Wausau has been hosting pond hockey tournaments for over 50 years and a lot of teams all over the quad states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois) participate every year in this winter event. Pond Hockey for us Wisconsinites, is a family event and especially in Wausau serves a decent revenue generator for the nearby communities. Lot of people who just pass by Wausau when driving to Green Bay for a Packers game really visit the area for anything but the Pond Hockey events.
Pond Hockey informally called as outdoor puck, shinny or pick-up hockey, has been a sport of the Winter for over a century. Indoor Ice Hockey got popularized after World War II which is when the crowd and the interests in outdoor winter hockey moved to the ice rinks thereby reducing Pond Hockey to become a folk culture or game of past time.
Pond Hockey *
There is not much information available about Pond Hockey other than a few Wikipedia pages and a couple of dedicated blogs however, this post is written in a way to familiarize the audience on some of the prevalent Pond Hockey rules and the ways it differs from Indoor Ice Hockey.
- Pond Hockey rules are very similar to indoor ice hockey but are less restrictive and more dependent on what the surrounding environment has to offer. In most cases, organizer will agree upon the rules before the start of the season.
- Some of the basic rules that Pond Hockey takes its cues from its big brother – indoor ice hockey are following offsides (Offside occurs when a player on the attacking team does not control the puck and is in the offensive zone when another attacking player causes the puck to enter the offensive zone, until the puck or all attacking players leave the offensive zone) and icing (An icing occurs when a player shoots the puck over the center and opponent‘s red goal lines without scoring a goal).
- Although in most Pond Hockey events, the teams are picked by simply dividing the participants in equal number of players, the Wausau Pond Hockey tournament is much more organized. Teams have to register in advance and pay participation fees.
- One major difference when it comes to Pond Hockey is that all goals are scored from the center.
- Extra shot are to be taken from center of ice and should be endeavored in the span of 30 seconds of the penalty being called. Anybody in the opposing team can make the effort. The team that is granted the extra shot will likewise be offered ownership of the puck following the penalty chance attempt (no matter what is the result of the shot).
- Any significant penalty called, will bring about a grant of goal to the opposing team and may result in discharge of the offending player. Substitutions are not allowed in such cases.
- No slapshots allowed. Such action result in a minor infraction call out by the monitors.
- The focus of pond hockey is more on skating and puck handling skills and less on shooting and checking (The check is a defensive technique in ice hockey used to disrupt an opponent with possession of the puck or to separate him from it completely).
- Pond Hockey discourages the use of physical contact which is quite popular in Indoor Ice Hockey so the use of helmets in most Pond Hockey tournaments is optional however with the awareness of head injury in recent times, most organizers mandate helmets.
These are just some of major differences however it is no less fun to play Pond Hockey as it is with indoor ice hockey. The best part of all is, learning to enjoy the cold weather and enjoying the spirit of Winter Games.
Pictures Courtesy Wausau Pond Hockey (https://visitwausau.com)
