Blogging the NHL’s Global Series
Following Boyd’s adventures through Sweden
With the Nashville Predators returning to Europe to participate in the 2025 Global Series, Penalty Box Radio will be in country and onsite for all the festivities! Follow along with Boyd as he takes in the sights, sounds and hockey action in Stockholm, Sweden!
Note - this will be updated throughout the week so keep checking back in!
Part 1 - Arrival
Hello hockey world! It’s Boyd checking in from downtown Stockholm, Sweden. Honestly I am getting a later start to this running blog than I had hoped as we arrived in Sweden a day late due to some travel complications including our travel group missing our connection in Atlanta.
But travel woes aside we landed in Stockholm Wednesday afternoon and promptly headed into Stockholm and holy cow what a beautiful city!
The mix of old city architecture and modern is truly an amazing sight and the different canals coming in from the Norrström River create a unique archipelago of different neighborhoods. More on the city itself as we have time to explore.
For team related activities, the Predators held an open practice for the traveling fans (full disclosure my group didn’t make it in time) followed by a lunch and player meet up event with autographs and photo opportunities. Among the players present for the meet were Matthew Wood, Fedor Svechkov, Jonathan Marchessault, Michael Bunting and Spencer Stastney. Overall it was a great event and opportunity to connect players and fans.
For the evening, we checked into the Radisson Strand hotel which is in an older building right on the water of one of the canals in the city center. Then dinner at Restaurang B.A.R. for some seafood and drinks to wrap up the first day in Stockholm!
First impressions so far - the city of Stockholm is beautiful and the people, both our host organizers and all the people we’ve met around the city, have been incredibly friendly and helpful. Excited to see what the rest of the week and weekend hold in store!
Part 2 - Exploring Stockholm
With the jet lag successfully avoided it was time to explore Stockholm for the first time. Any good day starts with a cappuccino and a pastry and there are no shortage of options around central Stockholm. With the layout of Stockholm in an older European fashion where everything is built out from a central point it makes for a very walkable environment. Getting from the business and shopping districts over to the Gamla Stan (old city) only takes 20-30 minutes. Along the way there are bridges to cross, shorelines to walk and plenty of architecture.
The old city of Stockholm is a fascinating walk. The Royal Palace stands at the front as a greeting to the small alleyways and brick streets. There is a lot to take in around every corner from little cafes and bakeries to the courtyards with monuments to Sweden’s history. Fair warning that it is a bit of a tourist area so the narrow streets can get a bit crowded in the middle of the day.
The highlight of the day was unequivocally the Vasa Museum. The museum holds the Swedish warship Vasa which sunk under questionable circumstances in 1628 and remained preserved in the Baltic Sea until the 1960’s when it was excavated and restored.
The museum tells the whole story of how the ship was made, what all the detailing (and there is a LOT) means and how the ship meant its end. Beyond all that learning more of the history of what life was like for shipmen in the 1600’s was truly eye opening and a fascinating experience. I would highly recommend it for anyone making the trip to Stockholm.
Wrapped the day out and around Stockholm with some true Neapolitan pizza and drinks at a local pub. Guinness in Europe just hits different and it was overall an amazing day I won’t soon forget.
Part 3 - Gameday Part 1
Finally it is time. The original reason for the trip has arrived (though after being in Stockholm hockey almost feels like an afterthought) and the vibes are high. But first, what better way to kick off gameday than some of the best German food I have ever eaten. I’ll cover this more later but Stockholm is a culinary cheat code.
After a short bus ride to Avicii Arena it is time for the game. The arena being a sphere creates a vertical seating setup where it feels like everyone is on top of the action (if you’re afraid of heights the upper sections would not be for you). Plenty of pomp and circumstance around intros for Filip Forsberg and Erik Karlsson lead into a truly stirring rendition of the Swedish anthem.
Other than an Evgeni Malkin goal banked in off Nic Hague’s stick the first two and a half periods pass relatively uneventfully. The Predators are playing pretty well overall but not finding the back of the net. But then with time winding down in regulation Filip Forsberg collects a loose puck off a faceoff and quickly buries a backhand shot to tie the game! The Swedish crowd ERUPTS for their countryman scoring such a big goal! It really was a goosebumps moment. With the crowd still buzzing early into overtime Brady Skjei finds a streaking Steven Stamkos who lasers a shot over goalie Arturs Silovs’ shoulder for the game winner. What a comeback and what a win for the Predators!
Overall the game experience was a blast. Avicii Arena is a cool and unique venue to watch a hockey game. The Swedish crowd was loud and engaged in all the action, cheering hard for their adopted teams and native sons. Every person we met was welcoming and excited to talk about the game.