Joy in Tampere, fire in Helsinki

Less than 180 kilometers separate the two World Cup venues, Helsinki and Tampere. For me, the distance between the two cities in southern Finland couldn't have been greater that day.

But first things first: I took advantage of Italy's team's non-game day in the capital to make my way to Tampere, where the Nokia Arena, which opened just a few months ago, is located. It is described as the most modern sports arena in the world. In fact, the 13.500 spectator capacity multifunctional hall - true to the American model - offers all the amenities an ice hockey fan could wish for.

The futuristic-looking Nokia Arena sets standards. © www.picturedesk.com / Michal Kamaryt

However, what impressed me in Tampere was not the ice rink, but rather the atmosphere on the city streets. Whether at the train station, in shop windows, at beer stands, along the two fan zones or on the trams - the World Cup logo is emblazoned everywhere. The city administration has temporarily renamed the central shopping mile “Hockey Street”. In the city of 200.000 inhabitants, where two large traditional clubs, Ilves and Tappara, are located, ice hockey is lived and literally breathed in on every corner. So on a Thursday afternoon, more than 2 spectators, many of them neutral Finns, attended the unspectacular game between Great Britain and the USA. In Helsinki, this number of spectators was only achieved on the opening night. Accordingly, the World Cup organizers are expecting a total of 4506 fans in the main venue Tampere, where the semi-finals and the final will also take place, while in Helsinki they are only planning for 250.000 stadium visitors. The “Helsinki Ice Hall” is an emergency solution In general, the euphoria in the metropolis on the Baltic Sea is limited. If it weren't for some foreign fans in their colorful jerseys, you would hardly suspect that a major sporting event is taking place in Helsinki. The fan zone is located far outside in a shopping center and the “Ice Hall”, built in 1966, has long since lost its charm of earlier days. It only stepped in as a replacement venue for the more modern but Russian-owned Hartwall Arena.

As I sit in the brand new Ice Palace in Tampere and begin to write these lines, I receive an unusual message: There is a fire in the World Cup hall in Helsinki! Players, journalists and fans had to be evacuated immediately before the game between Germany and Denmark. The game finally started significantly late. Although the fire quickly turned out to be a small cable fire, for me the incident symbolized a clear realization: there are whole worlds between Tampere and Helsinki.

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Joy in Tampere, fire in Helsinki

SportNews took a look at both venues for the Ice Hockey World Cup in Finland and came to the conclusion that there are (ice hockey) worlds between Helsinki and Tampere.

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