ICE-HOCKEY AT MALLASHOVI

Hello again! On our last group meeting we went to a pub called “Malashovi”, placed near the main square in the centre town. This pub is so popular among the students because they make a discount on drinks if you show your student card to the barman. It’s a good excuse to leave home. Besides, it was so cold outside, that’s why we decided to go to this place. The place was so crowded because Tampere ice-hockey team (Tappara) was playing against “Jukurit”, and a lot of people was there watching it and drinking beers. Other people was playing pool near the bar while watching the game. This place is quite curious, it has some stuffed reindeer head hanging on the walls, and two or three fishbowls with different fish types inside.

We could sit in the middle of the pub, and started talking about what sports were more popular in our countries. The Belgian guys told us that cycling was so popular among people of their country. Football is also important in Belgium, but they told us that it hasn’t the same power than in Spain. Although Belgian football players are very strong individually, they don’t manage to play well in team when they concentrate with the selection. Both we the Spanish and the Belgians haven’t seen before an ice-hockey game on live. I was really surprised at the aggressiveness of the game. Most of the time the players were pushed violently against the walls of the field. I thought that this only happened in the NLF of the United States, but I could check that not. Some colleagues from our residence went to see the match at the stadium (Tampereen jäähalli), and they told us that the experience was incredible.

We learned some things about ice-hockey games because a Finnish guy which was sitting next to us started talking about it. Each team has 6 players that can be on the ice during the game, one of them playing as a goalkeeper and the others as field players. The game consists in scoring more goals than your opponent team, using the sticks while skating on the ice. The match is divided into 3 parts of 20 minutes each one. As in futsal (football indoor with 5 players each team), the clock only runs when the puck is in play, so it’s more than 20 minutes each part. There are 2 judges that manage the game, and they also point the faults and the penalties. In case of a penalty, the team that has made the fault should play with one less player for two minutes.

I have also noticed that many people in the street was wearing the Tappara’s official equipment. In addition, I remember that some days in which there is a game, they put a Tappara’s scarf on the statues located at Hammenkatu’s bridge. It seems logical that ice-hockey is the most popular sport here in Finland, because I think any outside sport except skiing can be played during winter months. During the game, we learned some words in Belgian:

Goal

Doelpost

Players

Spelers
Referee

Scheidsrechter

Stadium

Stadion

Supporters

Opgeblazen

Goalkeeper

Doelverdediger

Ice

Ijs
Cold

Koude

Ice skates

Ijsschaatsen

It was a nice evening! We enjoyed the game and the atmosphere in this pub. See you next day and enjoy the first snow!

Comments

What a lovely dip into the sports culture of different countries! Thumbs up!

Henri Annala

1.11.2017 14:24

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