Ice Hockey Match (2/23/1982)

Tuesday, February 23, 1982

At 16:00, Jan and I went to the town of Port to a foam rubber shop to order some supplies for work, then went to the huge Carrefour store, which seemed like a K-Mart with half the space devoted to groceries. They even had the big shopping carts like in U.S. grocery stores, instead of the baskets we usually have to carry here. On the way home we saw a strange sun through a dusky fog.

This evening I was going to an ice hockey game, leaving at 19:10 to make my way carefully down the icy short-cut stairs. I had to hold onto whatever was available to keep from falling down. I got to the Bulova bus stop and the trolley-bus soon came at 19:25. I used my 12-ticket pass and rode to the end of the line. A crowd of people got off with me, and we walked down Länggasse to the Eisstadion/Ice Arena. Most everyone was wearing hats and scarves in yellow and red, the Biel team colors. Jan treats the daughter of the team captain, and he has a day job, so I believe the team is semi-professional. He “works” evenings for the Eis Hockey Club (EHC) Biel-Bienne. I bought a 20 CHF/$10 seat ticket instead of the 8 CHF/$4 standing ticket. I was given an entry ticket and a seat number card.

Seat card front

Seat card back

I entered section K where my ticket was taken and the card punched. Ushers helped me find my seat in the ninth row, six seats from the wall. I was at a good height, but way down at the end by the goal. There were no more than 20-25 rows of seats. The standees had one end of the arena to themselves. They were the rowdiest shouting “Heja, Heja!” and “Hopp Biel!” while waving banners, flags, and their scarves. I sat with a group of Fribourg fans who smoked despite the “No Smoking” sign. They had lots to drink and say. The sign at the door stated no glass bottles were allowed, but the outdoor concessions sold beverages in glass bottles and people openly brought them into the stands. The fellow next to me often leaned forward blocking my view and he did lots of jumping up and down so that I was fearful for my very cold feet! I was glad I wore two pairs of socks and my sweatshirt as well as my ski jacket. I could see my breath and at first didn’t realize people were smoking!

The opponent tonight was HC Fribourg dressed in blue with “Jumbo” printed across the back of their shirts and a blue elephant with a red trunk on the front. Biel had their home white uniform with red and yellow trim, and the crossed axes of Biel on the front and “Bieler Tagblatt/Biel Daily Paper” on the back. The free program stated that Biel has been a national champion and they are known to have the perfect components of a perfect team. However, this year they are in a big slump.

Program

Team rosters

This is the 9th of 10 rounds in the "finals," and it looks like they play 5 teams twice. So far Biel is 2-5-1!
After the teams warmed up, a pair of Zambonis came out to clear the ice, followed by the man with a hand drill to make the holes for the nets. The match began at 20:00 with Fribourg making a mad dash towards the Biel goal, but our goalie made a save! Then Biel dashed towards the Fribourg goal and scored 30 seconds into the game! Several times in the first period the Fribourg team pulled their goalie to have six attackers. There were no penalties in the first period, but several in the next two. Players were poking their sticks everywhere. Fribourg scored in a power play situation, and once when they were a man short. When Fribourg started dominating, the fans began throwing paper confetti, and even a roll of toilet paper onto the ice. The best Biel players appeared to be the captain Jakob Kölliker, Serge Martel, and Richmond Gosselin. Once Gosselin took a shot that broke his stick and he had to chase down the puck, trying to stop a shot by throwing his body on the puck. It scored… The fans loved it when one of the referees (who wore helmets) fell on the ice and ended up with a white rear end.

Between periods people went outside to the concession stands, getting blue cards to allow them back in. They came back with tea or coffee in plastic cups, or beer in tiny glass bottles, and with sausages on a roll and even thick juicy hamburgers! All during the second and third periods people kept coming in with their hamburgers. It was as if they were here for the hamburgers instead of the game!

Also between periods they played “oldies, but goodies” over the Public Address system, including “Tu sei l’unica donna per me”! The announcements were in French and German. Some people in wheelchairs sat in the front row below me and one fellow was reclined in his chair. When he got excited, I thought he would shoot back out of his chair because he went into more extension!

I couldn’t see the scoreboard which was on the end wall near me. But I knew Biel was losing, and they ended the game losing 6-9. They looked tired when the game ended at 22:20. The crowds rushed to exit; actually it wasn’t a huge crowd as the arena was perhaps at half capacity.

Outside, I figured out the use of the trolley-bus wires that go down Länggasse. After games, the trolley buses come right to the Eisstadion/Ice Arena to take the fans home. Once a trolley bus and its trailer filled up, it left and then proceeded to follow the usual Line 1 route. There were also regular buses that were going to the Bahnhof/train station.

I got off at the Bulova station and proceeded up the short-cut stairs, hauling myself up with the handrails at icy spots. It was crisp and cold. With low temperatures and a few days of snow, it looks like winter has finally arrived!