The Ripper
02-07-2011, 03:00 PM
Just the bare facts on this occasion, as we shall be returning to this story in our weeklies tomorrow.
The long-awaited "Winter Classic " open-air local derby between Helsinki ice hockey rivals Jokerit and HIFK in the Olympic Stadium was played on Saturday in more or less ideal conditions: a few degrees below and some atmospheric snowflakes coming down.
The match was won 4-3 by HIFK - with a lightning start putting them 2-0 up within just 43 seconds of the start and a brace of goals supplied by popular 18-year-old prospect Mikael Granlund - and although this game is hardly likely to have decided the SM-Liiga all by itself, it was a larger-than-life experience, with a full house of 36,644 fans packed into the unusual venue.
So successful was the experiment, even though there were some scuffles between rival fans before the game and a more organised brawl in a nearby park after the match was over, that people are already talking about a repeat performance.
In fact, the new attendance record for the league (and for the Nordic region, since it eclipsed the 31,144 set in Sweden last year) could be short-lived.
Lahti Pelicans plan to play a similar match in the Lahti skiing and ski-jumping arena in 2012 with a projected audience of 40,000-45,000.
The Swedes are also not taking this lying down: they intend to arrange an open-air event in connection with the 2013 IIHF World Championships.
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135263590742.jpeg
The match was played in an exceptional location, but within easy walking distance of both teams' home ice. HIFK normally play at the Helsinki Ice Hall, immediately adjacent to the Olympic Stadium to the back left of the picture, and the Hartwall Arena, home of Jokerit, is not far away north in the district of Pasila (centre background). The last time the Olympic Stadium hoseted an ice hockey match was all of 70 years ago, in 1941.
Photo:
AAPO HUHTA
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135263590651.jpeg
HIFK's Hannes Hyvönen closes in on the Jokerit goalmouth. Nico Manelius (58) tries to cut him off before Hyvönen can get off a shot at Jan Lasak's goal.
Photo:
AAPO HUHTA
The long-awaited "Winter Classic " open-air local derby between Helsinki ice hockey rivals Jokerit and HIFK in the Olympic Stadium was played on Saturday in more or less ideal conditions: a few degrees below and some atmospheric snowflakes coming down.
The match was won 4-3 by HIFK - with a lightning start putting them 2-0 up within just 43 seconds of the start and a brace of goals supplied by popular 18-year-old prospect Mikael Granlund - and although this game is hardly likely to have decided the SM-Liiga all by itself, it was a larger-than-life experience, with a full house of 36,644 fans packed into the unusual venue.
So successful was the experiment, even though there were some scuffles between rival fans before the game and a more organised brawl in a nearby park after the match was over, that people are already talking about a repeat performance.
In fact, the new attendance record for the league (and for the Nordic region, since it eclipsed the 31,144 set in Sweden last year) could be short-lived.
Lahti Pelicans plan to play a similar match in the Lahti skiing and ski-jumping arena in 2012 with a projected audience of 40,000-45,000.
The Swedes are also not taking this lying down: they intend to arrange an open-air event in connection with the 2013 IIHF World Championships.
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135263590742.jpeg
The match was played in an exceptional location, but within easy walking distance of both teams' home ice. HIFK normally play at the Helsinki Ice Hall, immediately adjacent to the Olympic Stadium to the back left of the picture, and the Hartwall Arena, home of Jokerit, is not far away north in the district of Pasila (centre background). The last time the Olympic Stadium hoseted an ice hockey match was all of 70 years ago, in 1941.
Photo:
AAPO HUHTA
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135263590651.jpeg
HIFK's Hannes Hyvönen closes in on the Jokerit goalmouth. Nico Manelius (58) tries to cut him off before Hyvönen can get off a shot at Jan Lasak's goal.
Photo:
AAPO HUHTA