USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Special to USAHockey.com

The seven men who comprised the Uihlein Electric team are experienced Division III college hockey players. But when it came to playing pond hockey, their level of experience was essentially nil.

“We live in Milwaukee where I would say pond hockey isn’t a big deal,” said forward Brian Soik. “We had never played pond hockey since we were growing up.”

So what prompted the team to enter the 2012 USA Hockey Pond Hockey Championships in Eagle River, Wis.?

“We read about it in USA Hockey Magazine and also heard about it through word of mouth,” explained Soik. “We knew people who’ve gone there and came back and said it was an unbelievable experience … almost like nothing they had experienced before.”

One point that was emphasized by Pond Hockey Championships veterans was to sign up early. As a result, the Uihlein Electric players started planning nine months in advance of the 2012 tournament.

“We heard spots fill up quickly,” Soik said.

The players were quick to learn something else.

“It’s a totally different game, so it took us a while to get used to it as opposed to playing on an indoor rink,” said Soik, whose teammates included Michael Johnson, Bryce Washbeck, Michael Soik, Greg George, Nick Belleba and Aaron Humphries (all except George played college hockey for the Milwaukee School of Engineering; George played for Northland College). “But going in our first year, all we wanted to do was have fun. We still want to have fun next year, but we want to win it or at least be a challenger [for the division championship].”

Uihlein Electric wound up playing in the Gold Division last year. However, it lost 17-15 to eventual champion Shattuck Pioneers and 9-8 in overtime to the Hibbies.

“We won our third game [10-8 over the Buffalo Beaver Squeezers], but because we had two losses we didn’t make the medal round,” Soik said. “This should give us more incentive for next year. Our next step for sure is to get to the medal round. We definitely want to become very competitive.”

Despite their inexperience playing pond hockey, the players were interested in playing the game out in the elements.

“It’s something completely different,” said Soik. “There’s cold weather and you literally play hockey differently. You pass and shoot differently. You don’t have a stand-up goalie. You don’t have a set strategy.

“It’s more of a free-flowing type of hockey.”

While the Uihlein Electric players weren’t impressed with their performance, just the opposite was the case with their impression of the tournament in general.

“It’s amazing how the whole thing is set up and how smoothly it runs,” Soik said. “They have 24 rinks, and the ice is about as good as you can ask for. Last year we had a mild winter, but the tournament this year was the one bad weekend where it got below zero. Our second game at 7 a.m. on Saturday, the wind-chill factor was about minus-20.”

Soik also was impressed with how the Eagle River populace became engulfed in the tournament.

“How the whole town takes to the event is hard to explain,” he said. “Eagle River is a small town, but the number of people who come to the event is bigger than the town’s population. Yet everyone’s a volunteer, and I can’t emphasize enough how smoothly it runs.”

Soik had absolutely zero negative comments about nationals and zero anecdotes that might jump off the proverbial page. But there was something more subjective that’s still stuck in his mind.

“The camaraderie is something else,” he said. “It’s just a unique event where you get to do something together that not everyone gets to do. 

“Overall, it was a blast.”

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.