Pond Hockey Tourney's Popularity Still On The Rise
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You could call it a hockey holiday. This year the Labatt Blue U.S. Pond Hockey Championships celebrate 10 years of fun out on the ice.
The first-ever U.S. Pond Hockey Championships in 2006 saw 120 teams compete. Now there are more than 250 teams playing, according to event co-chair Carson Kipfer, who is also playing in the tournament.
"For a lot them, it's weekends where they get together with groups of friends from high school or college and they get to hang out and play hockey," Kipfer said.
This decade-long Minnesota tradition has truly taken off. Participants get the chance to take home the Golden Shovel, but really it's all about embracing the chance to compete on the pond.
"It's gained a lot of notoriety. It's known around the world. I've run into people in California and they instantly connect and want to talk about it," Kipfer said.
On one of the coldest days of the year WCCO caught David Janowiec, a Nisswa native who oversees ice operations on Lake Nokomis for the signature event.
"We're used to this weather, we take pride in it," Janowiec said.
He has been getting the rinks ready for over a week. So what's the secret to the perfect ice for the some 25 rinks?
"Solid, clear, black ice. And the ice is looking really smooth right now," Janowiec said.
Janowiec said he needs about 4 to 5 days to get the ice ready to go for the more than 500 games that will be played in the span of three days.
Now that Janowiec's rinks are ready to go, all Kipfer needs is the weather to cooperate. When WCCO talked with him, the state was still in a subzero stretch.
"We could use it a few degrees warmer," he said.
Wish granted -- the Minnesota weather seems to be cooperating perfectly just in time for the weekend.
