Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118160
though. He also dreams of a seven-nation international competitive pond hockey tournament that would see countries rotating hosting duties each year. Whether or not pond hockey will ever reach that level of sophistication is debatable. But the quality of the game has certainly increased each year at the Western Regionals, as has the quality of the playing surface, which Reed credits to the tireless efforts of "ice savant" Raymond Von Diebitsch. The former civic employee diligently rose at 3 a.m. today to prepare the ice for Sunday's concluding round of games. THE FINALS, CONTESTED IN A SWIRL OF GENTLY falling snow, produces three winners: Organic Drycleaners in the women's division, the Rex Hotel Outlaws in the men's recreational division and the Gilnockie Ruttin Bucks in the men's championship division. Afterward, as the Bucks' captain Aaron Shrieves accepts a congratulatory beer, he lets slip that some of the other players complained about his team taking things "too seriously." It's an assertion he vehemently denies. "No one partied harder than us this weekend. We had a blast." I know what he means. As eight-to 11-year-olds we did no partying, but I felt a similar sense of exhilaration and camaraderie with my buddies after a pond hockey season – no matter how fierce the on-ice battles. Of course, the euphoria after each game quickly disappeared once I returned home and discovered my feet were frozen solid. I would limp into the kitchen and plant numb, bone-white toes on the furnace vent. Slowly the circulation would return, bringing with it stabbing pain. I'd gamely fight back tears and gradually the sting would fade, replaced by a slow, delicious burn that lasted for hours. Today, there is no risk of frozen feet for the Rossland players. But as the teams disperse and the spectators melt away, the snowfall quickens and flakes the size of golf balls begin to fall – coating the twin rinks with a delicate white frosting. Raising the hood on my parka, I set off through the tumbling flakes only to pause mid-stride, brought up short by the muffled sound of a wooden shovel scraping across the ice. I slowly turn back to see where it is coming from, but there is no one there. Skating with the boys at B.C.'s Logan Lake Varion Pond Hockey Classic: www.bcaa.com/loganlake Y For Kootenay Rockies Member-travel specials: www.bcaa.com/rockies WESTWORLD p30-35_Hockey.indd 35 >> W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 35 10/25/11 12:00:05 PM