Finnish stadiums are worse than in Russia. But in this country, Russian hockey players are still warmly welcomed.

Daria TuboltsevaReport from the NHL Global Series match in Tampere, where Colorado and Columbus met. After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL has returned to the idea of ​​relegated matches in Europe. This fall, as part of the NHL Global Series, San Jose and Nashville played in Prague, while Colorado and Columbus went to Tampere. Given the proximity of the Finnish border to my native St. Petersburg and the possibility of crossing it in the current conditions (now they are not allowed on tourist visas), I decided to go to the Avalanche and Blue Jackets games. Despite the fact that in Finland I no longer know what time (let it be the 20th), I never got to Tampere. 310 km from the border, nothing particularly remarkable city. Well, unless you’re a hockey fan. Because Tampere is the motherland Patrick Laine. One of the main Finnish stars today. Laine is generally lucky. Four years ago, together with Winnipeg, he played in his homeland (though in Helsinki), now in his hometown with Columbus. I was told that for the current matches I took only 30 tickets for relatives (in 2018, almost 200). For hockey players it is very important to get the opportunity to play at home. Vlad Gavrikov described with such enthusiasm how happy his partner was to be back in Finland. “Of course, I would dream of playing in Yaroslavl with the NHL team at home,” he said, not without sadness. If 3-4 years ago you could hope for it (there were some talks), now it’s better to forget it. The NHL refused me accreditation as a journalist, so I went to the matches as an ordinary fan (thanks a lot to Misha Maltsev, who gave me two tickets) . I sat in the sector, where everyone was entirely in the sweaters of Rantanen and Lehkonen. Behind my friend and I was Sandis Ozolins, a Latvian defender who took the Stanley Cup with Colorado. It turned out that our sector is the families and friends of Avalanche players and employees. With every goal of the reigning champions, people jumped up on our podium and applauded loudly (and there were many goals). A row ahead of me sat two young blonde girls. They were screaming especially loudly. During the second break, she conducted an “investigation” on a social network banned in Russia and found out that one of them was the wife of Mikko Rantanen. And yes, the players’ wives were not in the box. In the course of the game, the avalanche legend Peter Forsberg was shown at the cup; to my surprise, he was also sitting on the podium next to ordinary fans. But Europeans do not bother about this at all. The simpler they are, the better. The match was announced to be a full house. Nokia Arena in Tampere was opened in 2021. Hockey holds 13,455 people. But it seems that the organizers were cunning. Only next to me there were four empty seats. This, by the way, is related to the fact that it is almost impossible to collect completely packed stands (someone who bought a ticket, to whom it was presented, may simply not come). The atmosphere was unusual for the Russian audience. During the meeting, the fans were very quiet. Everyone calmly watched the game, occasionally clapping, even less frequently whistling. It’s hard to say who they rooted for more. There were enough fans of Laine and fans of Rantanen. The game itself left a great impression – the speed is amazing, the throws are powerful. Makar is a hockey player from another planet. You look at it live and you don’t understand how you can slide so quickly, make decisions so quickly. Unfortunately, due to an injury, Valery Nichushkin did not play. Very little time was given to Mikhail Maltsev (4:41). The focus was on Alexander Georgiev, who has 36 saves from 39 shots, but he did not look confident, there are questions about missed goals. The Russians in Columbus finished the game with no points. Chinakhov played a little – 9:42, he has “-1”. Gavrikov has zero utility. Tarasov was in reserve. There were also negative moments in the evening hockey. The day before the match, open training sessions of the teams were held at the stadium. And then I was completely delighted with the arena. It is new, comfortable, with an unusual interior in a sub-tribune. Also located in the city center. Nokia Arena is very close to the train station, and stands above the railway tracks, plus more buildings are built into it. There is a hotel where the teams live, and a casino. The last one is interesting. Fans, then, will drink beer / wine / whiskey and after the match of their favorite team they will go to play blackjack. Convenient for casino owners. The main disadvantage of this stadium is that it is not suitable for a large number of spectators. I was shocked to see a line to enter an hour and a half before the game. Is this what happens in 2022 in the new arena? Inside, things were even worse. In the rooms under the stands it was not overcrowded. To buy paraphernalia, it was necessary to defend a huge queue. Prices “bite”: T-shirts for €25-35, jersey €150, puck €15, cap €35. Yes, and the choice was not so great, although they sold everything in an instant. You also had to stand in line for beer. Prices are even more cosmic: € 8.4 for 0.4 liters (about 500 rubles). It is interesting that in Finland at sports facilities you can sell not only beer, but also wine (there was even a wine bar that was in demand) and strong alcohol. Drinks and food can be taken with you in a bowl (it is forbidden in Russia). And despite the abundance of alcohol and the stereotype of the ever-drinking Finns, everything was peaceful and calm. During the game, I remembered that the Russian players had problems in Prague (Dominik Hasek insisted that they should not be allowed into the Czech Republic). In Finland, where there are no less radical people towards the Russians, nothing like this happened. The guys were welcomed as warmly as the rest (by the way, there were even more Russians in the squads than in the Finns). And yes, such matches make you believe that there is a normal life, normal hockey without a socio-political context. Cool at least for a while to plunge into such a truly hockey atmosphere.