9th Pond Hockey Classic was 'best one yet'

MEREDITH — Scott Crowder, founder of the New England Pond Hockey Classic, said the ninth annual three-day tournament has set a new high mark, which he will try to exceed in honor of next year’s milestone.

“It was the best one yet. Weather cooperated, a lot of people came out there and had a lot of fun. More than 500 hockey games, 2,200 participants, if you came down here on Saturday it was a festival-like atmosphere.”

The grid of rinks cleared on Meredith Bay was joined by an on-ice beer garden, food vendors and live music provided by Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion.

The tournament has been capped at 275 teams for a few years, but the rules were tweaked a little this year to allow for some extra roster space in some divisions, so there were more participants this year than ever before. And the growing notoriety of the tournament combined with favorable weather on Saturday to result in thousands of spectators who walked onto the ice to take in the action.

“By spectator volume, I would say it was the biggest turnout overall,” Crowder said.

Since founding the Meredith Bay event, Crowder has added pond hockey tournaments in Montana and on Vermont’s Lake Champlain.

But the Meredith Bay tournament was his first, and Crowder wants to go big next year.

“We’ll make sure the 10th annual will top the ninth annual that we just got through,” he said.

 — Adam Drapcho