Alexander Stubb considers it significant that Finnish spectators were able to see Finnish NHL stars in a big event in Tampere.
President Alexander Stubb returned from his visit to China and quickly headed for the Tampere arena’s NHL night on Saturday. Stubb watched the last game between Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars in Finland from the stands and also visited the dressing room of both teams.
The match, which ended in a 4–2 victory for Florida, was the 11th NHL regular season match played in Finland. Two years ago, the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets stopped by to play in Tampere.
– These matches are of great importance. They’re a bit like the NFL’s Super Bowl, it’s always a big event. It was meaningful and very fun to see two such strongly Finnish teams playing good hockey, Stubb said in his interview with the NHL.
Florida Captain Alexander Barkov was the biggest Finnish star in Tampere, when the center forward scored 1+4 power points in two winning games.
– We are a hockey crazy country. Of course, it means a lot that we see our big stars playing here, Stubb continued.
In the stories of Stubb’s Instagram account, there were also pictures from Tampere, in which, in addition to the players, the prime minister was seen in his company Petteri Orpo (collect.).
Stubb is known as an avid follower of sports and hockey. He followed his brother and father to Saturday’s NHL game Goran Stubb with. During his working career, Göran Stubb led the NHL talent search in Europe for 40 years.