All Eyes On The Ice As Pond Hockey Classic Nears
by Dan Seufert
Weirs Times Correspondent
The winter of 2019-2020 will likely yield the ice needed for the popular February ice events on Meredith Bay, according to local experts.
The 2020 New England Hockey Classic is celebrating its 11th year and an unblemished record of providing an ancient brand of a hard-played version of the sport that legend says goes back to local Native American tribes.
Whether the legends are true or not, the games always draw rave reviews from the 11,000 or so fans that clog Meredith for each tournament, and the same numbers or more are expected for this year’s tourney from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.
The Classic draws spectators from many states, and has garnered national attention, including ESPN, which calls the event, “A Hockey Purist’s Dream.”
Local winter sports fans have probably noticed that the ice on Meredith Bay was not yet frozen, a condition that is also of concern to organizers of The Great Meredith Rotary Ice Fishing Derby, which will be held the following weekend from the Rotary’s trailer on the edge of Meredith Bay. At least 4-6 inches is needed for safe walking on lake ice, according safety officials.
The Derby has been held in less icy winters than this, as it takes fish from lakes all over the state, and a large number of smaller lakes and ponds have iced over or are mostly so.
In 2010, 2012, and 2016, the New England Pond Hockey Classic has been held a few miles across town on the smaller Lake Waukewan (the latter two events were moved because of lack of ice on Meredith Bay). Holding it on the Waukewan ice produces the same great hockey action, but there is less room for spectators and a brings substantial drop in available around-the-corner parking, so many hope the games will be held on Meredith Bay, which sits on the north end of the lake many pond hockey fans call “WinnipeHockey.”
The weather forecasts and visual inspections of Winnipesaukee almost daily by the local authority on the lake’s ice conditions, Emerson Aviation president David Emerson, have brought an optimistic view, though he had not yet announced “Ice-In” on the entire lake by the middle of the month. Emerson’s Ice-Out call in the spring comes when the MS Mount Washington cruise ship is able to make all its points of call — Weirs Beach, Meredith, Center Harbor, Alton Bay, and Wolfeboro. Emerson also calls Ice-in when the opposite would be true, that the Mount Washington would not be able to make its calls on the five towns.
Ice-in normally occurs between the third week of January and the first week of February. Ice-out usually falls in the third week of April. The state Fish and Game department has its own system of records available from past two years online HERE.
Emerson takes lots of factors into account when making any predictions, and his best guess is that the events will take place in downtown Meredith.
“We’re supposed to have cold weather starting (from mid-January on). I’m confident that winter will allow the Meredith activities to go on,” he said.
The founder and president of the Pond Hockey Classic, Scott Crowder, had not made a call of where the tournament will be held by Jan. 15, though he said he too had been watching the weather forecasts closely.
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Schedule of Events for the 2020 NEPHC
Thursday, January 30th
5:00-10:00 Player Check-In/Labatt Blue Welcome Party at the WINNIPESAUKEE BALLROOM at Church Landing,
Lakes Region Youth Hockey VIP Locker Room Fundraiser – Purchase Raffle Tickets to benefit local youth hockey and for a chance to win a VIP Bob House for you and your team
Friday, January 31st
7:00 Player Locker Room Tents Open
7:00 Late Player Check in
at the Winnipesaukee Ballroom at Church Landing
8:00-4:35 Games
6:45 – Shuttles start from Laconia Harley Davidson/Hart’s Turkey Farm/Prescott Park & Meredith Town Docks Downtown
10:00 Common Man Concession/Labatt Blue Zone Open
in PHC Tournament Village
3:00-4:30 – Live Music on the Bank of NH Pavilion Stage
BAND Inc. 3:00 – 4:30PM
5:00 – Shuttles stop to Laconia Harley Davidson/Hart’s Turkey Farm/Prescott Park & Meredith Town Docks Downtown
5:00 Common Man Concession/Labatt Blue Zone
Close in PHC Tournament Village
Saturday, February 1st
7:00 Player Shuttles start from Laconia Harley Davidson/Hart’s Turkey Farm/Prescott Park & Meredith Town Docks Downtown
7:00 Locker Room Tents Open
8:00-4:35 Games
10:00 Common Man Concession/Labatt Blue Zone Open
in PHC Tournament Village
10:30-4:00 – Live Music on the Bank of NH Pavilion Stage
Sons of Levin: 10:30 – 11:30am
Martin and Kelly: 12:00 – 1:30pm
April Cushman Band: 2:30 – 4:00pm
5:00 Common Man Concession/Labatt Blue Zone/Streaker Sports Merchandise Booth/Bank of NH Pavilion Stage with
Live Music Close in PHC Tournament Village
5:00 Shuttles stop to Laconia Harley Davidson/Hart’s
Turkey Farm/Prescott Park & Meredith Town Docks Downtown
8:00 Playoff Brackets Announced – Online
Sunday, February 2nd
7:30 Shuttles Start from Event Lots at
Hart’s Turkey Farm/Laconia Harley Davidson
8:00 Player Locker Room Tents Open
9:00-12:45 Playoff Games
1:15 Championship Games
1:50 Award Ceremony
3:00 PHC Tournament Village Close
The above schedule of events is subject to change,
any changes will be posted here.
“I don’t know, (but) the forecast is finally starting favorable,” he said. “In theory, this should work out and we’ll be on Meredith Bay ice. If not, it’s Plan B, Lake Waukewan. It’s not ideal, but that ice seems to capture the event overall. It’s frozen, and there’s some good ice there now.”
The Pond Hockey Classic began on Lake Waukewan in 2010. Crowder, the son of Boston Bruin Bruce Crowder, had played pond hockey as a child and his family spent many summers near Meredith Bay. He decided to gather local businesses and government leaders and put together his dream.
Met with skepticism locally at first, he had his rink-making teams construct, using snow and markers to measure and lay out seven rinks on the ice surface. The games are played 4-on-4, though teams can have 6-8 players on its side ice. The goals on each end are made of small metal half u-rings nailed to the ice with a bar between them, meaning you can score in either 6-inch-tall net. There are no designated goalies.
The first year the event drew 77 teams, with especially high turnouts of players from Massachusetts, who likely had Crowder’s experience of playing pond or lake hockey growing up. The following year’s event drew twice as many teams, and now the event regularly draws 275 or more teams, which compete in more than 500 games across 26 rinks.
There is some dispute over how pond hockey evolved in New Hampshire. On the pondhockeyclassic.com website, there is a legend posted of local Native Americans developing the game. But Canadians, who are credited by many with inventing the indoor sport of ice hockey, say that sport began on the lakes, ponds and rivers of Canada long before teams started playing on indoor arena ice.
There’s no arguments about the invention of the game on the sidelines of each game in the classic. There’s no time, the action keeps one’s eyes busy, and excitement can be heard with each “ping” sound from a puck striking one of the metal goals.
“We bring our sport back to the basics, and create a world-class hockey product at the same time,” Crowder said.
The New England Pond Hockey Classic is actually a sports event-management company, and besides providing an economic boost to the Greater Meredith Area and helping many area charitable groups, the company draws major sponsors, the largest of which is Labatt Blue, which features a large, heavily attended beer bar on the ice near the rinks with a huge inflated blue beer can.
Other large corporate sponsors include Bauer, Timberland Pro and Sparx, as well as the Jameson Whiskey and Abosolut companies. Local sponsors include Laconia Harley-Davidson, Lavalley/Middleton Building Supply, The Common Man, Mill Falls at the Lake, Eastern Propane and Oil, The Weirs Times and Christian Party Rental.
A large sponsor is the Bank of New Hampshire and the Bank of New Hampshire Pavillion, which is providing musical entertainment on the ice with several bands playing each day at the corner of the ice.
There are always lots of pond hockey fans of all ages to the rinks. Many bring their babies to watch, and despite the hard pucks being used and the very hard play (participants try to keep the puck low to the ice, as the goal nets are not high) there haven’t been many injuries reported by fans and players over the past 11 years.
As usual, there will be many teams with odd names like the Broots Magoots of Amherst and the Bumbles of Laconia. Those teams will be joined again in 11 divisions: the Red Bull Open Ice, the highly competitive and heavily viewed Women’s Open, the 30+ Open, the 40+ Open, the 50+ Open, the Shinny 20+ (Shinny is another name for Pond Hockey), Shinny 35+, and Shinny 50+, Duster, Women’s Duster, and Twig divisions. Lists of the teams and more information is available at www.pondhockeyclassic.com.
The Friday and Saturday games are from 8am to 4:30pm. The winning teams from those teams will play playoff games on Sunday from 9am. to 12:45pm. Championship games for each division will be held Sunday at 1:15pm with the award ceremony for the champions at 1:50pm.
The public is invited to the ice of Meredith Bay to watch the games free of charge.
This year has about the same amount of booked players and teams as in recent years, and the “Plan B” Waukewan ice is strong. So it’s a matter of weather, not whether, Crowder said.
“Everybody would prefer Meredith Bay, but Waukewan is a nice place to play and it’s a lot better than flat-out canceling the event,” he said.
In any case, it will be a great event as usual, he said.
“It’s really going to be exactly what people expect to see from the Pond Hockey Classic each year, lots of great hockey and lots of fun.”
