The NHL returns to Germany in 2026: The Ottawa Senators will meet Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the NHL Global Series on December 18th and 20th at the PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf. It will be a special experience for German national player Tim Stützle as he will be able to compete with Ottawa in front of their home crowd.
The announcement was made at a press conference in Düsseldorf with NHL representatives and Mayor Stephan Keller. This is the 16th season for the NHL with regular season games outside North America – and only the second time that such games have taken place in Germany.
A total of 22 NHL games have already been played in Germany. The only regular season game to date took place in Berlin in 2011, when the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.
Stützle emphasized how important such games are for the development of sport in Europe. “The NHL is the best league in the world. As a kid you dream about it, maybe not right away, but as you get higher and higher you work harder to make that dream come true,” said the DEB crack on NHL.com. “When you see those guys playing there, they’re role models. I think that’s really important.”
For the top scorer of the Ottawa Senators, an NHL “Europe game” is nothing new, as he was able to experience this spectacle first hand in Stockholm in 2023: “I had a great time (in Sweden) when I showed my teammates Europe,” enthused Stützle. “We had a number of Swedes on the team and I just want to do the same for my teammates and show them the area. We will have a lot of family and friends in the city and it will definitely be special and a moment I will never forget.”
Image: Lothar Hakelberg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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