Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118160
FREE-FLOWING AND CREATIVE, pond hockey is played four players per side without goalies, boards or referees, and with only the most basic, self-policed rules. (top) The World Championship, in New Brunswick. Both the atmosphere and attire are informal at Rossland's 2011 Western Regionals, with players cleaning their own ice before games. Back then, I didn't fully recognize the time and effort he devoted to our rink. He started in the fall, spreading dirt on the grass and staking its perimeter with wooden boards. Later he flooded the lawn over several weeks to build up a base, then cleaned the surface each time it snowed. Sometimes I would fall asleep to the rhythmic scraping sound of his broad-bladed wooden shovel – a homemade model, just like the potato-sack goalie nets he built for us. He toiled out there on even the coldest nights, creating his icy masterpiece. Now I know, of course, that my father was doing more than simply constructing a place for his sons to play. He was passing on his love of the game, just as Walter Gretzky did for son Wayne on Canada's most famous backyard rink, in Brantford, Ontario. Occasionally, Dad would take me and a few of my friends to a frozen quarry for Sunday afternoon games of shinny – hockey of a higher calibre than our backyard rink allowed. The ice was darker, harder and faster, and we had to battle the wind as well as our opponents. But the payoffs were unmatched. Until someone has played that type of hockey and felt the cold wind in their lungs and the hard metallic slice of their skates beneath them, there is no way to completely understand the sheer physical delight of pond hockey. Even at a bone-chilling minus 23, the players in Prince George are swept up by the sport's magical spell. As the Hasbins and Bannock Burners do battle, the serenade of chattering skates and sticks is punctuated by their lively on-ice banter and excited yelps. Even more surprising is that several dozen spectators have assembled in the deep freeze to cheer on their favourites. "This is a truly Canadian experience," says local Mark Asquith, decked out in a parka and Mountiestyle fur hat. "We're out on a lake. We've got a fire going. We got everyone bundled up. It's great. I love it. It's why I'm proud to be Canadian." JANUARY VARION POND HOCKEY CLASSIC Logan Lake, B.C. January 13 to 15 varionclassic.ca NORTHERN REGIONAL POND HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS Prince George, B.C. January 20 to 22 bcpondhockey.com CANADIAN NATIONAL POND HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS Huntsville, Ontario January 27 to 29 canadapondhockey.ca FEBRUARY EASTERN REGIONAL POND HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS Invermere (Windermere Lake), B.C. February 3 to 5 bcpondhockey.com WORLD POND HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP Plaster Rock (Roulston Lake), New Brunswick February 9 to 12 worldpondhockey.com GOLDEN POND HOCKEY TOURNAMENT Golden (Adventure Eco-Ranch), B.C. February 12 to 13* goldenpondhockey.com LAKE LOUISE CLASSIC February 25 to 26 Banff, Alberta banfflakelouise.com/events *Weather permitting THREE WEEKS LATER, I ARRIVE IN ROSSLAND for the Western Regional Pond Hockey Championships. The scenic alpine village, (top) Brian Atkinson, Kerry Banks p30-35_Hockey.indd 33 WESTWORLD >> W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 33 10/25/11 11:59:59 AM