Pond hockey

The U.S. Pond Hockey Championships rolled into town this weekend and brought along some frigid temps for extra fun. With daily high temps struggling to get above zero, standing on a frozen lake is an interesting way to spend part of the day. The tournament includes former NHL and college players as well as a lot of players who are just there to drink a lot and play a little hockey. Most of them are better at drinking than hockey so it works out well.

We watched some of the quarterfinals and semifinals - it was fairly obvious within a few minutes which team would win even at this point in the tournament. I imagine the final was a better matchup but we left before then in order to keep our toes and noses from falling off.

There's also a kids division. Games mostly consist of a pack of players chasing the puck, with the occasional pile-up when one of them trips and the rest go down in a heap. Terp thought it looked like a bunch of puppies chasing a puck, and that's a pretty apt description. There were a couple kids who could really skate and handle the puck but mostly it was a lot of falling down. They did look like they were having lots of fun, and after the championship game there was even more of a puppy pile as all the kids took to the ice at once, flailing away at numerous pucks before finally being coaxed off the ice by their parents.

I couldn't help it, I had to read this sign.

Rest of the photos are here.