EHM The Blue Line

McQwak wrote:I managed to go to HC Kladno - HC Sparta Prague last night. It was fantastic atmoshere there, sold out audience and fans cheering for both teams.

While all the advertising is absolutely hideous to me (I’m spoiled watching my old vintage games on DVD with no advertisements on the ice, boards, glass or uniforms)…I LOVE the looks of the arena! I grew up watching hockey in arenas with “character” in the way they were built, and your great pic reminds me of those great arenas!

Great pic!

The last game I saw live was the Sheffield Steelers vs The Cardiff Devils. It was the only match so far this season that the Steelers have lost

We lost 4-2 even though we were 2-1 up since then we have won our next 5 games and are top of the EIHL

This is a pciture I took of the warmup

MWE wrote:The last game I saw live was the Sheffield Steelers vs The Cardiff Devils. It was the only match so far this season that the Steelers have lost

We lost 4-2 even though we were 2-1 up since then we have won our next 5 games and are top of the EIHL

As a neutral, that was a cracking game to watch. I didn't see the full game, but saw the highlights on the SkySports weekly EIHL show (I watch it via Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mediaelitel ... ture=watch ).

The Steelers are looking really strong so far. Both of my teams (Manchester Phoenix and Invicta Dynamos) have had a very hit and miss start so far. I must mention last Sunday's Invicta game, but I'll post that in our British Hockey Thread later this evening.

Corey Pecker has been ace so far for us what a signing

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So here are some photos from yesterday when I attended KHL game Lev Prague vs. Dynamo Moscow. Aka Chara vs. Ovechkin
The game was a little bit boring because Moscow won 1:0, the only (ugly) goal scored by Ovechkin. Beside this goal situation Ovechkin was almost invisible. Chara had several nice slap shots but didn't score.

Esp. for nino: These pictures are from different arena than the previous ones I sent two weeks ago. This arena is the newest in Czech. We had VIP tickets so we had unlimited food and beer and access to VIP lounge where I took photos of those trophies. They are cups for the first three teams in Czech extraleague. This arena is home of Slavia Prague and these trophies all belong to them.

Ovechkin's 'goal' is at 6:50:

That is an excellent view of the game.

Does it cost much to see the KHL? How did you manage to get VIP tickets?

KHL is around €10 here, not that much. We got tickets from our IT supplier (Hewlett-Packard) which is partner of that arena. That was quite a business evening.

And the attendance was 16317! Coyotes or Islanders can envy

Wow, that's cheap!

It is approx €17 to see an EIHL game and €11 to see an NIHL game. And of course the level in the EIHL and moreso the NIHL is far inferior to that of the KHL!!

Its our own faults though if we are stupid enough to keep paying the prices then they will never fall to that level regardless of talent on show.

It costs me about £16.50 to see the Steelers

Cool photos McQwak!
Are the goalie gloves/stick (in the trophy pics) connected to a specific player? The goalie gloves look pretty old school

Hm, I don't know. I didn't examine them that much, sorry.

archibalduk wrote:That is an excellent view of the game.

Does it cost much to see the KHL? How did you manage to get VIP tickets?

Archi - When I went to see Dinamo Riga last season it cost me 12 latvian lat for front row balcony seats that's approx £17! And Riga tickets are one of the more expensive in the league, my Latvian friends tell me! Obviously them teams usually have Oil companies behind them but then you return home and have to pay £15 for an EPL game I nearly fainted!!

Although with Riga's season ticket there is a Platinum package that costs around £7,000! BUT you get to travel with the team on their plane to 3 away games!

Wow, 10 euros to see Lev against Dynamo... This is the price I paid yesterday to watch Reims Phenix vs Bordeaux Boxers

That's... Well, not cool for me

Anyway it was an entertaining game. Bordeaux was very undisciplined, they made a lot of faults, besides a lot of mistakes, and that's why Reims won without a lot of problems.

The 1st goal was scored by Bordeaux. A stupid short handed goal... Reims was about 15 seconds in Bordeaux's zone during the powerplay. Bad pass, interception, break away, goal... As Reims really don't play well defensivly this season, I was affraid that we would have easily lose the game.

But then Reims scored 3 goals in 6 or seven minutes. I don't how much shots they took, but it was quite impressive, it was more ping-pong than hockey.

The 1st period was over, and Reims led the score by by 3-1.

The second period was very frustrating, Bordeaux was short handed a lot of times, and even if Reims continued to shoot a lot, it was impossible for them to score. Finally Bordeaux scored a amazing goal, big slapshot from the blue line.

Then Reims scored short handed, but it was the luckyest goal I've ever seen. The goalie tried to control the puck, and wasn't in his net anymore. He totally screwed it and made the most precise pass ever... on the stick of a Reims's forward. Sounds not like special goal, but everything was so sloooooooow... and really embarrassing to see this poor level... It was scored with less than 2 seconds remaining before the buzzer. I laughed a lot.

Not a lot to say on the third period.

Reims scored 3 pretty boring goals, even if they didn't shoot a lot. Bordeaux's goalie seemed to be totally disconnected. They finally changed their goalie for a huge Slovak guy after the 6-2 mark, but this guy didn't touched the puck a single time, as Reims scored a last goal, on the last shot they took for the game.

Bordeaux scored a last goal at the nearly end of the end the game. Final score 7-3 for Reims.

10 goals in one hour, that's why the game was pretty entertaining. But there were a lot of technical mistakes, stupid penalties, and the third period was really not as good as the first ones, even if 4 goals were scored.

We were about a thousand in the rink, which is pretty good for the french division 1 (second level). A very noisy crowd, that was really cool.

Last game I saw was Nottingham Panthers v Fife Flyers. Cost me £17, and for the first 30 minutes, the game was quite close and entertaining, then the long trip down took its toll on Fife, and the Panthers ran away with a 7-1 victory in the end.

Only get to about a dozen matches a year though, but the atmosphere at some of the games is pretty bloody good.

I went to see Carolina v Tampa Bay last weekend. IN the states right now with work and taking every opportunity to see games! Got 3 more games confirmed over the next two weeks: WAS/CAR, WAS/NYR & WAS/BUF. So stoked to be able to see some real hockey in the flesh!

Benspit, do you attend AIHL games from times to times?

Watched the Kitchener Rangers vs. Sudbury Wolves this past Saturday. Fun game to watch, Rangers won 3-2. Talked to a billet parent for a player that started with Kitchener and then traded to Sudbury. Nice conversation, he said that he hasn't taken another billet yet, and probably will take on a rookie once the other player is done his OHL career.

B. Stinson wrote:To put it in terms of a hockey game... if you're a big fan and want to watch the "behind the scenes" stuff like players warming up, then show up half-an-hour early so you can get down to the glass and watch. If you're not interested in that and just want to see a real hockey game, then don't show up so early; wait for the scheduled start time.

This quote from the FHM Thread made me think: Where do you prefer to watch the game? Next to the glass or further away, more elevated?

This season I've spent a lot of time next to the glass. It definitely gives you a better feel for the game - particularly the physical side. The only downside is that your view can be obscured. When we go to see Slough Jets play, we always stand behind the glass, just to the left of the net (because the seating in the Hangar is not really that great). It's a brilliant view when the puck is in the near zone, but when it's in the far zone you lose a sense of depth. But nonetheless it's still very much an enjoyable place to watch the game.

Because of the way the tickets are normally sold for the EIHL playoff finals weekend, we have normally been stuck in the nosebleeds. However, last month we got front row seats near the blue line (tickets were more freely available this season). The view was obscured when it went into the far corner but other than that, it was probably the best experience I've had at a hockey game (particularly as we had the same seats for all 4 games of the weekend):

Few times I got to MTL I was almost at the top and IMO it's the best view to see everything that is going on on the ice. When a goal is scored at the other end of the rink you're always the first one to see it before the people who are lower, near the ice.

I rotate it around. Sometimes I like to see team play (Ie systems that the teams are using and how they are working for them...or NOT working for them.) Other times I want to be at the glass and see the speed of the game and the individual players. Closer to the action also gives you a better idea of difference in size of players. And a better idea of (when watching younger ones) where their growth may get to...IE 5'5 with a full beard...yeah not growing much 6"5 and no beard and no signs of anything, and hear a high pitched voice yelling and cheering...um MONSTER size kid.

Upstairs gives you a better feel for a player's vision and how understands the game as well as overall skill set. Downstairs refines that feeling you get from watching upstaris about a game, team or player and lets you hear more as well...which is also important to me. (So cannot watch a game when there are no rink sounds.

Well going at the Bell Center I prefer to be up because the view is better and the mood too. Downstairs are just people who got the money to be there and watch silently except when there is a goal. That's another fact, money. 90$ upstairs and 175 and plus downstairs.

The last game I saw live was Canucks and Stars Game 1 during the 06-07 playoffs.

My brother is lucky enough to be attending a conference over in Denver right now. Even better, he managed to get a ticket for last night's Avs v Kings game. Sounds like it was a pretty good game too. It makes my weekend plans of going to Bracknell v Manchester and Guildford v Milton Keynes seem not all that exciting!

Saw it on TV...it was wildly exciting. Especially the 2nd period.

He got one hell of a game! Lucky him. Too bad the wrong team won.