Six months after winning his first Stanley Cup, Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov scored a historic honor from his home country.
Finland named Barkov its 2024 Sports Personality of the Year. Finnish President Alexander Stubb presented the award to Barkov, who accepted it by telecast.
“This is a really big honor,” Barkov said. “It wouldn’t have happened without my teammates.”
An elite two-way center and considered one of the best defensive forwards in the game, Barkov is the first hockey player to win the Finnish award since its 1947 inception.
He’s also the first Finnish captain to win the Cup.
– Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics