Slavia Hockey Game

Last night we went to a Slavia hockey game against Vitkovice. It was basically like a Dartmouth game, except the beer was cheaper, more people could fit in the stadium, and their jerseys were WAY more colorful- it was hard to follow the puck at times with so many distractions on the jersey and pained on the ice! Slavia is one of the two Prague teams that play in the Czech Extraliga, which was created out of the Czechoslovak First Hockey League after the breakup with Slovakia in 1993. While most of the best players go to the NHL (there are 57 Czech NHL players currently, behind only the US and Canada), it is still an extremely high level of hockey. Almost all the players of the Czech Olympic team play for the NHL, except for a few players in Russia, and two players we saw last night- the goalie on the other team, and Roman Cervenka, a Slavia player. So that was cool.

Everyone had a lot of fun at the game, even though we were tired after our long weekend. All the Dartmouth kids went, along with about ten Czech grad students, who were very helpful. I am glad I understand hockey, because I couldn't understand much of what was said. Obviously I had to brag to the Czech students about my hockey skills. They were impressed. However, I neglected to mention the fact I can't skate backwards or turn right. Not important.

It was funny because they played a lot of old American songs during the breaks, and everyone would sing along. We were sitting near the Vitkovice section, but we had a good view of the Slavia "Fan Klub," who got pretty rowdy. Not wanting to be left out, we bought t-shirts and tried to cheer... when we could understand. The hockey arena was beautiful, and looked very much like a NHL arena back home. It was built specially for the 2004 Men's World Hockey championship.

Afterward, we went out to a pub with the Czech grad students, which is always entertaining. Their English loosens up (funny how that happens), and you learn a lot more about them and the culture. All around, a fun night. In a few weeks (when it gets a little warmer) we will check out a local soccer game, and see how that compares!