The Winnipeg Jets will face the Anaheim Ducks tonight at 7:00pm at Canada Life Centre. The Jets are 7-2-1 in their last ten games, after a gritty 3-2 OT victory against the Seattle Kraken, while the Ducks are 4-6-0 in their last ten, after a 3-2 OT win over the Detroit Red Wings. Winnipeg will be without Mason Appleton for up to twelve weeks after wrist surgery and are still missing Nikolaj Ehlers, Morgan Barron and Logan Stanley...
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Also tonight, the Winnipeg Jets will be inducting two Finnish players into the team's Hall of Fame: Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen. To honour them, let's take a look at some interesting facts about their homeland...
The first thing that might surprise you about Finland is that it’s the happiest country in the world. And if you think it’s a joke, then I have to disappoint you because it’s absolutely not! According to an UN-sponsored report called World Happiness Report, the country has been officially named the world’s happiest place for the fourth time in a row. In the survey, people from 149 countries were asked to rate their happiness, and the Finns came on top. The rankings take into account many factors. Life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, economic strength, generosity, social support from friends, perceived corruption, and views of the survey respondents...
Interestingly, numerous bizarre and crazy competitions are organized throughout the country. For example, one of the most famous competitions in Finland is the Wife Carrying World Championship. Basically, it’s a contest in which men have to carry their female teammate (this person doesn’t necessarily have to be their wife). The contestant who can carry his teammate first through the obstacle track wins the race. And what’s the prize? As many liters of beer as the winner’s teammate weighs in kilos! Where do I sign up...
Another interesting Finnish event is the Air Guitar World Championships which takes place annually in the Northern city of Oulu. During this contest, participants from all over the world get on a stage and compete in air guitar playing. This event has become extremely popular over the years so some of the countries even have to organize pre-qualifiers...
Finland has an excellent welfare system that promotes the well-being of Finnish citizens. As part of this, a special gift is given by the Finnish state to every expectant mother: a maternity package or so-called baby box. The box can be considered a starter kit as it contains necessities ranging from baby products to indoor and outdoor clothes to help mothers care for their newborn babies. Plus, the baby box itself works as a crib as well.
The tradition of giving baby boxes is more than 80 years old in Finland. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Finland ranks in the top
countries with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world.
When it comes to coffee drinking, Finns take things to a whole new level. In fact, they drink more coffee per capita than any other country in the world. According to the statistics from the International Coffee Organization, a person consumes an average of 12 kg (26.45 lbs) of coffee each year in Finland. This means that typically people drink about 5-8 cups of coffee a day in the country. However, Finns prefer lighter roasts than other countries.
If you are wondering why they consume so many cups of coffee a day, the primary reason is that coffee plays a significant role in Finnish culture.
Finns drink coffee all the time: when meeting a friend, to warm up on a cold day, or even when going to the sauna. Also, coffee helps them stay awake on dark days during wintertime...
Without any doubt, one of the most shocking facts about Finnish culture is that there are more than 2 million saunas in the country. Especially if we consider that Finland’s population is only about 5.5 million!
The word “Sauna” is Finnish, so no matter where you enjoy this purifying experience throughout the world, you can thank Finns for the name. It’s also the only Finnish word making it into everyday English language.
For Finns, the sauna is very important. It’s a perfect place to cleanse both their bodies and mind, relax and enjoy the present moment but also to meet new people and socialize. Besides, research shows that going to the sauna regularly (optimally several times a week) has many health benefits, including decreasing the risk of heart attack and dementia. Thus, Finns go very often to the sauna in their home, in the gym, or at work. When visiting Finland, you may find saunas in quite unexpected places, such as in student accommodation or diplomatic buildings as well. There is even a sauna at a Helsinki Burger King...
Probably, you have already heard that Finns love listening to heavy metal music. However, chances are that you didn’t know that Finland has the highest ratio of heavy metal bands to 100,000 residents in the entire world. To be exact, there are about 42 bands per 100,000 residents in the country.
The most famous heavy metal music groups from Finland include Lordi, Apocalyptica, Nightwish, and Finntroll. Moreover, Finns even have a heavy metal band for kids. The members of Hevisaurus are known for performing in special dinosaur costumes...
Finland takes Albert Einstein’s wise words “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new” seriously. The country has declared October 13th the National Day of Failure to celebrate life setbacks as a natural path toward success...
They also have ‘National Sleepy Head Day’, where the last person in a family to wake up is thrown into a lake or the sea by the rest of the family...
The Finnish language is one of the ten most challenging languages in the world to learn and translate. It’s no wonder, when a noun can have over 200 forms or when one of the longest words is “epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkään”!The Finnish language can also claim the world’s longest palindrome, a word that is spelled the same forwards and backward – “Saippuakivikauppias”. The word is used to describe a dealer in lye or soapstone...
After gaining its independence from Russia and Sweden, Finland established its own monarchy, which lasted a whole three months before the newly appointed king stepped down. In fact, Frederick-Charles of Hesse never even had time to be crowned in his 67-day reign...
The Finns coined the name “Molotov Cocktail” to describe the fire bombs they used in fending off the Soviet Union (specifically the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov) during World War II. The bombs are thought to have originated from the Spanish Civil War and were adopted as a means to fight tanks...
Finns love “leipäjuusto.” Leipäjuusto, which in English is “Finnish squeaky cheese”, is a mild cheese made from cow’s milk (or sometimes goat’s milk).
Why do people call it “squeaky”? Well, because it really does squeak when you chew it, and it’s also a golden rule (quite literally) to eat leipäjuusto together with cloudberry jam. "Sounds" yummy...
The mobile gaming sensation Angry Birds began life in Finland. Founded by students in 2003, the game's creators Rovio Entertainment went on to become publicly listed in 2017 at a $1 billion valuation.
Angry Birds isn't the only worldwide smash to have originated in Finland. Nokia's Snake–arguably the most influential mobile game ever–and Clash of Clans are also Finnish.
Let's get “angry” and beat those “birds”...er Ducks! Go Jets Go!
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Interesting facts about Finnish culture you probably haven’t heard before,
27 Interesting Facts About Finland - Wonderful Wanderings,
25 Interesting Facts about Finland - Swedish Nomad and
32 Fun Facts About Finland and Finnish People