Hope lives on – there may be an audience at the hockey World Cup
Last year, the ice hockey World Cup was canceled, but now it's time for games in a corona-safe bubble in Riga. Maybe with an audience as well.
– It would be great fun to play in front of an audience, says Dennis Rasmussen.
TT 
< img src = "/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/a264fb3e0b95f63c5d0cfc18287488a8.jpg" />World Cup players Andreas Wingerli, Nils Lundkvist and Jesper Frödén. Stock Photography.Picture: Andreas Hillergren/TT It is rumored that the Latvian government will decide if there can be spectators during the World Cup, which starts on Friday. – Playing in front of an audience is a big part of the thing, what you think is fun when you play hockey . So it would be great fun if we could play in front of an audience, says center Rasmussen, everyday in Russian Metallurg Magnitogorsk. – But now you are used to playing without an audience. Back colleague in Tre Kronor, World Cup debutant Nils Lundkvist, agrees: – It would probably feels a little weird with audiences. But it would be fantastic fun, a bonus, he says. Federation captain Johan Garpenlöv: – The audience is a big part of what we are doing, that there are fans in the stands and that it will be a bit lively. The World Cup will be held in such a called bubble in Riga with rigorous safety to avoid corona infection. Everyone was quarantined for two days in the hotel rooms after arrival. Then it's four days when the team is allowed to train, but not play a match. – Now it feels like we all understand what it means to be in a bubble. We have talked since the first day we gathered that we should not put energy into it, but we go and do what you have to do, says Garpenlöv. TT: Does it feel safe and secure in Riga? – Absolutely, I feel safer here than at home. They have been great at keeping us apart, so that we do not mix with other players and leaders and staff. Rasmus also says that it worked well in the bubble. – We have been locked up quite a lot in the hotel room so you have gone through some series , had a lot of free time, he says. World Cup debutant Lundkvist: – It's cool to just walk around the catacombs and see that you are at the World Cup. For me, it is the World Cup atmosphere. Recently it became known that 15 players and leaders in the Italian team tested positive for covid-19 during the recharge at home. But there are still no known cases among the teams in Riga. Three Crowns starts the World Cup against Denmark on Saturday. Facts
22 May: Denmark.
23 May: Belarus.
25 May: Switzerland.
27 May: Czech Republic.
May 30: Slovakia.
May 31: Russian national team.
The top four advance to the quarterfinals on June 3. The semifinals will be played on June 5 and the final the next day.