The NHL is once again taking things international next season, and earlier today unveiled the teams who will be taking on one another in Sweden.
The NHL announced that the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild all will be doing battle in Stockholm from November16-19. The Red Wings and Senators will kick things off on November 16, followed by the Red Wings and Maple Leafs on November 17. Subsequently, the Wild and Senators will play on November 18, and capped off by the Maple Leafs facing the Wild on November 19.
For the Red Wings, this will be their first international games since they began the 2009-10 season with two straight matchups against the St. Louis Blues in Sweden.
Swedish natives include Minnesota's Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson, Ottawa's Erik Brannstrom and Anton Forsberg, Detroit's Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren, and Toronto's William Nylander.
“A lot of the people that may go to this for the first time in Australia are going because it’s an event — a North American professional sport is playing in Australia — and what we need to do is convince them that this is a sport worth following, that it’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s the kind of sport they can get involved in,” explained the NHL's senior executive VP of media and international strategy David Proper said. “In a place like Sweden, you’re really dealing at a different level. You’re not trying to explain the sport. You’re trying to polish the sport and the brand to the fanbase there and get casual fans to become avid fans.”
Sweden isn't the only international destination the NHL is headed for next season, as Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes are going to be playing a pair of exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia, in September.
