USA Hockey Adult Hockey

When the guys from Founders first started playing in the Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey National Championships in Eagle River, Wisconsin, there were only 120 teams.

Now there are 330. The annual tournament has changed quite a bit over the years. However, the guys from Founders, who hail from Milwaukee, haven’t changed much.

Even though the Founders name debuted at the 2016 tournament, the majority of the players on the team have played for nine years in a row. The first four years, the guys went by Goose Island and the next four years by Magners.

In 2008 and ’09, all seven original team members played at Eagle River. The next year, the lineup changed slightly and the guys — who were playing as Goose Island — won the 21+ Intermediate Division. Ever since that year, the team has primarily remained the same. This year, a new player had to fill in as a longtime guy was forced to miss the tournament because of death in his family.

The players say it’s important to have the same guys every year and to share that camaraderie every winter.

“It shows on the ice,” original team member Adam Bastjan said. “We have a system that we play, and when you remove one guy from that, it’s pretty important.”

Winning the championship in 2010 was a major accomplishment for the guys. However, Bastjan said the team has since had to learn to dial back its expectations in the years when it’s fallen short.

“We’ve got to take a step back and realize it is just a fun thing,” he said. “If we lose a game, it sucks for a little bit, but once some time passes you realize how great it is and forget about it quick.”

The guys from Founders, who range in age from 30 to 43, have advanced to the semifinals three other times in the past, but always seem to lose to the eventual winning team.

This past winter, Founders was 4-0 before being tripped up in the semifinals 13-8 to Ric Flair. Of course, Ric Flair ended up winning the title in the 30+ Bronze Division.

“It’s fun to win. It sucks to lose; that’s the worst part,” team member Tom Kaifesh said. “It’s fun to come out here and enjoy it. Catching up with all the people you haven’t seen — you see them once a year. It’s the same group of people you catch up with every year, and it’s great.”

Bastjan emphasizes the experience.

“Tom says it’s about winning. It is about winning, we love to win, but we’re not going to do just anything to win,” he said. “I think the teams that have been here for a long time just appreciate how great this is and how lucky we are to be able to do this every year. It’s really fun playing against them.”

Founders tries to play in two to three other tournaments per year. But it’s most important for the guys to free up their schedules to play up in Eagle River.

“This is the one that everyone does,” said Kaifesh, who like Bastjan is 35 years old. “We’re all getting older and have kids and stuff, and it’s harder for everybody to take off that time, but it’s well worth it for us because we get to be with our friends. That’s that one week where you get that hall pass and everyone says, ‘Go, have fun.’ My wife says that all the time.”

Reserving a spot for the Pond Hockey Championships can be difficult. Every year, the guys from Founders set up a conference call the day of registration and four players are on the USA Hockey website frantically trying to get in the tournament.

“If we don’t get in, we’re going to be ticked off for a long time,” Bastjan said.

About one month leading up to the tournament, the guys are exchanging “probably 3,000 emails,” Bastjan said, talking trash, preparing for the event and scheduling everything.

“This is about getting out with the guys and the one weekend where we get to go out and do something like this together,” Bastjan said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.