“It’s been a whirlwind,” Firkus said with a grin. “Obviously, you don’t really imagine playing your first game in Finland, but it’s a unique experience that you’ll look back on and be grateful for.
“And my mom and dad finally made it earlier, and they’re on their way right now,” she added. “So it’s exciting to have a family in the building. You’re so far from home.”
He still didn’t know how hairy things would be for them.
After landing in Helsinki at 17:30, they went straight through passport control and then checked into their hotel at the airport. They dropped their bags and donned matching Kraken jerseys with their son’s name and number 57 on them.
They then quickly hopped a train from the airport to the arena, somewhat ragged and not really clear where they were going.
“We ended up missing our stop,” his father said. “We went one stop too many and had to go the other way back to the arena.”
That took another 15 minutes. Then, upon arriving at the front doors of the arena, Firkus’ mother was told by security that her purse was too large and would have to be checked at the gate for later retrieval.
Her mother told the guard at the entrance to the arena that she just wanted to see her husband at the ticket booth so he could go watch the warm-up and then come back with his purse. But when the first guard let the security guards manning the turnstiles through their doors, the couple got lucky.
“They just ran our tickets and let us through,” he said. “So I said, ‘OK, let’s go.’
They both got up and took their seats exhausted about 20 minutes before the warm-up started.
Their son, drafted in the second round in 2022, started with Chandler Stevenson and Freddie Gaudreau. He got 11:38 of playing time in the Kraken’s 5-1 loss.
“He looks a little nervous there,” the mother said.
But when asked, both parents insisted they weren’t nervous at all. After all, they’ve already done their part in getting there.