10 years of tribute: Pond Hockey takes over Meredith Bay

MEREDITH — The winter had been too easy on Scott Crowder. Cold settled into Meredith Bay early enough to leave him with a thick sheet of ice – more than a foot – to build rinks for the 2,200-plus hockey players who had been planning all year to come to his tournament. He even got a heavy rainfall last week to give that ice a nice, smooth surface.

Then came eight inches of snow, which fell Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the day before his players were scheduled to arrive for the 10th Annual New England Pond Hockey Classic, a three-day tournament of hockey played the old-fashioned way: on natural ice, in the open air, between groups of friends.

“It’s been a long 24 hours for the crew, between having to set up 27 rinks and clear the snow,” Crowder said on Wednesday evening. His crew started clearing snow at 10 p.m. Tuesday and worked through the night, removing the snow as it fell, so that by the time the last dropped they could put the final pieces together for the tournament.

There’s more to set up than just rinks. There’s a large, on-ice warming tent. Bank of NH Pavilion is operating a music venue, and there’s a bigger beer garden. Food vendors are also set up on the ice to feed players and spectators alike. In order for everytihing to be in place in time for the first games at 8 a.m. this morning, Crowder couldn’t wait for the storm to pass before clearing the snow.

But the late snowstorm was a relatively easy curveball for Crowder to handle. In years past, he’s dealt with all varieties of New England winter weather. Twice, the ice on Meredith Bay was too uncertain for safety and he had to uproot his tournament and transplant it onto Lake Waukewan.

All that work is part of the deal Crowder signed up for a decade ago. He was then a recent college graduate who had never hosted an event, but coming from a family well-known in the New England hockey world, he had an idea for a tournament that would give the people who love the sport the chance to connect with its purest form.

And he was right. Even before he held his first tournament, he had more interest from players than he had capacity to serve them. The event grew for the first several years until it hit capacity – Crowder could make more rinks but he doesn’t want to take too much ice away from the fishermen. Besides, the local bars, restaurants and hotels are already filled with the current number of players.

"The Pond Hockey Classic is by far the the busiest two days of the year for us," said Josh Harding, owner of the Lakeview Tavern in Meredith.

That observation was echoed by Cody Bryant, kitchen manager at The Mug in Center Harbor. "Pond hockey weekend has become one of our busiest weekends of the entire year," he said.

An overwhelming majority of the 2,200 players in this year's event are return visitors, and some have played in every one of Crowder’s tournaments on Meredith Bay.

Instant friends

Brendan Marble, captain of the Mounted Reinbeers, is one of those original players. He said his team formed when he was just out of high school, and the roster was a mix of friends and friends-of-friends. He said they didn’t even know if they would get a chance to play.

“We were on the waiting list to get on, we got in at the last minute,” he said. There wasn’t a person on the team who knew every other member, some of their teammates were strangers to everyone except one other person. Not for long, though.

“We just became instant friends over that weekend,” Marble said.

Those first few years, the team members engaged in typical college-age recreation when they weren’t playing. Marble, who now works at BAE Systems in Meredith, said the team now rents a house in town for the tournament, and their wives and girlfriends come up to join them.

“But there’s one rule: Thursday night is guys’ night. We have a great time,” Marble said.

The Reinbeers play in the “Twig” division – the least competitive. About half of the seasons, they’ve made it to the playoffs, but they’re primary objective is to enjoy the weekend.

That’s also the case for “The Locals,” which was started by Max Willwerth. He picked the name because he’s from Moultonborough and, in 2010, was studying at Plymouth State University. But none of his teammates are from this area, and Willwerth has since relocated to Boston, where he works as a project manager for a construction company – so there aren’t any locals on “The Locals.”

Willwerth said their pond hockey team is a thread that keeps him in touch with a group of his college friends he might otherwise have fallen out of touch with. It also gives them a connection to a time in their lives before careers, before families.

“It’s everybody’s favorite weekend,” Willwerth said. “Most of our guys are married, some of our guys have kids. Being a 21-year-old at Plymouth State University is a lot different than being a 31-year-old in the working world. You go there and it’s a total throwback to how things were when we were at PSU. I think everybody needs that, it brings out the kid in us."

Willwerth and Marble said part of what keeps them coming back is how well-run the tournament is.

“It’s just a very fun environment," Willwerth said. "Scott Crowder, what an unbelievable job he’s done to grow it. What it’s done for the community, it’s a blast for spectators, it’s a blast for the players.”

“The Locals” once played in the “Open” division, which is the most competitive. Now they’ve dropped back to the “Shinny,” where they consider it a good tournament if they make it to the playoffs on Sunday.

All washed-up

Crowder said that there are a few exceptions, but the typical pond hockey player isn’t set on winning the trophy. For most of them, dreams of glory have since been left behind.

“The unique thing with pond hockey tournaments is, it’s a range. There’s people that have played professionally, at the highest levels of the NHL, and people that never even played high school hockey.”

But they all have something in common, Crowder said.

“Everybody is a washed-up hockey player out here playing the sport they loved… It’s not about being the best hockey player. It’s paying tribute to the sport.”