Nadia and I attended our first professional ice hockey game in Tashkent together. The Humo Hockey Club resumed play for the first time since the pandemic canceled the end of the 2019-2020 season. They play at the Humo Arena and it is an NHL-like experience with cheerleaders, music during breaks, Zamboni-machine, fan cam, etc. It is an excellent night out!
Humo is playing in the Kazakhstan Hockey League this year. In 2019-2020, they played in the VHL, the Superior Hockey League of Russia. The VHL is just below the top league in Russia. I guess with the war in Ukraine and the international sanctions against Russia, perhaps they chose to restart their club at a lower level.
Humo played host to the Astana Nomads. It was an exciting game going into the third period with the Nomads leading 3-2. Humo put on a lot of pressure to find the equalizer but the Nomad goalie was stellar. Nomads scored an open net goal in the waining moments to give them the 4-2 win. It was the first homestead of the season and we hope to go to another game when they return next month. I’ll be posting updates of the league and we’ll see how the Humo do.
We were looking to buy season tickets but they do not have that option. Single-game seats range from $5-$10 and a luxury box is about $50/person. I might rent out a luxury box for the Christmas Eve or Christmas game when my brother and his wife are visiting us. It would be a nice gift to give him! He is an avid Detroit Redwings fan.
We invited Oliver’s new girlfriend and her mother over for dinner on Friday night. She is a nice girl and a good influence on Oliver.
The mosque in the neighborhood behind the school is almost finished. I remember them starting it maybe a year ago and it is much larger and in the Uzbek style of mosque, white with blue tiles.
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