Alberta Destinations

Pond hockey tournament gets back to roots

(Special)—Get back to the roots of the game at the pond hockey World Championship Qualification Tournament February 11 to14 in Peace River.

Bringing together up to 88 teams of fierce competitors from across Canada and the USA, the championships honour a national pastime that evolved from the frozen ponds, lakes, dugouts and rivers of Canada.

Sportsmanship and fair play take precedence, and nostalgia hangs thick in the air as pond hockey veterans reminisce about the joys of frostbitten toes and using the Eaton’s catalogue as shin pads back in the day.

Alberta Pond Hockey keeps the tourney true to tradition with few modern conveniences save the use of local Zamboni crews to clear the ice.

Scale down from the National Hockey League and see that pond hockey is simple: a team of four players competing against another team of four players – with no goaltenders.

Lac Cardinal, located between Peace River and Grimshaw, is separated into mini-rinks about 150 feet by 75 feet, or 75 per cent of a regulation ice surface. The natural outdoor ice surface has no face-off circles or lines painted on the ice, and the occasional bump or crack is all part of the game.

The tourney offers plenty of activities for the whole family to enjoy including the Hockey Gala – it’s a cardinal sin in pond hockey not to socialize! Listen to the old timers, cheer on the teams and when someone gives you a big chipped-tooth grin, be sure to smile back.