USA Hockey Adult Hockey

EAGLE RIVER, Wis. – The fans stood in line, waiting patiently.
 
A couple hundred people weren’t going pass up the opportunity to touch, kiss or poise for a photo with one of the most iconic pieces of sports.
 
The Stanley Cup was proudly displayed prior to Saturday night’s banquet at the Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Championships at the AMSOIL Derby Track.
 
“It speaks for itself. It’s so unique and the opportunity is so unique,” said Ashley Bevan, USA Hockey’s Senior Director, Adult Hockey. “We thought for the 10th anniversary, what a great way to spice up the event.”
 
The Stanley Cup last appeared at the pond hockey championships in 2009.

Mike Bolt, who is one of three people who are the keeper of the Cup for the NHL Hall of Fame, had the responsibility of bringing the iconic trophy to Eagle River.
 
“I think it’s one of the great traditions of the NHL and the hockey hall of fame have done is bringing the Cup around,” Bolt said. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin and we’re bringing out the Stanley Cup. ... It’s great for the game. It helps promote and market our game.”
 
Transporting the Cup all over North America, Bolt loves to see the joy in fans’ face to a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
 
“I’ve seen everything from grown men cry, whether it’s an actual player to the parents of a player to hockey fans -- that’s the great part of the job,” Bolt said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and the reaction of the fans never gets old. I’ve being around it. I love talking about the Cup.”
 
Scott Hunsberger from Make Me a Crab Cake, a team in the 40+ Tier II Division, was one of the first people in line to get a chance to see the Cup.
 
The longtime Philadelphia Flyers fan who lives in Indianapolis got to cross a milestone off his bucket list.
 
“This hand right here has touched two things, Jack Nicklaus shook my hand and the Cup,” Hunsberger said. “I got to touch it; I got to kiss it. It was fantastic.”
 
The 54-year-old read a book in elementary school about the history of the Cup and has been waiting to see if ever since.
 
“To get to see it, c’mon,” Hunsberger said. “If you’re a hockey fan, that’s it right there. That’s the Sistine Chapel of hockey.”
 
Sharpest dressed man

Jared Deli found a way to stand out all weekend at the pond hockey championships.
 
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin, native was the only player of the 2,300 participants who was wearing a sport coat while playing.
 
Deli -- one of the members of Sharp Dressed Men, a play on the ZZ Top song – helped his team get all the way to the semifinals of the Silver 21+ Division before losing.
 
The Sharp Dressed Men participated in last year’s event and all six players wore screen print shirts with tuxedos on them. When the team added a seventh player for this year, they were one jersey short. Some of the guys went to a thrift store and bought seven $3 black sport coats. Deli, the jokester on the team, chose to wear the coat, while the others just wore the screen print shirts. Deli added a red tie to enhance his appearance.
 
“I’m just the only one that’s rockin’ it,” Deli said. “Some of them don’t get over the elbow pads, so we can’t all wear them. I think next year we’ll be more planned and I think you’ll see us all in sport coats and ties.”
 
Deli attracted a lot of attention off the ice, getting picture requests and numerous fans who approached him saying how much they enjoyed his attire.
 
Deli said mobility in the sport coat wasn’t bad. He was still able to play well with his team and look dapper at the same time.
 
“We look good, feel good and play good,” Deli said. “That’s our motto this weekend.”
 
As good as gold

After surrendering 20 goals in their first two games of the pond hockey championships, the guys from Northern Exposure Caretaking figured out the key to succees: play defense.
 
The Madison, Wis.-based team advanced to the finals of the Gold Division and used solid defense to take home the title.
 
Northern Exposure, the No. 3 seed for the playoffs, scored the only two goals of the second half in coming back to beat No. 4-seeded PBR 4-3 in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
 
“I think that’s what we realized at night when we went back to the cabin, we just had to defend better,” said Northern Exposure’s Tim Rothering, who played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin from 1995-99. “You’re not going to tick-tack-toe the puck, so you put one guy up top and let the other guys defend.”
 
PBR, which had a number of former Arizona State University men’s club hockey team members, held a 3-2 lead at half.
 
With about seven minutes left, Northern Exposure’s Chris Beglinger tied the game at 3. Beglinger had another solid scoring chance with 2:40 remaining and cashed in the game-winning goal.
 
“I knew there was going to be a big cluster in the middle, they’d been strong in their D zone, I just had to work hard to get to the middle and get a shot on net,” Beglinger said. “With this ice, you never know what’s going to happen.”
 
Northern Exposure, which finished the tournament 4-1, locked down on defense to preserve the victory. The team only gave up 14 goals in its final three games of the tournament.