The 2011 New England Pond Hockey Classic has come and gone, and in its second season it was a huge success. Many, many thanks to the town of Meredith, NH, Scott Crowder and the rest of the Pond Hockey Classic team, as well as all the countless volunteers that helped make the weekend possible for over 1,000 skaters across 152 teams. If you missed the front page article in the Boston Globe this past weekend, click here.
Being our first pond hockey tournament, Team Backyard Ice finished much better than expected, losing our only game of the tournament in the ‘Just For Fun 35+’ division finals on Sunday. And we put up good numbers too over the weekend on the road the finals, on and off the ice. Playing the 4 vs. 4 format with no goalies on a rink that measured about 150′ x 70′, our 6-person team outscored our opponents 47-18, finished with a 5-1 record, drank over 250 beers, ate a tray of homemade lasagna and stuffed shells, and polished off a bottle of Johnny Walker. The Muscle Milk tent and Italian sausage stand right next to the rinks were frequented often as well. Not too shabby for a bunch of never-were’s. And you can bet we’ll be back next year to wrap up some unfinished business….
Supporters of Team Backyard Ice, like yourselves, helped put up some pretty good numbers as well during tournament play. And the folks over at Restore Hockey are more than stoked about this outcome! As a result of your generosity, Backyard Ice is sending a check for $600 to Restore Hockey to help them in their mission of growing the game of hockey through the restoration of donated hockey equipment.
In addition to the monetary donation, the first ever Backyard Hockey Equipment Drive (for announcement last month click here), which was throughout January, was also a success. Backyard Ice was able to collect a couple duffel bags worth of donated equipment and then present it to Restore Hockey while we were up at the tournament this past weekend. As part of this month long event, Backyard Ice would like to thank Joe (Bedford, NH) and Tim (Northbridge, MA) for their participation in donating used hockey gear and award them with a 48″ SnowPusherLite shovel and NiceRink Pond Hockey goal set! Nice job guys and on behalf of Restore Hockey, thanks to everyone that donated gear!
Now the focus is back on the backyard rinks with about 1 month left in the season…..keep fighting the good fight against Mother Nature – you still have quality skating times ahead!
