HV71
On Tuesday evening I went to my very first Swedish hockey game. Jönköping is home to the hockey team HV71, and they are actually quite good. The team was founded in 1971, which you can probably guess from the name. The team is actually a fusion of two hockey clubs: Husqvarna IF and Vatterstad IF. I was told that the two teams had a bitter rivalry and they were combined to form a new club that could play at the top levels of Swedish hockey....from what I have heard, this worked. They are really good and have won many championships.
The atmosphere at the game was electrifying. It kind of reminded me of an Arkansas Razorback game, except colder and I couldn't understand the cheers. Nonetheless, you could feel the love that the fans have for their team. My friends and I were lucky enough to get seats in the second row, right behind the goal. I don't know how to describe it as anything other than AWESOME. I have to admit, the intensity with which players were slammed into the glass did scare me at first...but then I decided it was cool, and I started cheering along with everyone else.
The game I went to see was HV71 vs. Djurgården Hockey, and Husqvarna or HV71 for short, won 4-0. Everyone was really excited, so it made my first Swedish hockey game worth while.
The games are three periods of twenty minutes. I noticed that instead of counting down with the time left in the period, the clocks actually counts up to twenty minutes. (They do however count down during the time between periods.) I asked some friends and I learned that the United States is one of the few countries whose clocks count down and show the time remaining in the period, quarter, half...whatever it may be. I will be adding that to my list of things that only the United States does to confuse it's citizens when they travel....
On Tuesday evening I went to my very first Swedish hockey game. Jönköping is home to the hockey team HV71, and they are actually quite good. The team was founded in 1971, which you can probably guess from the name. The team is actually a fusion of two hockey clubs: Husqvarna IF and Vatterstad IF. I was told that the two teams had a bitter rivalry and they were combined to form a new club that could play at the top levels of Swedish hockey....from what I have heard, this worked. They are really good and have won many championships.
The atmosphere at the game was electrifying. It kind of reminded me of an Arkansas Razorback game, except colder and I couldn't understand the cheers. Nonetheless, you could feel the love that the fans have for their team. My friends and I were lucky enough to get seats in the second row, right behind the goal. I don't know how to describe it as anything other than AWESOME. I have to admit, the intensity with which players were slammed into the glass did scare me at first...but then I decided it was cool, and I started cheering along with everyone else.
The game I went to see was HV71 vs. Djurgården Hockey, and Husqvarna or HV71 for short, won 4-0. Everyone was really excited, so it made my first Swedish hockey game worth while.
The games are three periods of twenty minutes. I noticed that instead of counting down with the time left in the period, the clocks actually counts up to twenty minutes. (They do however count down during the time between periods.) I asked some friends and I learned that the United States is one of the few countries whose clocks count down and show the time remaining in the period, quarter, half...whatever it may be. I will be adding that to my list of things that only the United States does to confuse it's citizens when they travel....