Maple Leafs, Senators, Red Wings, Wild heading to Sweden in November
Four NHL teams will play regular-season games at Stockholm's Avicii Arena next fall.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Minnesota Wild are headed to Sweden as part of the NHL's annual Global Series, the league announced Wednesday.
Here's the schedule for those matchups:
| Date | Local Time | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 16 | 8 p.m. | Red Wings vs. Senators |
| Nov. 17 | 8 p.m. | Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings |
| Nov. 18 | 5 p.m. | Wild vs. Senators |
| Nov. 19 | 2 p.m. | Maple Leafs vs. Wild |
It will be the first time ever that four NHL teams play regular-season games in Europe on the same trip and the first time the Maple Leafs ever go outside North America for regular-season contests. It's the second international trip for the Red Wings and Wild, and the third for the Senators.
Notably, the 'Battle of Ontario' won't be played overseas as the Leafs and Sens will not face off against each other during the trip.
Stockholm has hosted more regular-season NHL games than any other city outside North America. Twelve previous contests of that variety have taken place in the Swedish capital. A total of 32 have been played in Europe.
There are 21 players from Sweden that are expected to take part from the four clubs involved. The Wild boast eight of those Swedes, including former Senators goaltender Filip Gustavsson, forward Joel Eriksson Ek, and top netminding prospect Jesper Wallstedt. The Leafs and Wings each have six including Toronto winger William Nylander and Detroit forward Lucas Raymond, while the Sens have two in puck-stopper Anton Forsberg and defenseman Erik Brannstrom.
However, it should be noted that several of those players - Leafs defenseman Erik Gustafsson, Wild forwards Marcus Johansson, Gustav Nyquist, and Oskar Sundqvist as well as defenseman John Klingberg, plus Red Wings netminder Magnus Hellberg and blue-liner Robert Hagg - are pending unrestricted free agents who may not be with their current clubs in November.
Earlier in April, the NHL revealed plans to play in the southern hemisphere for the first time with a pair of exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia scheduled for September.
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