2008 Pond Hockey Championships

First some facts:
18 rinks
142 teams from 23 different states
840 players,
100 volunteers
3,000 pucks
9 Divisions:
Bronze 30+
Bronze 21+
Intermediate
Novice
Women's
Silver 30+
Silver 21+
40+
Gold

The event was quite a spectacle. It was amazingly well organized. There were 9 divisions and we played in the Bronze 30+. We played on a shoveled area of Dollar Lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Everything took place on the ice; parking, food, tents, games.

Each team was guaranteed 3 games; two on Friday and one on Saturday morning. The playoffs began in the afternoon on Saturday. The teams the went all the way played one game Saturday afternoon and then two on Sunday. The tournament ended in the early afternoon.

The games were officiated by two tournament staff; one time and score keeper and the other a referee.

The games were 15 minute running half's with a couple minute break at halftime. There were rules determined to break a tie but they were too long to mention here and most games did not need them.

I would say that the average winning score was in the teens of goals or low 20's.

This kind of pond hockey seemed very different to me and my teammates. The ice became very broken and rough. It was hard to glide on and stick handle without the puck jumping over your stick. Consequently, it was very tiring, hard to maneuver and create any sort of rush.

You could score once you enter into the opponents side of the red line (center). You could also score a goal if the other team was given a 'penalty'. We scored several this way, particularly in game 2. The team we played was overly aggressive and physical and were often penalized. Marty and I took credit for these goals as we did not actually score during any of our three games. We left that to Ed, Jim, Lyle and Marc (and I believe that was the scoring order).

The goals were built out of 2 x 4 wood and the opening was about 6 inches high. The width was about 4 feet. There was a net on the back side of the goal to keep the puck form going into the snow bank behind the goal.

Lots of pucks were used. The rinks were approximately 75 x 150 feet and surrounded by shoveled snow banks. As pucks would go off into a bank, the players would first try to dig it out. But if they knew that it was buried too deep, they would yell 'puck' and the referee would toss out a new one. In the course of a game, you could easily go through 15 pucks or more.

Once the tournament was over, I am sure they will open up the banks and retrieve as many as they can. Otherwise, they will find their way to the bottom of the lake in April.

The tournament had erected two large circus tents with door flaps. These tents housed a hockey store (complete with skate sharpening at $5.00), first aid, and insurance company, an area to purchase tournament merchandise as well as the schedule, score boards and player seating.

Even though we woke up to -10 air temperature on Friday morning, the tents were very comfortable. Large propane tanks supplied gas to heaters which was blew hot air into the tents. My guess is that it was around 45 inside the tents. That is plenty warm when it is so cold outside and especially after playing a hard, competitive hockey game on the ice. We had so many layers on for the cold and games that once inside the tents, most started to pull off the layers due to the warmth.

Labatts beer sponsored the event and you can guess how much beer was flowing this weekend. After each game, each team was entitled to a ticket which was used to claim a 12-pack of Labatts beer. If that wasn't enough, you could always buy more. (I'm hoping for Pepsi to co-sponsor next year!)

We also noticed that a number of teams had sponsors. Much of the work during the off-season will go into soliciting team sponsors.

Here is how we faired in 2008:

Game 1:
Larimer Park Owls vs. Beer Ninjas
Larimer won 13 to 6

Game 2:
Larimer Park Owls vs. Park Place Pirates
Larimer lost 11 to 15

Game 3:
Larimer Park Owls vs. The Chiefs
Larimer lost 7 to 26

Click here for an article in The Houston Chronicle, April 5, 2008