Teams carve out new traditions at New England Pond Hockey Classic

MEREDITH — The 16th New England Pond Hockey Classic, back this year on Lake Winnipesaukee's Meredith Bay, brought together everyone from players experiencing their first tournament to those who’ve been coming up to the Lakes Region to compete for years.

Sunday morning, teams from several divisions were busy competing for their chance to play in the championship. Across 26 rinks, the ice was beat up compared to its manicured appearance on Friday, but players paid it no mind as they skated and shot their way to victory.

On rink No. 13, the Stamvegas Cuties of broader Connecticut and Massachusetts were set to face off against the Had Beens of Arlington, Massachusetts about 20 minutes before noon. The winner of the playoff game would go on to face Eastern Propane & Oil on rink No. 6 for the championship of the women’s open division. 

“We’re out here today, about to play a game,” Caley Mueller of Stamvegas said. 

Mueller said the hockey community is a tight-knit one, and the New England Pond Hockey Classic gives everybody a chance to face larger competition than they’d usually get playing each winter in their hometowns.

“Some of us are from Connecticut, some of us are from Massachusetts,” Mueller said. “The hockey community’s small, so it’s good to get out and play with a bunch of people.”

On Sunday, the crowd had thinned out from the massive groups on the bay on Friday. At the start of the tournament, 275 teams traveled to the Lakes Region to compete, bringing along with them 2,200 players and doubtless hundreds of fans and spectators. 

It was a step back in the right direction for the tournament, which was held on Winnipesaukee for the first time since a confluence of factors, including the COVID pandemic and rainy conditions, pumped the brakes on the event following a half-sized iteration in 2021. The tournament was held for the past two years on nearby Lake Waukewan, which is considerably smaller than Lake Winnipesaukee.

For members of Mueller's team, who’d go on to beat Eastern Propane & Oil to win the championship that day, playing on Meredith Bay was nothing new. But it was her first time playing in the tournamen,t and said it was even more fun than expected. 

“It’s my first time with this team, but they’ve been doing it for quite a while,” Mueller said. “They’ve been up here I think at least a few years. It’s a great time up here, great energy and fun to play pond hockey.”

Stamvegas registered considerable success throughout the tournament. They opened with a 10-3 win against The Boston Beauties before handling Flong on rink No. 12 on Friday morning. They beat Zoomass Saturday and, in their first matchup, beat the Had Beens 8-3. Sunday they beat the same again 18-2, before ultimately winning the championship on Sunday afternoon.

“The tournament's gone good. We went 4-0, so now we’re playing in the semis and hoping to crank out a win here today, and hopefully play for the championship,” Mueller said. 

More important than winning, Mueller said playing good old-fashioned pond hockey is a fantastic tradition.

“It’s very nostalgic, a lot of us grew up playing pond hockey in the winter. And to just do it again — especially post-college — it’s just good to maintain the friendships and just play hockey,” Mueller said.

Shannon Hickey, of Arlington, Massachusetts, played college hockey for Plymouth State University, and is intimately familiar with the Lakes Region. She’d never played the New England Pond Hockey Classic before, but her dad played in the event when she was a kid, so she'd known about it since. 

Hickey was playing for the Had Beens this year.

“We all just used to play in college, so just we used to be something, now we’re washed up,” Hickey said. “I played for Plymouth State, I played literally down the street.”

“I grew up and my dad played in this,” Hickey said. “Then we finally got a team together, and we got time off work, so we finally made a trip.”

She said she was excited to play in this year’s tournament, no matter the results.

“My parents also have a house over here, it’s cool to finally be involved in it,” Hickey said.

Though her team was made up of former college athletes, representing premier hockey squads from all over New England, Hickey said the level of competition this year was fierce.

“There’s Olympians in this division, so I mean, I think we did good. We did 50-50, and then we just lost our fifth game,” Hickey said. “We did OK, we’re all done. This was the semis, we just lost the semis but they’re pretty good over there.”

But their competitive nature aside, nothing beats playing hockey with her friends.

“Honestly just playing hockey, I mean, right? That’s the main part,” Hickey said. “Being with my friends and having some drinks.”