Last game you've seen live?

[A9L3E]

How much did it cost?

[nino33]

We booked our tickets for the World Championships today. We'll be watching five group games plus two quarter final games.

That's pretty cool! I'm envious

[archibalduk]

I can't remember exactly, but it works out about €66 per game which isn't too bad for category 1 seats. It's not something I could afford to do very often though! I went home in my lunch hour to book them (the day tickets went on sale this morning) and the quarters had nearly sold out.

I have been wanting to go to this for years - it's just been a case of waiting until it was relatively local and having the spare time to take off work.

[A9L3E]

Not bad at all! In Finland the same tickets would have most likely been over 200€.

[Manimal]

Me and a friend went to watch a SHL-game yesterday. I try to go whenever Djurgården is coming to town.
Djurgården has had a difficult start to the season but played a fast game with hard fore-checking. I was pleasantly surprised!
Too bad they couldn't score more than two goals on Färjestad, which led to a shootout-loss.

[Calv]

Looking like I'll be in Helsinki 7th - 11th November. Jokerit are at home on the Tuesday & Thursday and HIFK are at home on the Thursday. Will try to get to Jokerit on Tuesday & IFK on Thursday Just need the trip to be confirmed first!

[A9L3E]

"Tervetuloo meidän Helsinkiin..."

[Calv]

"Tervetuloo meidän Helsinkiin..."

Thanks! Booked my tickets to both games yesterday

[A9L3E]

Thanks! Booked my tickets to both games yesterday

Which stand?

[Calv]

109

[nino33]

Just bought tickets to this Tuesday's game at Rogers Place between team WHL and team Russia! My wife and I thought it was a good chance to check out the new arena and far less expensive than an Oiler game...two tickets, 6th row, $60 (it's been many years since I've been to an Oiler game, or any live hockey game...so looking forward to Tuesday, should be fun!)

[philou21]

That's awesome! I hope it's going to be a good game.

[Calv]

The refs missed a blatant too many men call this evening

[Manimal]

LOL, post of the year quality!

[A9L3E]

On a serious note, what did you think of the refereeing?

[Calv]

On a serious note, what did you think of the refereeing?

Refs were okay, missed a couple of calls but nothing major. They seemed more lenient than the refs in the UK

[Calv]

Assat beat HIFK this evening 4-2, sealing the win with a late empty net goal. HIFK started strongly, capitalising on a mistake by the Assat netminder early-on to go 1-0 up. Assat evened it up with a rocket of a slapshot before HIFK scored a nice PP goal through Petrell. Assat got another 2 goals, I think Backstrom will want the 3rd back as he seemed to be a bit slow to react to the bounce of the puck off the backboards. After the 3rd goal, HIFK never looked like evening it up.

[nino33]

Just bought tickets to this Tuesday's game at Rogers Place between team WHL and team Russia! My wife and I thought it was a good chance to check out the new arena and far less expensive than an Oiler game...two tickets, 6th row, $60 (it's been many years since I've been to an Oiler game, or any live hockey game...so looking forward to Tuesday, should be fun!)

And now it looks like I'll be going to an Oiler game! My daughter got two tickets to the game against Dallas tomorrow night (from work as a "way to go" reward) and has invited me! I really can't remember the last time I went to a game before this week, and now two in four days!

[A9L3E]

Assat beat HIFK this evening 4-2, sealing the win with a late empty net goal. HIFK started strongly, capitalising on a mistake by the Assat netminder early-on to go 1-0 up. Assat evened it up with a rocket of a slapshot before HIFK scored a nice PP goal through Petrell. Assat got another 2 goals, I think Backstrom will want the 3rd back as he seemed to be a bit slow to react to the bounce of the puck off the backboards. After the 3rd goal, HIFK never looked like evening it up.

Which game did you like more?

[Calv]

Neither game was a classic really, I would say I enjoyed the IFK game more due to the atmosphere and there being more checking. I do, however, enjoy the skill level of the Jokerit games.

It's looking likely I'll be back again in December, so I'll try to take in some more games then

[A9L3E]

I must admit, 'twas not the greatest match of the season. Even Eteläpääty was anemic that night.

[nino33]

Overall I enjoyed the two games I saw at Rogers place this week Things that stood out for me...

• I saw the WHL/Russia game 6 rows from the ice, and the Oiler game 5 rows from the top of the building....completely preferred the higher view
• sitting 6 rows from the ice what stood out for me was the goaltenders ridiculously oversized equipment (their pants look like giant saggy diapers and their upper body protection makes their heads look tiny) and the huge amount of time goaltenders play on your knees nowadays; players themselves looked "normal" to me/not much if any difference from decades ago
• from 6 rows from the ice seeing through the penalty box area to the other end of the ice was very difficult (but action on half the ice was "right in front of you")
• I can't stand the amount of advertising in its various forms...if the positive of attending with a family member didn't help me balance this out I might never want to go to a live game
• at the WHL/Russia game the blaring music was almost all rap/dance style and for me that was painful to endure...I was worried the Oiler game would be similar, but it wasn't (mostly rock/heavy rock...Rush was played more than once! and Ace of Spades by Motorhead!)
• not an issue at the WHL/Russia game, but at the Oiler game the amount of people getting up/returning during the game was excessive...mostly to obtain alcohol; sure was a lot of drinking going on!
• the lack of real body contact/hitting was really noticeable to me...the stats say Pitlick had 6 hits and Lucic 4, but I'm not convinced I saw 10 hits in the two games combined! Really "soft" hockey nowadays (while they chip/dump it in play is in use as much as ever if not more, the formerly connected hitting style/intensive forechecking is nonexistent)
• the higher view was great! Very steep, so still pretty close to the ice, and great for watching the game as a whole/seeing things develop
• Lehtonen was solid, (but despite an alleged 72 shots and 67 saves by the two goalies I can't think of one top flight save I saw); Talbot didn't impress me...relies on on being hit by the puck (not "making saves") and regularly seems to overplay things/be out of position with the sliding around on the knees style
• McDavid was clearly the best player on the ice...exciting every time he touched the puck, and made a number of deft hockey plays as well as the expected rushes
• the new arena itself is nothing significantly special to me...looks impressive from the outside, and the giant box of screens hanging over center ice is huge/clear and impressive, the lower bowl seats are wider and the seats are comfortable, but otherwise it mostly looks/feels like a regular hockey rink to me
• as expected, food/drink prices are really high ($9 for my cheeseburger, $5 for my water, $7 for my ice cream)

My daughter really enjoyed attending, and so we may well be going again this year!

[philou21]

The couple of times I went to MTL to watch a game, I always prefered been higher in the arena. The only game I watched in the first rows ( was like 4 or 5 from the ice) I was impressed by the speed of the game but except that I didn't see much. Like Nino said once they're in the other territory you miss almost everything.

Now been placed almost at the top of the Bell Centre it gets interesting. You see absolutely everything. Every plays, every missed opportunity or plays getting made from the degensive zone through the attack zone. It's alot more fun when you like to analyze hockey IMO. Also, since tickets cost alot, the real fans are most likely to be higher and the mood is very different compared to the lower and costly sections.

[A9L3E]

In Jokerit - Kunlun Red Star match I found myself situated in front of two Spaniards who were spectating ice hockey for the first time in their life, and to my right there was a group of French tourists. How they found themselves to the fan stand, I will never know, but at least the Spaniards told me to have enjoyed the experience.

[Calv]

IFK-sport ended 0-0 this evening, wasn't a classic but wasn't too bad IFK just struggled to break down Sport, who kept them to the outside and also had the bounces go their way on a couple of occasions. IFK eventually won on penalties