NHL returns to Helsinki in November with 2026 NHL Global Series Finland featuring Carolina Hurricanes vs. Seattle Kraken

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

The NHL has announced the dates and key matchups for its 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, marking the league’s return to Helsinki for the first time since 2018. The Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken will play two regular-season games in Finland’s capital at Veikkaus Arena, with the first game scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12 and the second on Saturday, Nov. 14, according to an NHL release issued Nov. 4.

The NHL says the Global Series games will be paired with a full week of hockey programming in Helsinki that begins on Thursday at Veikkaus Arena. Before the NHL teams arrive, Veikkaus Arena will host the NOCCO Hockey Games tournament, which the league describes as the start of the Euro Hockey Tour season and as part of a broader weeklong slate intended to showcase both international competition and Finnish club hockey.

As outlined by the NHL, the NOCCO Hockey Games will begin on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 pm EET with Finland vs. Switzerland. The tournament then continues on Saturday, Nov. 7 with two matchups: Sweden vs. Switzerland at 2:30 pm EET and Finland vs. Czech Republic at 6:30 pm EET. The tournament wraps on Sunday, Nov. 8 with Czech Republic vs. Switzerland at 2:30 pm EET and Finland vs. Sweden at 6:30 pm EET.

The league’s announcement also places the traditional Helsinki derby at the centre of the week’s Finnish club component. The NHL says local rivals HIFK and Jokerit will play at Helsinki Ice Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 6:30 pm EET, described as “one of the most emotionally charged games” of the Liiga season and presented as the lead-in to the Global Series games.

The NHL Global Series schedule begins with Hurricanes vs. Kraken on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7:00 pm EET. The second game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8:00 pm EET, when the teams will meet again, this time with Seattle listed as the home side in the league’s posted schedule.

In its release, the NHL framed the Helsinki dates as a major international milestone for the league’s calendar. The league’s statement says this will be the eighth and ninth time NHL games have been played in Helsinki, and that NHL teams last played in Finland in 2024 and earlier league visits; the NHL specifically notes that NHL games last occurred in Helsinki in 2018 when the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets played two games.

The announcement also references the Hurricanes’ connection to Finland through Sebastian Aho, who the NHL says was born in Rauma, Finland, about 135 miles from Helsinki. The release adds that Aho attended the Hurricanes’ previous Helsinki games in 2010 as a 13-year-old and that he will be among the featured players in front of home-country fans during this month’s visit.

Beyond the two NHL games, the league says fans will have opportunities to get closer to the players through open team practices and other events during the week. The NHL attributed those plans to Julie Yufe, the league’s executive vice president and managing director, international, who said the goal is to bring fans closer to the NHL through open practices and special events tied to the Euro Hockey Tour opening tournament and Finnish matchups.

The NHL also connected its Helsinki slate to broader Finnish media and broadcast plans. In addition to game-day events, the league says new “NHL Monday Night Hockey” broadcasts begin Nov. 30, starting with a game between the Nashville Predators and the Ottawa Senators. The release states that while the start time is 1 p.m. ET in North America, the programming will air during prime time hours in Europe, beginning at 7 p.m. CET on STAR.

According to the NHL, a total of 11 games involving 16 different NHL teams will be broadcast to European audiences in prime time on Mondays as part of the “NHL Monday Night Hockey” package. The league adds that those broadcasts, combined with “NHL Saturday” and “NHL Sunday” primetime game broadcasts, are intended to keep the NHL’s presence in Finland active beyond the Helsinki Global Series.

The NHL’s announcement also includes the appointment of Liiga leadership perspectives and emphasizes the continued prominence of international players in Finnish hockey. The release attributed comments about the broader interest in the sport’s early-season period to Liiga CEO Mikko Pulkkinen, who said the Liiga season is off to a strong start and that the Global Series in Helsinki adds top-level international competition to the fall schedule.

The announced Helsinki events list the NOCCO Hockey Games at Veikkaus Arena on Nov. 5, Nov. 7 and Nov. 8; the HIFK vs. Jokerit Liiga Helsinki derby at Helsinki Ice Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 11; and the NHL Global Series Finland games at Veikkaus Arena on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14. The NHL states the venue is Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki for the tournament and both NHL matches, with the derby taking place at Helsinki Ice Hall.

For viewers in Canada, the NHL has not included Canadian-specific viewing instructions in the release, but it did provide North American start-time references for the games, listing the Nov. 12 matchup as a noon ET start and the Nov. 14 matchup as a 1 p.m. ET start. The league’s posted schedule further details partner broadcasters for those games in various regions, underscoring that the Helsinki week is being marketed as a multi-platform international event rather than a standalone series of contests.