Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov becomes Finland’s first Stanley Cup captain

“I was young when I came here, so I never thought I would ever be able to celebrate with my child,” Barkov said. “Unreal feeling.”

Asked during the series whether he would be Finland’s first Stanley Cup captain, the 28-year-old replied: “I don’t know what it would mean for the country. It would mean a lot to me.”

Barkov led the way with a dominant two-way postseason, tying the team lead with 22 points in 24 games and shutting down star defensive opponents throughout the series, from Boston’s David Pastrnak to New York’s Artemi Panarin and finally Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who also had done. no points in Games 6 and 7 of the finals.

“It starts with Barkov and continues,” said coach Paul Maurice.

Barkov led a team full of Canadians, Swedes, Russians and Americans – and was one of four Finns in the line-up for the cup final, along with forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and defender Niko Mikkola. One of Maurice’s assistants, former player Tuomo Ruutu, is also Finnish.

Maurice said Ruutu is “harder on those guys than the rest.” Barkov is the man Lundell, 22, and Luostarinen, 25, idolize.

“Anyone who grows up playing hockey in Finland looks up to the guys here, and Sasha is the one guy we all want to be someday,” Lundell said. “You grow up watching his highlights. You’re going to practice, you want to do (exercises) the same way he does them. We all have idols, but I have to say that I think he is the biggest idol in Finland.”

Mom Olga Barkova still couldn’t believe it in the aftermath of the Game 7 victory.

“It was very exciting for the whole family,” she said. “We support each other. So glad this was the last game and they won. Maybe I’ll understand this tomorrow when I see all the photos.”

Barkov’s perfect postseason followed his earning Selke Trophy honors as the best defensive forward in the NHL.

Veteran Kyle Okposo, who joined Florida at the trade deadline, admired him as an opponent because of how suffocating he is defensively and compared Barkov to six-time Selke winner Patrice Bergeron.

“Just the way he thinks about the game, you don’t see many players who have that and are that talented offensively,” Okposo said. “When (Bergeron) hung up his skates in Boston, he was the other guy who never cheated. That’s not something that a lot of special offensive players have in their game.”

One play in Game 3 made it clear how much of an impact Barkov can have. He forced Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard to lose the puck, outsmarted him to get it and set up Florida’s goal that silenced the raucous crowd in Edmonton.

“He doesn’t try to play well, he just climbs the wall, fends it off, shows up, finds a latecomer and ends up in the back of the net,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “Simple playoff hockey and he’s done a great job for us all the way through the playoffs.”

While McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Barkov came in second after carrying the Panthers through the Lightning, Bruins, Rangers and Oilers. He was one of the few homegrown players on Florida’s roster.

“He’s our leader,” forward Sam Bennett said. “He plays the game the right way. It’s pretty special to see a guy that’s so dedicated, so gifted offensively, he’s so committed to playing defense and taking guys down, blocking shots. When your All-Star captain plays that way, so does every guy in the locker room.”

Barkov is only the fifth European captain to lift the Cup, after Nicklas Lidstrom with Detroit in 2008, Zdeno Chara with Boston in 2011, Alex Ovechkin with Washington in 2018 and Gabriel Landesog with Colorado in 2022.

An incorrect photo previously linked to this story has been removed.

AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL