Petersburg’s potent cocktail – how the Gazprom Arena got ready for hockey
The Gazprom Arena, on St. Petersburg’s Krestovsky Island, recently staged some of the decisive games in the FIFA World Cup. On December 22, it will be the latest venue to stage KHL action.
The soccer stadium has already made its hockey debut: on Sunday, Dec. 16, Team Russia beat Finland 5-0 as part of the Channel 1 Cup. The crowd of 71,381 at the game set a new Russian record. Saturday’s KHL game between SKA and CSKA aims to beat that mark – and possibly even eclipse the current European record of 77,803 set in May 2010 when Germany entertained the USA in Gelsenkirchen as part of the IIHF World Championship.
