This small-yet-sprawling former industrial capital is peppered with defunct coalmines and dilapidated buildings, and the entire place was startlingly empty of people on a sunny Saturday morning, but it also had charming cafes, friendly restaurants, and some frankly adorable tourist attractions. We went to the top of the lookout tower at the "New City Hall" (built in the 1920s); in the elevator, we met an older couple who were also there from Canada for the tournament (they later showed up on the kiss cam). We also walked around the city's humble castle and ate some very good Russian-style dumplings. (The four other patrons in the small restaurant were also in town for the tournament.)
In the afternoon, we joined a crowd of other hockey fans on a tram to the arena. The first game was Russia vs Sweden, so we were shocked to see that almost everyone heading through the front doors was wearing Canadian jackets and toques. This was the case inside, too — there were clusters of Russians and Swedes, but they were surrounded by a sea of red maple leaf outfits. (All of the Canadians were cheering for Sweden.)
After a very early goal by the Swedes, the rest of the first game was a nail-biter, with the two countries' fans engaged in near-constant duelling chants. The dastardly Russians won in overtime, and we all filed out into the space just outside the front doors to wait in the cold drizzle to be let in for the next game.
We'd bought our tickets for the second game online the day before, and they turned out to be directly behind the Canadian bench, which was crazy. We couldn't see much of the ice because of the boards and the coaches standing on benches, but we saw enough to enjoy ourselves, and we were close enough to a bunch of top NHL prospects that it smelled like a locker room. Canada won 5-0, some of the fans were a bit obnoxious, we ate hotdogs and popcorn for dinner, B rocked her new jersey, and we had a nice quiet tram ride home out to the suburbs.
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