New York, NY (AP) – The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators will play two games in Duesseldorf later this year as part of the NHL and NHLPA’s efforts to grow hockey in Germany, the league announced Friday.

The Global Series games on Dec. 18 and 20 at PSD Bank Dome are the second and third regular-season games the league has staged in the country, along with several exhibitions. The Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin in 2011.

Overall, the league has played 42 regular-season games in Europe since 2007.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly called the commitment to grassroots development in Germany “a critical next chapter for the NHL.”

Rob Zepp, the union’s Director of International Strategy and Growth, played several years in Germany and represented the national team as a goaltender during his career and said it “is a wonderful country with an avid, sophisticated hockey audience that is eager to engage with the NHL.”

Senators forward Tim Stützle is expected to be the big star of the event. Stützle grew up just outside Duesseldorf in Viesen and led Germany in goals at the Milan Cortina Olympics with four.

“I think German hockey has been growing a lot, and there are a lot of great players from there,” Stützle said. “Hopefully it gets even more people to play hockey in Germany. It’s really exciting news.”

Germany, with Stützle, 2020 NHL MVP Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers and emerging star Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, lost in the quarterfinals at the Olympics. The country’s team went on an improbable run to the final at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, with now-Boston Bruins coach and retired player Marco Sturm behind the bench.

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