Ice hockey fever is battling with the spring heat in Denmark. After five days of the international folk festival and at full speed ahead both in the stands and on the ice, it's a very pleased President of the Danish Ice Hockey Association, Henrik Bach Nielsen, who comments on the situation so far:
"Arranging one of the world's biggest sporting events for the first time is a huge task. We were as well prepared as we could have been, but it's only when the matches start in earnest that the reality and the scope of the event are revealed to everyone involved. It has been hard - and it still is - but it's worth all the effort once you see the players out on the ice and, not least, the thousands of happy fans from all over the world, regardless of their team's
results, celebrating shoulder to shoulder."
The total attendance for the first five game days is over 200,000, which only underlines the huge interest in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Denmark.
"We are overwhelmed by the spectator support at both Jyske Bank Boxen and Royal
Arena. Naturally, the Danish fans have bought most of the tickets for Herning, while in Copenhagen there has been a good mix from the countries whose teams are playing here. In particular, there have been a lot of Swedes, as well as Czechs, with almost 7,000 fans from the Czech Republic travelling to Copenhagen
on Saturday for the match against Slovakia," says Henrik Bach Nielsen.
Games have already been played to full houses in Herning and Copenhagen over several rounds, and the trend of large numbers of spectators looks set to continue all the way to the final on 20 May.
"We are selling many tickets every day to both Danish and foreign fans, so the folk festival and the enormous spectator support for the teams seem likely to continue all the way to the final at Royal Arena," concludes Henrik Bach Nielsen.
http://https://www.new-iihf.com/en/events/2018/wm/news/2647/200%2c000-fans-in-five-days
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