Pond Hockey 2010

This post is long overdue, but it took me a while to go through all of my photographs from the day. Like every other year, one of my favorite events during the Minnesota winter is the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis. I don't follow any particular hockey team during the season, but love the game as any good Minnesotan should. I also have the good luck to have the championship right in my neighborhood in South Minneapolis.

This year, the championship was from January 22-24. My husband Jason and our friend Paul and I decided to go on Saturday the 23rd. The idea was to spend a couple of hours on the lake, watching some good old fashioned hockey competitions. Well, this year, the Minnesota weather decided to throw us a curve ball. Instead of the usual, coldest week of the year (well below zero), we got a few degrees above freezing and rain!!!!

Our friend Paul came over to pick us up with an umbrella and plastic bags in his shoes. I still wanted to tough it out and go. So I put on my Minnesota Northstars hat (thanks to our friend Dan Hertzberg) and we made the trek down to the lake.





It was a total mess. For one, usually this event is completely packed with spectators, and this time is was mainly just the players on the ice. They were literally playing in about 2-3 inches of water on top of the ice. Many of them were not playing with a puck, but a small ball that was easier to control… kind of.





I was soaked from head to toe in about 10 minutes and Jason and Paul indulged my love for hockey for about 30 minutes before deciding it was maybe not going to get any drier.



I did see a few kids out there, still having a good time! Children seem to be resilient through these kinds of things.





We only stuck around 30 minutes or so before heading out through the puddles, back home. I am not sure if it even continued into Sunday with the rain still coming down. Hopefully, we have better luck next year. If you ever want to see some heart-warming stories about the joys of pond hockey, check out the movie Pond Hockey: A Documentary Film.