Homecoming of a hockey hero.
Aleksander Barkov came home to Tampere with his Florida Panthers – and how he did it. He scored four points (1+3) and delivered a night to remember. Both for him and for all the fans sitting in the stands for the Global Series meeting with the <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/the-latest-players-in-the-nhl-star-game-have-been-announced/" title="The latest players in the NHL Star Game have been announced”>Dallas Stars at Nokia Arena.
– This game was a regular season game in the NHL. But for me it wasn’t just that. To be able to come home to Finland and play here, especially to be able to do it in my hometown and to be able to bring my teammates here with me. Then to play and score, it was an incredible feeling. I’m really happy, Barkov told NHL.com/sv after the Panthers’ 6-4 victory.
Barkov, 29, was born in Tampere when father Alexander left Spartak Moscow and via a year in the Italian league came to Tappara to play there between 1994 and 2004. It was also then that son Aleksander took his first skates in the ice rink in Tampere.
Now he got to return to show old teammates, friends and family in the stands what he picked up in North America. 28-year-old Sam Reinhart from Vancouver, understood very well how Barkov felt:
– I remember my first match in Vancouver. It’s something you’ve thought about all your life, but this probably wasn’t even on his radar. This moment means a lot to him. That he delivers like this on this stage is nothing new for us, says Sam Reinhart about Barkov.
– When Barkov scores, and then also Lundell, it feels a little different on the bench and on the ice. You can feel the joy and what it means to them, Reinhart said. There was a lovely European atmosphere in the hall.
