USA Hockey Adult Hockey

On one special weekend in February, the small town of Eagle River, Wisconsin — home to slightly more than 1,300 people — swells exponentially in size.

 

That weekend belongs to the Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey Championships, an annual tournament that has called Eagle River home since 2006. With the 11th installment of the event quickly approaching — Feb. 5-7, 2016 — we caught up with Eagle River’s own Pat Weber who has helped organize the event since its inception.

 

USA Hockey: So, how cool is it to see such an event — a pond hockey tournament for adults — in its 11th year?

 

Pat Weber: Well, it is amazing. When we first started, I never would have fathomed that the thing would have grown to the size it has. It’s drawing a lot of people; they have a waiting list and everything. The novelty has not worn off.

 

USAH: Speaking of the sheer number of people that play, what are the exact numbers?

 

PW: I think they’re capped at 320 teams and they have another 100 on the waiting list at the different age groups. It’s played four-on-four, but they can have up to seven players on a team. So if you do the math, that’s about 2,000 people, players alone, that it draws.

 

USAH: What’s it like having that many people, about 30 rinks playing simultaneously, playing hockey in its original form, outdoors in the fresh air?

 

PW: I can’t even put it in words. You hear so many say that it’s back to the roots. Over the ten years, there’s a lot of camaraderie that’s been built between the teams that come here year after year. I would say that over half the teams have been here right from the get-go.

 

USAH: Obviously Eagle River is not the largest town in Wisconsin.

 

PW: No. It’s a real boost to the whole area here. All the hotels are all full, probably within a 30 or 40-mile radius of the city itself. It spills over into some of the other neighboring communities. Grocery stores benefit, gas stations, and obviously the beer and liquor sales flourish too.

 

USAH: Tell me a little bit about some of the prep work. When do you start planning?

 

PW: A lot of it’s down now; we’ve gotten into a routine. The biggest thing is Mother Nature has been throwing us curves. Last year we couldn’t get on the lake because we just got too much snow and there was too much water on the ice. We couldn’t build thick enough ice to safely go out there with trucks to plow it; we had to move. We were fortunate that there was a big snowmobile race here in mid-January. So a couple weeks before the pond hockey tournament, they already had their site with ice and everything on it. We were able to get 24 rinks up and were able to pull it off. This year we’re hoping to get on the lake but right now we’re battling the weather again.

 

We’re at the mercy of Mother Nature and we need at least a foot of ice to safely be out there.

 

Under normal circumstances, we’re able to get out there a few weeks before the event and start plowing off an area about 1,200 feet-by-600 feet, which allows us to build 30 rinks and allows some parking area and tents to be set up along the shoreline.

 

USAH: Well, hopefully some of the cold weather here can help you out.

 

PW: Yeah, that’s what we’re hoping for.

 

USAH: Beyond the tournament, USA Hockey honored you as the Adult Member of the Year last year. What did that mean to you?

 

PW: That was out of the blue. I never imagined it. When the late Don Coleman came to me and said USA Hockey wanted to do one of these pond hockey events and they’d like to do it in Eagle River, I said I know a place and I know a guy. I was just looking to do it as a benefit to our community and everybody. I wasn’t looking for any accolades for myself. I was really humbled by the honor.

 

Somebody had to be the leader, but there were a lot of people behind me that did the work too. I was very appreciative and it was very unexpected.