A difficult but victorious beginning of a new era! How the Siberia Arena hosted the first KHL match
Ekaterina Vasilevich September 7, 2023, 20:50 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Krut arrived, made a snowflake out of parts, and sang the hymn a cappella. And “Sibir” squeezed “Barys” in a shootout.
After the match between Russia and Belarus, after the friendly matches of the Siberian Snipers, after the Belosokhov tournament, the KHL finally arrived at the new stadium in Novosibirsk. The league chose a strange opponent: Avangard, of course, would be ideal. But they were afraid of retaliation from Omsk fans (a year ago, Novosibirsk fans chanted “Forward, Siberia” during a speech by the Omsk club management), or of Sibir’s inevitable defeat by a formidable opponent. As a result, we had a long match between Novosibirsk and Barys, but at the same time full of chances.
For me, the main question of the opening match is whether it is appropriate to hold a celebration on such a day. 12 years since the death of Lokomotiv is absolutely no cause for celebration, and this strange decision by the league immediately attracted attention.
The pre-match show began with an impromptu box match in Ob. A small skating rink was placed on the ice, a small goal was brought out, and Egor Milovzorov, recently retired from his career, and club veteran Dmitry Zatonsky came out onto the ice. And on the sides of the mini skating rink there were extras in the form of ordinary street fans. Thus, within the walls of a huge ice palace, the simplest playground was built, in which probably all professional hockey players played in their childhood. It’s hard to say that the club performance significantly surpassed the FHR performance: the dancing is beautiful, but it has already become commonplace at all performances, and fans noted that they were not very dynamic. But it was on them that most of the discovery was built. But still, it was the club that looked the most impressive. How much is a snowflake on ice worth, collected piece by piece?
Pre-match show at the opening of the Siberia Arena
Photo: hcsibir.ru
Pre-match show at the opening of the Siberia Arena
Photo: “Championship”
Traditional glow bracelets have become an integral part of modern hockey celebrations and, in some cases, simply games. At the old Novosibirsk stadium they were a rarity rather than a frequent occurrence. In the new stadium I think they will be able to be used much more often. And they look much more impressive in a two-tiered bowl. Especially when they light up one by one and create the sensation of a wave.
On a day like this you cannot do without a moment of silence. A holiday is a holiday, but it is very important to preserve the memory of the deceased. And, of course, traditionally a special sector was allocated for Lokomotiv players and a stand with photographs of the players was set up in the stadium lobby.
Lokomotiv monument at the Siberia Arena
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov, photo.khl.ru
Lokomotiv monument at the Siberia Arena
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov, photo.khl.ru
This year I was not impressed with the structure from which hockey players traditionally take to the ice. Previously it was a huge inflatable snowman, then it was replaced by a small snowflake. Now it is a snowman-shaped exit. In fact, it is a continuation of the club’s video about the team’s move and the Snowman’s search for his place in the new stadium. This move is pretty cool for once, but leaving it for the entire season would be overkill.
Sibir’s players show up for the first match in the new arena.
Photo: hcsibir.ru
By the way, this time the snowman was not walking alone. That day, a faithful door pusher and only one companion approached him: the league’s new mascot, Krut. The fog under the arches of the arena also added to the atmosphere. But some fans complained that the inauguration was quite sad.
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It cannot be said that the stadium was filled to capacity. There was little time before the tickets were sold out and the only bald spots were left in the central sector, the most expensive, where the price of tickets reached 5,990 rubles. Perhaps if Avangard had arrived, this sector would have been filled. But there weren’t that many people willing to spend large amounts of money in Barys. However, we still say: in Novosibirsk the attendance record was broken: 10,418 people attended the match. Considering that Kirill Fastovsky is not against increasing capacity, this is only the first album to be released. And the old atmosphere really carried over into the new house. For the first time we sing the hymn a cappella. It is true that the announcer should have announced it in advance; obviously not everyone read the announcement on social media about this and someone could have simply forgotten. But it still sounded loud. The acoustics changed, but the legendary “Hail, Siberia” sounded as it should and the fans pushed the team with the same force as six months ago in the old LDS.
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The match itself, to put it mildly, dragged on. There were more than enough chances, even in extra time. But in the end the puck did not enter the goal either in regulation time or in overtime. A huge contrast: a few days ago, these same teams had a penalty shootout and scored eight seconds into overtime. But today only three penalties have been taken between the two teams. Alex Grant scored for Barys and Sergey Dubakin and Taylor Beck scored for Sibir. You can fantasize and decide that “Siberia” decided to prolong the pleasure of the vacation and extend it as much as possible. But based on the preseason and the first game of the season, I would be more inclined to conclude that for now Siberia is an ineffective servant of hockey.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. The video can be seen on the official website of the league.
The main event of the date 09/07 is the death of hockey Lokomotiv. As the years go by, the pain will not disappear, it will not be easy to remember it. But hockey must live and move on. New scenarios should appear. At least so that the memory of that legendary Lokomotiv remains alive. So that his eternal hockey game in the heavenly league continues.
