I went through high school in a city with a population of about 50 000. Not a huge city, in other words, but still a major town in Finland, well-known and all.

I thought of that today, sitting at the press tribune in the Schalke 04’s soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and looking at the thousands and thousands of people who were mostly dressed in different combinations of black and yellow. The opening game of the hockey world championships had attracted 77 803 people to the stands.

In other words, everybody living in Joensuu in 1985 could have been there, and then some. (Chances are, too, that I wasn’t the only one who had lived in Joensuu in 1985 who was there. It’s a small world.)

That’s everybody from the tiniest baby to the guy who rode his moped without a helmet because he said no helmet hit his head.

Everybody from the mayor to our gym teacher who had injured his right-hand middle finger so it was always sticking up when he made a fist, and from all the puck bunnies hanging around the rink every day to all the girls at school who hated hockey, but only slightly less than they hated hockey players.

It was like a medium-sized Finnish city had showed up to a hockey game today to eat a lot of wurst and drink just as much kölsch.

Except for the noise level. There’s no way the 1985 Joensuu would have been as loud.

We’re the strong, silent type.