Pond hockey returns with slushy ice, but just as much fun as ever

MEREDITH — Roughly 300 teams from all over the country are getting together this weekend for the New England Pond Hockey Classic, an outdoor, three-day hockey tournament. This year, the games are taking place on Lake Waukewan. Teams are made up of everything from high school teams buddies who used to play together to retired NHL players. The four-on-four matches take place on 26 ice rinks across the lake, where teams compete to hopefully play in the final round and win the tournament. But at the end of the day, it’s usually about having fun and drinking beer.

The tournament usually takes place on Lake Winnipesaukee, but due to the unseasonably warm weather this winter, the lake has not frozen over to be able to support the event. Waukewan, a much smaller lake, has been used a couple of times in the past as the backup. While Waukewan had enough ice to hold the event, it was suffering under the pressure of so many skates.

“The ice is a little rough today. Choppy, wet, slushy,” said Charlie Leondike, a player for the Mighty Drunks from Weymouth, Massachusetts, on Friday. “You can't get a good speed, you can't get a good turn, you can't stop. You just got to muscle through it.”

Christian Rautenstrauch, from Washington, D.C., who’s part of the team Atlantic City 7-Outs, said one of his team’s games was played on half the rink because the other half had a hole in the ice letting water up from the lake. When he saw the water, he was a little nervous, but he somewhat jokingly talked about overcoming the hurdles and getting on with the game.

“I definitely was like, ‘Is there a chance that I could fall into this water?’ But you know, you can't show fear out there, teams smell that,” he joked. “You have to go out with confidence and can't be rattled.”

But despite problems with the ice, many participants were happy to be at the Pond Hockey Classic. Wives of some of the players on the Atlantic City 7-Outs came out to support their husbands during Friday's rounds. Their cheers of excitement stood out from the excess chatter around the lake. Jillian Nicolais in particular was having a lot of fun.

“It's totally electric. This is the biggest Pond Hockey tournament I've seen,” she raved. “We've done the Lake Champlain one a bunch, but this is absolute incredible. ... The boys had a great time and still had a great game and everyone's vibing.”

There were some teams playing for the first time this year, including Chowdah Cannons from Nashua. They set up a grill on the ice Friday morning, grilling sausages and cooking eggs for breakfast sandwiches. A few enjoyed breakfast with a beer in their hand. One player, Bill McCollum, said he understands the complaints about the ice, but the team is just happy to be there.

“We've been trying for years to get into the tournament. There's so many people that want to be a part of it. As soon as we click the button online to register, it's already booked,” he explained. “This year, we're finally able to squeeze in, and we're so excited.”

For anyone who wants to come to watch the games this weekend, event organizer Ben Long reminded spectators how the event is different when held at Lake Waukewan as opposed to Winnipesaukee.

One big difference is that there is very limited parking for Waukewan. Almost all parking is offsite, whether that be street parking in town, satellite parking lots like at Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant with buses to the lake, or homeowners who charge for parking on their property. Megan Ambrose and her husband live down the road from the site of the classic and were selling spots in front of their home for $30 daily, or $100 for the weekend. Most spots were reserved ahead of time by teams.

Long also reminded spectators that Waukewan is the town's source of drinking water, serving over 3,000 residents. Because of this, there are some limitations people must follow.

“You have to be very cautious of what you’re doing on the ice,” he said. “No dogs are allowed on the ice, no on-ice fires, stuff like that. We just have to be cautious of monitoring that and making sure that the town water supply doesn't get harmed.”

Long also emphasized the Pond Hockey Classic is supposed to be a fun way of bringing people together with a simpler form of hockey.

“Our goal here with the New England Pond Hockey Classic is really bringing hockey back to the basics, back to the the roots,” he said. “Manmade surfaces and no Zambonis. It's really a little bit more of the nostalgia of when people learned how to skate.”

The tournament continues through Sunday, Feb. 4. For all the details, visit pondhockeyclassic.com/newengland.