There's only a couple of days before Prince George becomes pond hockey central.
Registration for the second edition of the B.C. Northern Regional Pond Hockey Championships closed Monday night and organizers are expecting it to be another successful event.
From Jan. 20 to 22, teams and spectators will flood the West Lake Provincial Park site to take in Canada's game in its rawest form.
"The thing to remember, once people put on the skates, everything is competitive. They're playing to win, they're not playing to have the other team score 90 goals and not score any themselves," explained organizer John Reed. "That's just the nature of the beast and as Canadians, hockey's definitely in our DNA."
Last weekend, Reed was at West Lake overseeing preparations for this weekend's series.
"It's beautiful," Reed said. "The ice is in nice shape with maybe two inches of snow on the ground, which gives us lots of snow to make our rink boards with."
Despite a spate of warm weather before this week's deep freeze, Reed said there was never any concern about the condition of
the rink.
"We had 14 inches of ice built up on the lake before it got warm," he explained.
By Friday morning, the pond hockey team will have all hands on deck, setting up tents and co-ordinating various groups such as B.C. Parks, which will be holding demonstrations and operating snowshoe tours on site.
During the tournament, teams of six will compete in rotational four-on-four, 30-minute games in men's and women's recreational, competitive and open divisions. All players must be 19 and older and bring skates, stick, athletic support and helmet with other pads and guards recommended.
"It's a unique experience if you haven't seen it before. It's a very high-scoring game and the rules are different than traditional hockey," said Reed. There are no goalies and no calls for icing or off side.
The puck drops on Friday night.
In addition to the main event, there is also a designated rink for recreational skating. "It'll be a great weekend. People can come out and play hockey and skate with the kids," Reed said. There is also a Burger and a Band party at Riley's Pub in the Days Inn Saturday night at 7:30, featuring Highball Riot, with the hotel offering a special room rate for those who need to stay the night.
The pond hockey series came to town for the first time last year, in a bid to expand the Rossland-founded event on a provincial level. Following the P.G. series, the B.C. Pond Hockey will pack up and head to Lake Windemere for the B.C. Eastern Regional Pond Hockey Championships from Feb. 3 to 5.
This year, B.C. Pond Hockey is already looking to give back and will be collecting donations for the Central Interior Fire Chiefs Association. Donations can be dropped off at the Fire Rescue Command trailer throughout the weekend. The money will go to the Enderby Volunteer Fire Department in
support of a memorial scholarship fund, established in the name of Cpt. Daniel Botkin who was killed in the line of duty prior to
Christmas.
Reed said B.C. Pond Hockey was looking for a group to which they could provide continuing support.
"We work quite actively with the local fire chiefs and the local fire rescue as far as they provide first aid and ice rescue services," he said. "It's a great organization to be involved with, so anything we can do to give back and help them we're more than happy to do."
For more information, visit
www.bcpondhockey.com.
