GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Swedish giants Frölunda Gothenburg and Färjestad Karlstad set a new European attendance record for a regular season game. Frölunda’s 4-1 win at the Ullevi Stadium drew 31,144 fans.

The game which for months has been billed as the “record game” lived up to its promise. The scrupulously counted crowd of 31,144 surpassed the marked 30,076 recorded at the Langnau-SC Bern Swiss league game at Berne’s Stade de Suisse in 2007, which was previously the European record in a hockey league game. This means that every available ticket for this game was sold.

The game featured many retro elements, including the “ancient” side change midway through the last period, which was included in the IIHF rulebook until the mid-70s when there was still outdoor hockey played in many places.

The Swedish Hockey League used this break to present Frölunda with a certificate confirming the new official record, a document signed by IIHF President René Fasel.

Nostalgia was the theme of the perfect winter evening in Sweden’s second largest city, as Frölunda returned to the football stadium which was their home rink during the winters from 1959 until 1967. During that period the club played 97 league and playoff games at Ullevi Stadium. Monday’s game marked the first time hockey was played at Ullevi in 42 years.

Frölunda, playing in their beautiful retro-jerseys from the club’s Ullevi era, also held the previous attendance record. On November 8, 1962, 23,192 spectators were on hand for a legendary 3-2 victory over Djurgården Stockholm. Prior to that encounter, Djurgården had played three full seasons without a loss.

For this special occasion, Frölunda invited all their players from that game, a group which included former IIHF World Champions and Olympic medalists Ulf Sterner, Ronald Pettersson, Lars-Eric Lundvall and Gert Blomé.

Almost five decades later it was another Pettersson who stole the show, Fredrik. The 22-year old winger scored three goals and assisted on Joel Lundqvist’s lone marker in Frölunda’s surprisingly easy 4-1 win over their rivals from Karlstad. He was a very popular game MVP, as Pettersson is a Gothenburg native who has developed through Frölunda’s youth system.

Pettersson is one of the few Europeans who seems to have benefited from his time in the Canadian junior system. The small but feisty winger spent two seasons (2005-2007) playing for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League before he returned to Frölunda.

The game had its glitches, as is the case in most outdoor games. The game clock froze after six minutes of the first period, but this was soon fixed. Many fans panicked when they realized that they wouldn’t be able to get into the arena in time for the opening faceoff, and only prior to the second period did the queues outside of Ullevi disappear.

But on balance, it was a perfect outdoor game and a treat for nostalgia diggers and retro freaks. The game also featured transparent boards to enable the fans to follow game action better.

SZYMON SZEMBERG