Seattle Kraken forward Berkly Catton described the team’s Monday sauna trip in Helsinki as the club prepares to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland.
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The Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes will play two games at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki as part of the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, with Berkly Catton writing a blog for NHL.com throughout the event.
According to Catton, after practice on Monday, the Kraken returned to their hotel, visited a coffee shop, and then went for a walk around Helsinki before attending a team sauna at Loyly. He said it was his second trip to a sauna, noting that Seattle has one at its rink and that he has spent time there previously, while describing the Helsinki location as having “the best saunas in the world.”
Catton said the sauna outing included four players from Finland — Kaapo Kakko, Ville Ottavainen, Jani Nyman and Nikke Kokko — who he described as wearing sauna caps and adding that “it’s a really big part of their culture.” Catton said the group also had dinner at the same location, with the menu including crispy chicken and reindeer, and that he had “first time having” reindeer and called the salmon soup “unreal.”
With a day off on Tuesday, Catton said he went to breakfast and that he and teammate Chandler Stephenson went shopping at Stockmann, a department store he likened to Nordstrom. He added that after dinner the pair “just kind of chilled,” and that he found it helpful to return to practice on Wednesday to prepare to face Carolina.
Catton said the additional time between games has helped the Kraken prepare specifically for the Hurricanes, and he described looking forward to the atmosphere in the building, saying he has seen European games “and just how excited the fans are and how loud it is in the building.”
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