Ice hockey, Czechia’s puckish ‘other’ sport

Maybe football is the No 1 sport in Czechia, but ice hockey comes a close second. If you’re weary of the contrived theatricals of glitzy top-flight soccer, a visit to an ice hockey match is a refreshing experience.

Like rugby or American football, it’s very physical – hence the old joke of ‘a game of hockey broke out at the ice fight’ – but the sheer speed afforded by the skates makes it a breathtakingly fast and exhilarating sport to watch.

Czechia is one of those select countries that does the sport. And it does it in a big way. The national team is in the world top five, along with the US, Canada, Sweden and Finland. Tournament wins are a big deal; they carried off the Winter Olympic gold in 1998, and every Czech remembers where they were when it happened.

Anyway, last week in Plzeň I dropped in to watch the local team play Vítkovice (big thanks Helena for wangling tickets at the last minute). Terrific stuff, particularly as Plzeň overturned a 2-0 deficit to roar back and win 5-2.

Matches consist of three 20-minute periods with 15-minute intervals in between. In those intervals the entertainment continues, with kids’ matches. The clock often stops within the periods of play for various reasons, such as kids coming on with shovels to sweep the playing surface clean of ice shavings. If watching that doesn’t appeal, beer is of course available in the bars behind the terraces. With those breaks the whole match will last over two hours.

An ice hockey crowd has a good proportion of women and kids, with a local-family-support feel. It’s also very, very loud – think drum beats and constant, varied chanting and singing, not all of it necessarily in the politest Czech – and the atmosphere is electric. Go and watch a match!

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