On a spectacular late August afternoon, in one of the world’s truly beautiful cities, I found myself among 1,000 crazy hockey fans taking in a HC Sparta pre-season match against JYP Jyväskylä from Finland.   Although I’ve given up as a diehard fan of NHL hockey (losing your team will do that to you), the enjoyment of the sport itself is deep in my Canadian DNA.  An opportunity to see my first game on the larger ice surface in another hockey-mad country was just too good a chance to pass up.

What do diehard Czech hockey fans look like?  Probably something like these good folk waiting to head into the arena:

Not only were there passionate HC Sparta fans, but a group of people traveled from Jyväskylä, Finland to watch their team, JYP play…. and they did that for a pre-season game.  They even shelled out for a private box for the game.  Looks like they had a good time:

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