Puck-heads from around the globe are back out on the ice today in south Minneapolis for another day of the U-S Pond Hockey Championships.
The teams playing Friday morning are the lucky ones. They’re getting the Lake Nokomis ice when it’s not too chopped up by the hundreds of skaters.
Joe Kauffman of Minneapolis was able to make adjustments.
"Yeah, a little cracked, a little jaded, and then it gets beat up as the day goes on, but we all know that you play with it and you adapt to the game," he says.
Seth Ronsberg of Lake Elmo doesn’t play in many tournaments like this.
"It's different, right? When you're on the pond, just like at home with your buddies in the backyard, so it's kind of nice coming full circle there," Ronsberg explains. But you know, the ice is a little choppy. It's a lake. But it was fun. Is there anything I could do different to prepare for something like this? Maybe bring some more hand warmers. It's freezing this morning."
Hundreds of the skaters have gathered from around the world to play on the more than two-dozen rinks mapped out near the lake’s main beach area. Brock Thompson of Roseville says it takes some getting used to.
"There's a lot of cracks, but you expect it, so you got to come prepared for that, it can't be a distraction, you can't let it get in the way," Thompson told WCCO's Al Schoch. "We practiced last night on an outdoor rink, kind of got used to it, so I felt like we adapted really well."
This year’s tournament is just this coming weekend. Last year’s two-weekend event was cut short because of warming temperatures.