stubb also stopped in to see the Dallas Stars — was a little humbling, especially seeing the way Barkov reacted to it.

Barkov, of course, is the first Finnish captain to ever hoist the Stanley Cup.

“It was very nice to have him there. It was meaningful,” Maurice said. “Sometimes you can just tell the way people stand in a room and our guys really appreciated that. No one was sitting in their stall.

“They were all gassed, all tired, and everyone was standing up. I liked the kind words he had for our team, but maybe I sat and watched and appreciated Sasha Barkov’s respect when he passed the jersey to him. It was really nice. Really enjoyed that.’’

As for who the next President the Panthers will meet, that should be decided next week.

The Panthers do not visit Washington until they play the Capitals there until Feb. 4 — two weeks after Inauguration Day.

The team also visits Washington to play the Capitals in March.

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ON DECK: GAME 14

NASHVILLE PREDATORS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series — At Nashville: Feb. 25. At Florida: Thursday.
• Last Season: Split 1-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 22-15-6, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 6 p.m.