The Dallas Stars landed in Helsinki, Finland, a few hours later than expected after a flight delay for the start of their Global Series trip last week. That meant the practice they had initially scheduled was canceled. Instead, the team went straight to enjoy one of Finland’s proudest institutions: the sauna.
Advertisement This has become part of the routine for teams that travel to Finland to play in the Global Series. The Finns on the roster want to give their teammates a taste of what life is like in their home country. The experience of a Finnish sauna is unlike anything you’ll find in the United States.
But the sauna itself isn’t foreign to many NHL players. “It’s growing a lot,” said Finnish Stars defenseman Esa Lindell . “I feel like even in our team it’s so many guys using it.
Even on other road trips guys are looking up spots to go recover in the off days.” Last season, the sauna was a fixture of Stars road trips. They went to an indoor/outdoor sauna/cold plunge in Montreal during their off day there.
And it’s usually goalie Jake Oettinger , an American, doing research on where to find one when the team travels. So this was a group that was well versed on the benefits before heading to Finland. All smiles and saunas for the @DallasStars players at #NHLGlobalSeries 🇫🇮 pic.
twitter.com/z74wEpScgu — NHLPA (@NHLPA) October 29, 2024 Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpää, who played three seasons with the Stars, noticed a change even from when.
