Sam Hallam rails against pyrotechnics in indoor arenas

The match Västerås-Djurgården was canceled due to the fire alarm going off.
The reason was that it was burned by pyrotechnics inside the arena. That kind of behavior makes national team captain Sam Hallam cringe.
– There is a limit where I want to be very clear. I and everyone else do not want to have a fire indoors, he says to Hockeysverige.

For a full 55 minutes there was a break in the Allsvenskan Friday meeting between Västerås and Djurgården. The audience was forced to evacuate the arena after the fire alarm went off, as it was burned by pyro inside the venue.

Families with children opt out of matches

Djurgården’s captain Marcus Kruger was up front urging his fans to evacuate the venue when the alarm went off. Västerås ditto Konstantin Komarek was forced to do the same.

– It was calm and all I had to do was explain the situation. We appreciate them, but not that there are pyro in the stands indoors. There are a few who are ruining for many tonight. It is of course sad that not everyone came in later, it was also noticeable. There was pretty good pressure before, Krüger told Sportbladet and continued:

– Pyro inside a hall is not good, nobody thinks so. There are families with children here, Friday evening and many probably chose to go home. It was exciting at the end anyway and they would probably have liked to have been there to see it. There is no way to defend it.

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One who really reacted strongly to the mentioned incident is the Tre Kronor coach Sam Hallam. He is really pissed off that this kind of thing can make families with children who want to go to matches skip it.

– It is quite simple. You don’t have a fire indoors. I can try to understand those who think it contributes to a mood and atmosphere, but there is a limit where I want to be very clear. I and everyone else do not want to have a fire indoors, he says.

“Finally Something Happens”

He does not know exactly how to overcome the problem, but he believes that a key is to maintain a good dialogue and communication between the various parties. He only wants punishment and consequences to be the last resort.

First of all, it is important for coaches, leaders and players to openly criticize the behavior in the media. The matches lose pressure and momentum when the players are forced to leave the ice for 45 minutes. It does not contribute to any better sport.

– If this continues, something will eventually happen. I know it’s not the ambition of the supporters who are doing this to create atmosphere or maybe mark some territory too. But the risk of something going wrong, the consequences would then be far too great. Of course, we want hockey arenas that retain the standing culture and the pressure they create. I was at Djurgården’s home premiere last Tuesday. The tifot and pressure their supporters created or other supporters regardless of association do…, says Sam Hallam and continues:

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– From there there is a limit and it is crossed when there is a risk and danger to people’s safety. There is more than standing room in the arenas and we want a lot of children in the arenas. Then it is also required that parents want to bring their children there.

This is something that everyone has an opinion on. What should we do to get safe arenas where everyone, including families with children, dare to go to hockey?

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