International Ice Hockey Federation

Through the organizer’s eye

Through the organizer’s eye

How many towels, pucks or washing powder is needed?

Published 07.04.2015 19:51 GMT+2 | Author Karolina Antosova
Through the organizer’s eye
5,500 pucks will be ready during the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic. Photo: Francois Laplante / HHOF-IIHF Images
With the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship fast approaching, the Organizing Committee is busy working on the conditions for the teams at both arenas.

To accommodate the needs of eight teams in one venue, both the O2 Arena in Prague and the CEZ Arena in Ostrava have had to undergo big changes inside. In the Prague venue, a lot of space has been cleared out, rooms have been freshly painted, and the dressing room of the host Czech team has already been furnished with a relaxation centre, including whirlpools.

The Czech national team will occupy O2 Arena's largest dressing room. In Ostrava, the first choice goes to Finland, the highest-seeded team, so they will have the largest one in CEZ Arena, followed by Russia.

Part of the preparation for the tournament includes stocking up on all the basic needs of the teams and players for their stay in the Czech Republic. Jan Cerny, Director of the Sporting Committee, presented some interesting figures.

“In summary, the players will need 70,000 litres of water,” he said of the most important need for elite athletes. “We also have for them 2,300 towels, 2,500 practice pucks, then 3,000 pucks that are only for games and 1,200 kilos of washing powder.”

The accommodation for the various teams was arranged months ago. Other than the Czechs and Russians, all teams will stay at the official hotels. The Czech team will be at Hotel Selsky Dvur. The Russians have decided to stay at Buly Arena, where they will have their own ice rink, but will have a 40-minute commute to play their games in Ostrava.

The dates of the teams' arrivals are already known. For Cerny and his team, the next step is to plan a practice schedule for all 16 teams in both Prague and Ostrava. The logistics in the two cities is slightly different.

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“In Ostrava we have the advantage that we have a second ice rink right next to the CEZ Arena. In Prague it’s more complicated. If we wanted another rink in O2 Arena, we would have had to do build everything from scratch, so instead all teams will practise in Holesovice at Tipsport Arena,” Cerny explained.

The sporting committee has also received several special requests from the teams and other personnel including table tennis for the Swedish team at their hotel.

 

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