(Yahoo) Fortunately for us, they aren’t locked out in the Erste Bank Eishockey League. Over the weekend, Pula Arena, a 2,000-plus-year-old Roman amphitheatre, was transformed into the greatest outdoor hockey venue we’ve ever seen. Medvescak Zagreb played a pair of games against Olimpija Ljubljana and UPC Vienna Capitals in front of over 7,000 fans. As we told you last month, it took six days to transport 150 tons of equipment from Italy to Zagreb, Croatia. Through partners, sponsors and ticket sales, the entire weekend, which also included a legends game, cost the team around 500,000 Euros (approximately $627,000 USD).
Well isn’t this just exactly what I wanted to see 2 days after the NHL officially locked out. Some European hockey league putting our Winter Classic to shame by playing inside a 2,000 year old coliseum that looks like it’s going to crumble if you so much as fart. This has gotta be top 5 coolest sporting events I’ve ever seen. If I was out there and scored, you know the first thing I would yell would be “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! IS THIS WHY YOU ARE NOT HERE?!” then throw my stick on the ice and skate off with the arena in silence. But seriously, at least there are some places in the world that still care about hockey.
PS – Please don’t let Gary Bettman get anywhere near this arena or it will turn into a giant turd
- Kinger
