Skvělý hokej - Five things from w/c 18 September

It's an usual blog as this week's five things come courtesy of a hockey holiday to Vienna and Prague (or Wien and Praha if you're getting all fancy) where I saw the Capitals, Sparta and Slavia all put on a good show. So I learnt loads and this could easily run to twenty things, but here's the five key things I learnt this week.

Vienna v Linz from the Plexi behind the goal

Slavia v Litoměřice from the posh seats

Sparta v Třinec at the o2

1. Fan organised chanting - The games featured seemingly non-stop singing from one hard-core block, and it created a great atmosphere. Each had one or two guys spending the entire game with his back to the action and conducting his crowd. Not only did they had drums, but they also had numerous flags and each fan also waved their scarf too. Then those blocks did 'call and reply' with the other blocks to get them involved too. How do we get more of that in the EIHL?
2. Player appreciation of the fans - The winners of both Czech games lined up in front of their singing block at the end of the game, and waited patiently for the fans to sing them a song which was 45-60 second long. They then did the stick lifts, and then full length dives towards the dashers. Huge kudos to them recognising the efforts the fans put in too. 
3. Cheap as chips - The top price Sparta tickets for the 17,000 seater Prague O2 were 270Kč which is about £9, and their programmes were 10Kč (33p). Second tier Slavia was only 130Kč or 90Kč (£3) if you wanted standing. Bargain - wish there was a game in every night!
4.  Capitals club logo - When you next think of moaning about the number of advertisers on EIHL shirts, make sure to check out the Vienna Capitals equipment. They have even sold the front of their shirt to two sponsors, so the club logo is demoted to a small spot on the elbow. I'd hate that, but guess € talk and on the bright side, the replica shirts were only €45. 
5. Overtime - It's 4on4 in Austria but 3on3 in the Czech Republic. I expected the 3on3 to be fast paced and chances galore, but in this game the big and heavy Sparta team just camped out in the oppositions zone and man-marked the hell out of the opposition. The smaller and faster players never got a chance to settle - a nice tactic.

One final thought to leave you with Is that I was looking forward to a whole week away from Sweet Caroline! But no such luck, as a Vienna OT goal brought out their victory song, and the crowd were all waving their arms to the air to bloody Neil Diamond - so my top tip for my buddy Nathan is to only go to Prague, as I managed 125 minutes without hearing it once there.

Good luck to the Steelers on Sunday night - someone whoosh for me as we'll only be watching via Twitter updates tonight.