The Florida Panthers took the ice for practice on Thursday in Finland ahead of this week’s NHL Global Series.
During Florida’s skate at Nokia Arena in Tampere, there was something on the ice that caught the attention of more than a few people in attendance.
It was a golden helmet, resting squarely on the head of Sam Reinhart.
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You see, in several European pro hockey leagues – including Liiga, Finland’s top hockey league – a team’s leading scorer will wear a golden helmet to mark their achievement.
Being that the Panthers are playing their next couple games in Finland, it seemed appropriate for Reinahrt to continue the custom.
“It seems that it’s a couple leagues that it’s a tradition,” Reinhart said. “It was in the stall so I thought I would give it a go for a couple drills.”
Interestingly, it sounds like the golden dome went on a little journey before ending up on Reinhart’s head.
While someone may have thought the Finnish custom should have been carried out by Florida’s Finnish captain, it was Sasha Barkov who was quick to keep things 100.
“I think actually was it went into Barky’s stall,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice explained. “But then Barky said, ‘I’m not the leading scorer, so it has to be Reino.’ I think that’s how that went.”
With the Panthers now in Barkov’s hometown, it’s on him to show the team around.
Earlier this week, they were in Helsinki, where it was Anton Lundell’s job to be the tour guide in his hometown.
Needless to say, there have been a lot of smiles, salmon and sauna this week for the South Florida Cats.
The golden helmet is just the latest in a long line of memories being made.
“Those are the things that happen on these trips,” Maurice said. “It’s the small little things. It’s a guy getting up and singing at karaoke. It’s somebody trying reindeer for the first time. Those are the little things that happen.”
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