Alright, a mini blog here.
I took in the first game of the World Hockey Championships Friday night between Team USA and Team Latvia. As soon as you entered the Metro Centre, you definitely noticed an air of difference from the usual QMJHL games played there. Everyone, it seemed, was wearing Latvia jerseys, chanting their team name, huge smiles on their faces. Personally, I’ve never seen anyone so proud of a team that we all know will probably go winless in the tournament.
As I then caught site of the ice surface, the usuals with international ice hockey were present…the Skoda automobiles taking up about 5 rows of prime corner seating to each side of the players benches but one thing was amazingly noticeable. Behind the Latvian net was three full sections of Latvian fans. The section was all maroon with national jerseys while the drums were just loudly banging.
Another major difference…the whistling. During our regular games, you get loud old men screaming out obscenities at the players. It’s not uncommon to hear the:
“Hey Marchand, you bum, pass the puck”
or the ever famous chant of the non hockey fan while watching the powerplay:
“Shoot, Shoot, SHOOT THE PUCK….SHOOT!”
Anyways, with the international fans, none of this. You’d basically think you are at the dog park with all the whistling on the go. And man, is it loud. After seeing some World Junior/Spengler/World Championships on TV, I knew that international hockey fans whistle. But I never realized just how loud it actually was in the stadium. It’s just crazy.
In all, these fans actually made my game. Knowing fully that the young USA team would take the game, I kinda kept an eye out and took in the sights and sounds of the game. I’m saddened that this hockey won’t be around all the time in Atlantic Canada and that our fans aren’t as loud at the games. But hopefully, myself and the boys will some day make a trip overseas to take in some international hockey in its natural form.
3 Comments
May 6, 2008 at 9:02 pm
qmjhl?
what’s that?
none of that here.
idiots that live in this area couldn’t support/hold onto a good thing
May 10, 2008 at 7:28 am
welll, ye Latvians are one crazy fans, they really enjoy the games. And they are really in to fanning, with theyrs souls.
May 10, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Definitely. Most fans here in Halifax are jealous to see a group of fans so energetic and lively during the games.
Went to the Germany/USA game and the German fans are great too. We Canadians (or better yet East Coasters) could learn a lesson on how to support our teams.