Not exactly billboard treatment, but Hawks get pleasant welcome
Posted by TheHockeyGuy on October 2nd, 2009
The first thing you notice while prowling this picturesque city are the signs. They have longer words in them then you ever will see in the United States, no matter what the subject matter.
On the billboards at Hartwall Arena are ads for ”Kymppivoima” (a power company), ”Varamiespalvelu” (an employment agency) and ”Huoneistokeskus” (a real-estate firm).
”That’s just because we put our words together,” explained a Helsinki sportswriter who introduced himself as just ”Pasi.”
Although hockey is the clear-cut No. 1 sport in Finland, very few of those signs promoted the first NHL regular-season games played here. Even at the Hilton International, one of the few American hotel chains in this city, there was nothing promoting the games today and Saturday.
Hartwall Arena was built for the World Championships of 1997. It’s a modern building with a practice rink in the basement and seating for about 15,000. Still, despite the hockey enthusiasm claimed by the NHL and game promoters, Wednesday’s exhibition between the Florida Panthers and Finnish powerhouse Jokerit wasn’t close to a sellout, and the games involving the Hawks might not be, either.
Click here to read the full article – By Len Ziehm of Chicago Sun-Times
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