The First Russian Hockey Game

I attended my first Russian hockey game last week, with a few friends from school.  We didn’t really know what to expect; other co-workers had told us that the games were silent, that we could hear players talking on the ice with the silence in the arena.  I had trouble believing this, considering my last hockey game was so loud that I could barely hear the person next to me, but Russia has been full of surprises.

The floating blimps.

So, we met at the door of our building, got on the Metro to the other side of town, and walked in the cold (it’s about 10 degrees F most days now) to the arena.  It’s massive, with a ton of concrete space out front for meeting.  There were security stations at every door, and the women’s line with the female guard was short enough for us to get through with no issue.  And inside, the typical hockey arena.  It is food, gear, door, followed by food, gear, door.  The special Russian touch, though… is the coat check area.  I’ve never been someplace with so many coat checks in so many locations.

Ice dancer cheerleaders.

This brand new arena is what they’ve built for the Moscow home team: Dynamo. 

The game we saw was Dynamo versus their rival from St. Petersburg: SKA. (This is not to be confused with CSKA, a more local team also in Moscow).

Waiting for the team to emerge.

We got into our door (finally, after walking through the circle of the arena and passing our door with the way the signs fell).  We had our tickets checked by a man in a vest, and went down to our seats behind one of the nets.  On our seats were these cardstock announcements with the Dynamo logos, pieces that we could fold as a noisemaker.  How useful they were when hit against the palm of your hand.

Quick huddle.

As we waited for the game to start, there was an emcee on the ice getting the crowd riled up.  There was a mascot (a blue wolf) who also riled successfully.  There were some figure skating ladies dancing on the ice. 

The SKA cheering section.

We found out that alcohol is not sold for the general population, which appears to be a theme at the public events. 

Folding paper thing.

The game was also quite nice.  First period saw SKA open with a goal, then Dynamo retaliate with a goal that had the crowd wild.  There was a section in the nosebleed seats that was a SKA flavored cheering section.  They had a large drum that they beat in time to make cheers.  The large Dynamo section was at the other end of the arena from us, behind the other net.  They were considerably noisier and had a flag that was almost constantly in motion.  There were also cheerleaders that came to cheer on the steps around us, spaced throughout the arena.

I must say, I was most disappointed with the lack of fighting.  The Pens get in fights about every 10 minutes, but we only saw one skirmish and it didn’t involve the gloves thrown on the floor.  Even the penalty box was relatively clear, just a couple of players in for small infractions.  One of the bigger parts of the game was sticks left on the ice and knocked out of the hands of the players.

This ref. This ref was the best.

However, I wouldn’t fight with the refs that were in the game either.  There was one ref that kept telling the face off players to switch because they had moved too quickly, or kept watching the circle to ensure that no one was getting too close to the action before the puck was thrown.  He kept the players in line with his whole demeanor, chastising them for every toe that crept too far past the circle. 

A crushing defeat.

Sadly, Dynamo fell in the third period after a clever goal by SKA that pushed them into the lead, but the game was close, and remarkably entertaining.  Certainly an experience to repeat, and a quite inexpensive one at that.  It was not a quiet match at any moment, and the crowd was never silent enough that we could hear the players on the ice. 

In fact, I learned a new word: “dvai,” which I believe means, “come on!”  One man was repeating it over and over again for his team: SKA.