Why do finnish people keep calling Zibanejad finnish

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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Malmö, Sweden
I mean, the same can be said about Barkov then. That he is russian, not finnish. So whats the point. I dont see russians calling Barkov russian all the time like finns call Zibanejad finnish.

Its starting to get embarrassing with all finns trying to get credit for Zibanejad having finnish blood. There is some finnish players who have swedish/other nations blood too...

Since Sweden is multicultural nation is only natural that we have lots of players with non-swedish blood..

Zibanejad is born and raised in Sweden and speaks fluent swedish.
 

Albatros

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Aug 19, 2017
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I mean, the same can be said about Barkov then. That he is russian, not finnish. So whats the point. I dont see russians calling Barkov russian all the time like finns call Zibanejad finnish.

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JabbaJabba

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Dec 22, 2010
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Finland
I mean, the same can be said about Barkov then. That he is russian, not finnish. So whats the point. I dont see russians calling Barkov russian all the time like finns call Zibanejad finnish.

Its starting to get embarrassing with all finns trying to get credit for Zibanejad having finnish blood. There is some finnish players who have swedish/other nations blood too...

Since Sweden is multicultural nation is only natural that we have lots of players with non-swedish blood..

Zibanejad is born and raised in Sweden and speaks fluent swedish.

The story behind is that Zibanejad has a Finnish mother and Iranian dad who met in Sweden and Mika had citizenship to Finland, which he later changed to Swedish citizenship because he grew up in Sweden. Apparently growing up he rooted for Finland's national team and he was invited to Pohjola camp in 2008, which is a Finland's national team's U15 camp. However, there was some problem with byrocracy when Mika applied for dual citizenship and his application was denied and thus he didn't get to attend Finnish national team camp and was soon after invited to Sweden's national team camp. That's why he plays for team Sweden and not team Finland.

So you can probably believe that Finnish hockey fans who know this story are pissed 'cos Ziba is an amazing player but of course he doesn't represent Finland because of red tape. How dumb is that? Very Finnish plot twist though. Obviously he is a product of Swedish system as he has never played in Finland, but you can understand why some people feel like he's Finnish. He has Finnish blood, he even speaks Finnish and wanted to play for Finland, but that didn't happen.

Obviously, Ziba being so good is why this is even a conversation topic. If he was a 4th liner in the NHL, people probably wouldn't care that he plays for Sweden.
 

Sanf

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Sep 8, 2012
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Yeah It is often written in Finnish papers that he has Finnish roots. But can´t really say that I have seen him to be claimed to be Finn.Though for some reason I wouldn´t be that surprised if there are posters in here who claims him as Finn.

I actually searched that interview which JabbaJabba is talking about. And that seem to be the case. But it is said in that same clip that he is happy that things turned out that way.

Obviously Zibanejad have big place in his hard for Finland. Same for Barkov for Russia and so on. Especially as youngters they have probably dreamed of playing for the other nation of their roots.
 
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Spirit of 67

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Nov 25, 2016
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I mean, the same can be said about Barkov then. That he is russian, not finnish. So whats the point. I dont see russians calling Barkov russian all the time like finns call Zibanejad finnish.

Its starting to get embarrassing with all finns trying to get credit for Zibanejad having finnish blood. There is some finnish players who have swedish/other nations blood too...

Since Sweden is multicultural nation is only natural that we have lots of players with non-swedish blood..

Zibanejad is born and raised in Sweden and speaks fluent swedish.
I have 9% Swedish blood.

Which means I'm 100% Viking.
 

JabbaJabba

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Dec 22, 2010
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I actually searched that interview which JabbaJabba is talking about. And that seem to be the case. But it is said in that same clip that he is happy that things turned out that way.

Yeah, I doubt he cries himself to sleep over it. He was raised in Sweden, so I am sure that he feels like a Swede.
 
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chauron

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Jan 5, 2014
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Some reporters do this often in yellow page tabloids. I’ve seen it happen, saw it today too in Iltasanomat.
https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000007941422.html


Finland is a small country with very few superstar athletes and they always want to get a share of anyone who’d be remotely Finnish. I think it’s a cute version of ”look mom, I can do too” (when other siblings are more successful)
 
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JabbaJabba

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Dec 22, 2010
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Some reporters do this often in yellow page tabloids. I’ve seen it happen, saw it today too in Iltasanomat.
https://www.is.fi/nhl/art-2000007941422.html


Finland is a small country with very few superstar athletes and they always want to get a share of anyone who’d be remotely Finnish. I think it’s a cute version of ”look mom, I can do too” (when other siblings are more successful)

I think they do this with all celebrities and with events that have a connection to Finland or Finnish people. Just trying to get that forced Finnish angle to make the article more interesting even if the connection is very far-fetched. Like they often like to mention that Pamela Anderson has Finnish roots because her great grandfather was Finnish. Very meaningless thing really, but it makes Finnish reader feel more interested, at least in theory.
 

Legend Leinonen

Registered User
Apr 8, 2016
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Iranians aren't really an ethnic group though, a little bit like "British". Makes more sense in first than second generation.

Let's imagine Mika's great grandson 10 generations removed. This son would be 1/10 Finnish and 1/10 Iranian and rest of his ancestry is everything between and beyond. Obviously, in this case, Mika Juniors Finnish gramma 10 generations removed would have very little influence to his identity, whereas, his 1/10 Iranian ancestry would still hold significant power over him, as he still bears that tag, ZIBANEJAD.
 

Albatros

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Aug 19, 2017
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Let's imagine Mika's great grandson 10 generations removed. This son would be 1/10 Finnish and 1/10 Iranian and rest of his ancestry is everything between and beyond. Obviously, in this case, Mika Juniors Finnish gramma 10 generations removed would have very little influence to his identity, whereas, his 1/10 Iranian ancestry would still hold significant power over him, as he still bears that tag, ZIBANEJAD.

I'm not sure what Zibanejad the father's background is, but take the country's leader Ali Khamenei who is ethnic Azeri and imagine he emigrated to Sweden. It's easy to think of him as Iranian for he comes from the country of Iran, but wouldn't the subsequent generations of Khameneis in Sweden be better characterized as being of Azeri ancestry?
 

Jumptheshark

Rebooting myself
Oct 12, 2003
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I mean, the same can be said about Barkov then. That he is russian, not finnish. So whats the point. I dont see russians calling Barkov russian all the time like finns call Zibanejad finnish.

Its starting to get embarrassing with all finns trying to get credit for Zibanejad having finnish blood. There is some finnish players who have swedish/other nations blood too...

Since Sweden is multicultural nation is only natural that we have lots of players with non-swedish blood..

Zibanejad is born and raised in Sweden and speaks fluent swedish.


I consider him Swedish-- I know his mother is Finnish so it maybe like Canadians sort of claiming THE ROCK as Canadian because his father was
 
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Tuoppi

Registered User
Sep 9, 2016
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Chris Pronger is half-Finnish, not many know this.

"Early years. Pronger was born in Dryden, Ontario, to Jim and Eila Pronger, an immigrant from Pori, Finland."
My hometown has Armia, Kotkaniemi, Haula, Korpisalo, Lammikko and almost Pronger. We can also claim Raanta a bit.

Boumedienne has similar backround than Zibanejad and wanted to represent Finland but could not make the switch anymore. Barkovs father said that they are a Russian family but Finland asked first. What about Komarov, a Russian born in Estonia and raised in Swedish speaking part of Finland. Lot of players with Finnish roots Matt Niskanen, Jake Virtanen, Pääjärvi, Tommy Salo etc.
 

Tuoppi

Registered User
Sep 9, 2016
295
83
Pori
I think they do this with all celebrities and with events that have a connection to Finland or Finnish people. Just trying to get that forced Finnish angle to make the article more interesting even if the connection is very far-fetched. Like they often like to mention that Pamela Anderson has Finnish roots because her great grandfather was Finnish. Very meaningless thing really, but it makes Finnish reader feel more interested, at least in theory.
Pamela Anderson has roots in Kiimajärvi which means Lake Horny (Its true).
 

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