The Dallas Stars are going international during the 2024-2025 NHL season.
According to a press release from the league, the Stars are one of four teams selected to participate in the 2024 Global Series presented by Fastenal in Europe, the 11th edition of the league’s international series that has traveled to Finland, Sweden, and Germany in the past.
“I think it’s always a great trip, and we’ve obviously got some great Finnish players,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer, who was part of the Global Series as the head coach of the Florida Panthers in Helsinki in 2009, told the media Tuesday morning “… I think any time you can break up the monotony of an 8-2 game season and travel like that is beneficial.”
The Stars will be part of the second wave of games in the 2024 Global Series, taking on the Panthers at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Friday, November 1, and Saturday, November 2. The Buffalo Sabres and the New Jersey Devils will open the NHL season on October 4 and 5 with games at O2 Arena in Prague, and Buffalo will also play an exhibition match against the Deutsche Eishockey Liga’s Red Bull Munich team in Germany.
Buffalo, Florida, and New Jersey have all played in the Global Series before, while Dallas will make its international debut and become the 27th NHL franchise to participate.
The series will also serve as a homecoming for the four players from Finland — Roope Hintz, Jani Hakanpaa, Miro Heiskanen, and Esa Lindell — on the Stars’ roster, as long as each return. Hintz, Hakanpaa, and Heiskanen are all signed at least through next season, while Lindell is slated to be a free agent this summer.
“I’m really excited,” Hintz, a Tampere native, said. “Obviously, it’s a dream come true to go play there in an NHL game. It’s going to be in my home city, too, so it’s going to be cool.”
The announcement comes just before the Stars (40-17-9) host the Panthers (44-17-4) at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.
Tickets for the Stars-Panthers Global Series go on sale at 3 a.m. CT on Friday, March 22.
