Looking for a great night of fast and furious sporting action? Den Haag’s Skoda Duindam Wolves of the Dutch Elite Ice Hockey League will keep the pucks and fists flying through February.
For a Canadian girl who misses hockey more than her own parents and is suffering from a severe case of withdrawal ever since the North American Sports Network went off the air here, I decided it was time to see a good live Dutch ice hockey game for myself.
The destination was Den Haag’s ‘De Uithof’ ice rink, where the Den Haag Skoda Duindam Wolves and Ruijters Eaters Geleen of the Dutch Elite Ice Hockey League were set to do battle. Needless to say, I was pumped full of hockey adrenaline and ready for a good game. I was not disappointed.
It took a few minutes to get acclimatized to watching a game in the Netherlands rather than Canada. Apart from the fact that the words ‘designated smoking area’ meant the entire building and that there was no protective glass around the rink, I happily settled in to watch the pre-game warm-ups.
Back home in Canada, the music at a hockey game religiously consists of good old rock & roll . The Tragically Hip, Trooper, AC/DC, Metallica, etc – which serves to rev both the audience and players into a fury of bloodlust. I was therefore rather unprepared for the trance music that came blaring out of the speakers here. Although it took me a while to get my head around such dull music at a hockey game, at least the rest of the crowd seemed appreciative.
The game began and was scoreless through the first period. The action intensified early in the second period however, when the Wolve’s Patrick Finnegan jumped out of the penalty box (or ‘sin bin’) and broke away with the puck and scored! Ten minutes later – after Wolve’s had a goal waved off by the referee – Ruijters Eaters Geleen netted their first goal of the game. The Wolves responded less than three minutes later however with a beauty scored by #77, J. Raats.
The third period was a flurry of action, with the Eaters quickly scoring the equalizer and then the go-ahead goal to put them ahead 3-2. Not to be outdone, the Wolves answered back with their third goal of the night, scored by #14, Tristan Senior. Unfortunately it was not to be the Wolves night, as in the closing three minutes the Eaters set up a ‘tic-tac-toe’ play and scored a beautiful goal. Adding insult to injury, the Eaters sealed the deal with an empty netter to make the final score 5-3.
Fan base
After the game, I caught up with the player who had scored the final goal of the night for the Wolves, Tristan Senior. I was interested to know what had brought a young Canadian lad all the way from Toronto to Den Haag to play ‘professional’ hockey? Senior, who has been with the Wolves for two seasons, explained that he’d come to the Netherlands via his University of Toronto hockey team. He felt this would be a great opportunity to play hockey while seeing a different part of the world.
Senior likes the Dutch league, because it focuses on skating, speed and skill, but he does feel the officiating should be tightened up and become more consistent. He went on to explain that the Wolves were new to the Dutch Elite League and therefore were still in the process of building up a large and loyal fan base in the Den Haag region.
To try to get more people out to the game, Senior has posted a message on the expatica.com website, urging people hungry for hockey to come out and support the team. All in all, it was an entertaining evening of ice hockey. The Wolves play in Den Haag’s ‘De Uithof’ ice rink, which can be reached by taking Tram #6 from Den Haag Central Station. Tickets for the Wolves game cost 7.50 euros, with games usually starting between 20:15 and 20:45. The Wolves regular season continues until the end of February.
(Photo collage: Juan Sebastian Sanchez, MSc, Colombia)
For a Canadian girl who misses hockey more than her own parents and is suffering from a severe case of withdrawal ever since the North American Sports Network went off the air here, I decided it was time to see a good live Dutch ice hockey game for myself.
The destination was Den Haag’s ‘De Uithof’ ice rink, where the Den Haag Skoda Duindam Wolves and Ruijters Eaters Geleen of the Dutch Elite Ice Hockey League were set to do battle. Needless to say, I was pumped full of hockey adrenaline and ready for a good game. I was not disappointed.
It took a few minutes to get acclimatized to watching a game in the Netherlands rather than Canada. Apart from the fact that the words ‘designated smoking area’ meant the entire building and that there was no protective glass around the rink, I happily settled in to watch the pre-game warm-ups.
Back home in Canada, the music at a hockey game religiously consists of good old rock & roll . The Tragically Hip, Trooper, AC/DC, Metallica, etc – which serves to rev both the audience and players into a fury of bloodlust. I was therefore rather unprepared for the trance music that came blaring out of the speakers here. Although it took me a while to get my head around such dull music at a hockey game, at least the rest of the crowd seemed appreciative.
The game began and was scoreless through the first period. The action intensified early in the second period however, when the Wolve’s Patrick Finnegan jumped out of the penalty box (or ‘sin bin’) and broke away with the puck and scored! Ten minutes later – after Wolve’s had a goal waved off by the referee – Ruijters Eaters Geleen netted their first goal of the game. The Wolves responded less than three minutes later however with a beauty scored by #77, J. Raats.
The third period was a flurry of action, with the Eaters quickly scoring the equalizer and then the go-ahead goal to put them ahead 3-2. Not to be outdone, the Wolves answered back with their third goal of the night, scored by #14, Tristan Senior. Unfortunately it was not to be the Wolves night, as in the closing three minutes the Eaters set up a ‘tic-tac-toe’ play and scored a beautiful goal. Adding insult to injury, the Eaters sealed the deal with an empty netter to make the final score 5-3.
Fan base
After the game, I caught up with the player who had scored the final goal of the night for the Wolves, Tristan Senior. I was interested to know what had brought a young Canadian lad all the way from Toronto to Den Haag to play ‘professional’ hockey? Senior, who has been with the Wolves for two seasons, explained that he’d come to the Netherlands via his University of Toronto hockey team. He felt this would be a great opportunity to play hockey while seeing a different part of the world.
Senior likes the Dutch league, because it focuses on skating, speed and skill, but he does feel the officiating should be tightened up and become more consistent. He went on to explain that the Wolves were new to the Dutch Elite League and therefore were still in the process of building up a large and loyal fan base in the Den Haag region.
To try to get more people out to the game, Senior has posted a message on the expatica.com website, urging people hungry for hockey to come out and support the team. All in all, it was an entertaining evening of ice hockey. The Wolves play in Den Haag’s ‘De Uithof’ ice rink, which can be reached by taking Tram #6 from Den Haag Central Station. Tickets for the Wolves game cost 7.50 euros, with games usually starting between 20:15 and 20:45. The Wolves regular season continues until the end of February.
(Photo collage: Juan Sebastian Sanchez, MSc, Colombia)
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