GANGNEUNG, South Korea—Red, white and blue was the theme of Saturday night’s men’s hockey battle between the Olympic Athletes of Russia and the United States. However, only one group of crazy fans sporting the trio of colors walked out with a victory.
This time, the party in the packed Gangneung Hockey Center belonged to the Olympic Athletes of Russia in the team’s last preliminary round game of the 2018 Winter Games.
What started an hour prior to the game and didn’t end till all fans had cleared out of the arena, OAR’s fandom including chants, costumes and flags was fueled by a 4-0 victory over Team USA.
Although it came up short in tonight’s rivalry game, Team USA knows a high-energy game when it sees one.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Team USA defender Jonathon Blum said. “Both sets of fans had good crowds and it was intense right from the puck drop. It’s a pretty cool experience to play in a game like that.”
Every fight, shot and block fueled the fire, that in tonight’s rivalry game, was known as the fans.
OAR fans filed into the north end of the ice rink with red shirts spelling out “Russia in my Heart” and “Red Machine,” to represent the two separate but related units of five Russian hockey players.
Head coach of the USA Men’s Hockey Team Tony Granato credits his team for performing well in an Olympic arena with so much added energy coming from the fans.
“The atmosphere and energy in the building were great and I thought it was a great game,” Granato said.
However, a pair of goals by OAR’s Nikolai Prokhorkin left a wave of tension over the arena towards the end of the second period.
That tension would later be capped by a fight between Prokhorkin and USA’s Chris Bourque, a scene that brought the entire place to its feet and landed both players in the penalty box—Just the intensity boost that the fans wanted.
“It’s very good to see [my team] win in this energy,” OAR super fan Galina Stodko said. “The noise was wonderful and loud. It was competitive and we always like to win.”
Accompanied by her husband and son, Stodko is at her first Olympic Games to watch OAR compete.
“We go to games and cheer loud and hope [our team] will win it all,” Stodko said.
However, the game wasn’t the only thing that gave these hockey fans energy. The area outside of the rink stayed busy as fans watched the game out there from the concession stand line. Whether buying hot dogs or boxes full of draft beers, the chants and energy never slowed down—not even When a rumor concerning a shortage of beer broke out.
Luckily for fans, beer sales stayed consistent into the third period, as did the Olympic Athletes of Russia’s hockey sticks when they closed out the second period flaunting a 3-0 shutout.
Nick Giusti, from Fredrick, Maryland, supported Team USA from head-to-toe, although disappointed with the game’s outcome.
“I’m stationed here in the army, so my family and I decided to come up for the Olympics,” Giusti said. “I grew up a big Caps fan, so I’m used to the craziness of fans and being here makes it even better.”
The rivalry between OAR and Team USA’s fans make a first-time Olympic goers time unforgettable.
“It was pretty awesome and pretty special to be a part of,” Giusti said. “I’ve never been to an Olympic Game before and the energy was definitely something that I’ve never experienced before.”
It wasn’t until OAR’s fourth goal of the game that Team USA fans were outshined by Russian flags, chants and crazy fans.
“I didn’t think there would be as many fans from Russia here as there were,” Giusti said. “So, good for them. But hopefully we can turn it around and get into the medal round now.”
Also amongst tonight’s rowdy crowd was American pop singer Rachel Platten, who attempted to pump up the crowd during an in-house interview as Team USA headed into the third period down 3-0.
It wasn’t long until fans of both teams united by raising their arms up to form the wave that would go on for just over three minutes of the third period.
Now with a game in their pocket over Team USA, the fans of the Olympic Athletes of Russia will continue to celebrate—at least until next time.
