Omsk on an Off Day

By Tim Harwood

With just a light practice for the Black Hawks this afternoon, there was plenty of time for everyone traveling with the team to explore the city of Omsk.

First, you’ve seen the inside of the building in game pictures and video’s, but here’s what Omsk Arena looks like from the front side.  Less than ten years old, the rink is a terrific facility.  Lift the roof and add another balcony with 15 rows of seats and it would be an NHL-caliber arena.  The area around the rink is being developed with more than a dozen new apartment buildings, plus single family homes, which are not common in most of the areas we have visited.  Omsk Arena is just a few miles from the team hotel and the city center across the Irtysh River.

Even getting away from the rink, it’s not hard to tell that there is a hockey tournament going on.  Signs, posters, and billboards are all over the place.

Omsk is located at the confluence of the Om and Irtysh.  From this view on Jubilee Bridge, you can see the Om turning to the right in the distance and meeting the Irtysh.

The city was founded nearly 300 years ago as a fort where the rivers came together.  The four gates which once were the only entry points are represented by archways approximately where they stood.   Many military buildings remain and have been renovated.  Note the cannons guarding either side of the door in the picture above.

After being sentenced to death, facing a firing squad, and then learning at the brink of execution that the czar had commuted his sentence to imprisonment, writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky was imprisoned in Omsk for four years.  Today this monument - positioned at the opposite end of a pedestrian mall and facing away from one of the city gates - and a literary museum commemorate his time here.

Another notable historical Russian represented in statue is V.I. Lenin.  This is one of two Lenin statues within a few block of the Hawks’ hotel.  Ironically, for a time Omsk was the headquarters for the forces which fought against the Communists during the revolution.

Another remnant of the Soviet era is this monument to the great people of the USSR living in the community.  In the background is a wall etched with representations of the various professional workers on the job.  As with anything that might have such far-reaching impacts, no consensus of opinion on the Soviet period of Russian history could be expected from the locals.  Observing the landscape, there are very few remaining communist symbols, but walking down Lenin Street (a block from Marx Street, by the way) between the two Lenin statues, it seems evident that the subject is not taboo.

Uspensky (or "Assumption") Cathedral is at the center of the city.  Like Omsk Arena it is nearly brand-new, although the design dates back over 100 years.  The original structure was destroyed by the Communist Party and replaced with a fountain.  The cathedral has been rebuilt based on the original plans.

Across the street from Uspensky Cathedral is Omsk’s stately city hall.

Also nearby is a provincial government building in the background behind a tremendous fountain.  A government center for the region, Omsk is Russia’s seventh largest city, on par in both ranking and population size with a place like San Antonio, Texas. 

One of the most notable images of the city is the Monument to Mechanic Stepanich.  It is dedicated to all of the people who work hard at tough jobs.  However, according to the locals, it is actually a post-Communist era creation.  Appreciation for hard-workers is something folks know about on both sides of the globe, whether in Waterloo or Siberia.