Hockey in it's Purest Form: Western Cup of Pond Hockey Story by Sherry Bennett
 

A week before hockey's highest-paid players take to the manicured ice inside Montreal's climate-controlled Bell Centre for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, 150 recreational puck heads will gather on a frozen lake in Logan Lake to play hockey in its purest form-on natural ice, in frigid temperatures, under the canopy of a crisp blue winter sky.

Jan. 16 through 18, the east end of Logan Lake becomes a blur of action as 30 squads, 24 in the open division, six in the vintage over-40 division, face off in hopes of capturing the coveted Western Cup of Pond Hockey.

WCPH Society President Dave Prentice says it's the low-tech charm of grassroots hockey that's been courting hoards of grown men from all walks of life to the Interior's recreational mecca for the past three years.

"Hockey's become so structured nowadays. It's become so much of a business. People just want to go outside and have a little fun like they did when they were kids."

Until his recent transfer to the Ashcroft RCMP detachment, the hockey organizer was best known around the streets of Logan Lake as Cpl. Prentice. A lifelong hockey enthusiast, he's played an active role in the community in non-enforcement roles and has become a veritable fixture in Interior ice arenas through his volunteer efforts as a minor hockey coach and referee.

The Logan Lake lord of the rinks has carted his love for the good ol' hockey game to every community he's inhabited since graduating from RCMP depot in 1985-Prince George, Port McNeill, Hope and Logan Lake.

Dave developed his passion for hockey as a boy growing up in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

A youthful glow glides across the newly-appointed sergeant's face as he reminisces those winter days of his youth when he would dash home from school, hastily toss his skates and stick over his shoulder and sprint across the street to the frozen frog pond-repeatedly reinventing the seventh game of the Stanley Cup with his neighbourhood chums until feet and fingers rendered numb and the sun meandered below the horizon.

While his hours spent on the frozen water didn't lead him to the National Hockey League like his Cole Harbour neighbour Sidney Crosby, his appreciation for Canada's sacred sport is solid nonetheless.

"Like most Canadians, I've been playing for years, but purely at the recreational level. I have fond memories of outdoor hockey.

"One of the best things about the Western Cup of Pond Hockey is the contrast between players. The range is wide-everything from the high-calibre ex-junior hockey player to the 40-year-old who plays only once a year and falls over on his ankles when he steps out onto the ice."

With past team names like the Whalley Woodchucks, Heavy Sweaters, Calgary Rednecks and Kamloops Oronge Beer Nuts, there's little doubt hockey shtick ranks as important as goals scored at the annual winter event.

As fun to watch, as it is to play, spectators will undoubtedly be disappointed if they drop by expecting to catch great goaltending or brutish brawls. The games, 85 in total, are played four-on-four without goalies and checking, with nets that measure only six feet wide and 10 inches high.

For outdoor hockey enthusiasts, never knowing what Mother Nature will dish out is part of the exhilaration and romance.

In the tournament's inaugural year, Jack Frost blew through with vengeance, plunging the mercury to -29 degrees Celsius and hijacking almost every breath taken.

Not to be outdone, old man winter made a memorable visit the second year, dropping a whopping 16 inches of snow on the ice in just one night.

No matter what the weather, Dave says the pond hockey tournament's setting has always mirrored the front of a Canadian Christmas card: bundled-up spectators perched on the bordering snow banks; snowflakes fluttering from the sky; a warming bonfire crackling off to the side.

With a history that dates back to the mid-1800s, pond hockey has undergone a major resurgence in popularity and now attracts a devoted following to ponds and lakes throughout the world.

In 2006, after discovering there were no large pond hockey events west of Manitoba, founding WCPH Society President Marlon Dosch eyed the success of Plaster Rock's World Pond Hockey Championship and set to work organizing a similar event that could place Logan Lake on Canada's hockey map.

The pond hockey tournament debuted in January 2007 with 20 teams playing on four outdoor rinks. In just two years it's grown into a 30 team, six-rink affair and has been added to the line-up of the town's popular Polar Carnival.

Organized by the Logan Lake Wellness, Health and Youth Society, the family-friendly Polar Carnival runs Jan. 11 to 18. This year's Carnival, its 36th annual, opens with a Polar-Thon and winds down with the Pond Hockey championship.

Organized by the Kamloops-based River City Racers Speed Skating Club, the Polar-Thon serves up a unique winter twist on the conventional triathlon. Instead of swimming, cycling and running, athletes skate 3 km, run 2.5 km, x-country ski 4 km, and run another 2.5 km.

An accomplished 26-year triathlete used to stepping outside his comfort zone, Dave will lace up his skates and test his mettle with dozens of other youth and adult participants in the Jan. 11 Polar-Thon.

For the cohesive community of 2,300, the Polar Carnival is a busy time and the WCPH president represents just the tip of the volunteer iceberg.

Organization of the weeklong winter event begins a year in advance and commands an army of volunteers to facilitate all the activities.

WHY managing director Elaine Pennoyer says the Logan Lake ATV Club alone clocks over 600 man-hours preparing the ice surface for the Polar-Thon and Pond Hockey tournament.

"The event is not an easy thing to make happen," says Dave. "There's a lot more to it than just hockey and frozen water.

"People like hockey. I like hockey. That's why I do this."