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The Great Outdoors

01/12/2018, 3:00pm CST
By Kevin Kurtt - Let's Play Hockey Editor

There are few things more quintessentially Minnesotan than heading to the backyard rink, local pond/lake or community park for a game of pick-up hockey.


The winter sun rises to welcome the day,
The pond’s finally frozen and ready for play.

— From “Ben and Lucy Play Pond Hockey” by Andrew Sherburne

It’s that time of year again in the Upper Midwest. The lakes and ponds are frozen solid. The neighborhood parks have flooded their rinks. The warming houses are open. The sounds of pucks hitting wood boards and chain-link goals fill the air. It’s time for hockey in the great outdoors.

Hockey players in Minnesota really don’t know how lucky they have it. Aside from the hundreds of indoor ice sheets across the state, there are thousands of outdoor opportunities to get your hockey fix in the winter. While hockey is growing in non-traditional parts of the country, players there generally don’t have the luxury of free ice that exists anytime in countless towns in Minnesota.

Late last month, I was reminded of my love of outdoor hockey when, upon checking Facebook, my current hometown of Chanhassen posted the following: “Our Ice Is Nice ... and It’s Now Open!” I was instantly transported back to my childhood days growing up in Edina where hockey is certainly ingrained in the city’s culture. While the Edina Hockey Association’s youth teams are routinely among the best in the state, it’s the city’s numerous neighborhood rinks that have grown the love of hockey for untold thousands of Hornets.

For me, it was the rinks at Edina parks that started my hockey journey. It began at small Normandale Park with my parents teaching me how to skate. It was there that I marveled at the older kids passing, shooting and scoring inside the hockey rink, while I pushed around a stool, just trying to figure out how to stay upright. I remember the snacks you could buy from the rink attendant while you thawed out fingers and toes chilled from the brisk winter air. It was a simple beginning to a love of a sport and its culture.

It progressed from there to Lewis Park, a hockey and bandy hotbed that featured a hockey rink, large skating areas and a full-size bandy rink. The pick-up games at Lewis Park were epic and I distinctly remember playing against one Jenny Schmidgall, an undersized, but extremely talented young player who was unafraid to take on the big boys. Later, Jenny Schmidgall became Jenny Potter, one of the most accomplished athletes in Team USA history with medals from all four Winter Olympics in which women’s hockey has been included. She was one of many who made Lewis Park a go-to destination for a game of shinny.

Other memorable outdoor hockey experiences included skating with a West Point hockey player at Countryside Park, games against Edina state champions at Pamela Park and New Year’s Eve hockey games under the lights from Highway 62 at Creek Valley Park. Put together, it was those hockey memories that helped foster a love for a game that I now hope to pass on to my young sons.

They rush to the rink in the brisk winter air,
Knowing that their friends will also be there.

There are few things more quintessentially Minnesotan than strapping on the skates, heading to the local pond or park and playing a game of pick-up hockey. It’s a rite of passage for thousands of young hockey players across the state. 

It’s on those rinks that kids learn a sense of independence, as well as a sense of community. Teams aren’t chosen by tryouts, but by throwing your stick to the center of the ice where a kid with his wool hat pulled over his eyes tosses sticks in opposite directions to choose up the sides.

The rules of the rink are strictly enforced, not by coaches or parents, but by the players themselves. No lifting the puck. Let the little kids and the hockey newbies have some success. If you shoot a puck over the boards and into the snowbank, it’s up to you to dig it out. 

Friendships are made and strengthened on the ice and in the warming houses. And it’s all in the name of fun. Not trophies. Not championships. Just fun.

What is it about playing outdoors that makes the scoreboard disappear? Sure, the players know which team is scoring more than the other in any given pick-up game, but the score doesn’t matter. No one leaves a pond hockey game upset about the result. There really are no wins and losses in the great outdoors. What a concept.

Similarly, there’s no clock when you’re playing on natural ice. The only timekeepers used outside are the sun, the moon, mom yelling for you to come inside for dinner or the rink attendant who shuts off the lights at closing time. There’s no “ice time.” It’s just “time on the ice.” And what a great time it is. 

Lucy zig-zags and zooms, then flips it to Ben,
Who dangles and dekes and passes again.

From a development standpoint, current and former NHL players agree that pond hockey is invaluable. It’s there on the pond that “systems” and “special teams” mean nothing. There’s no 1-2-2 forecheck, no umbrella power play, no trap. Hockey on the pond is really played the way it should be – free-flowing, fast and fun.

Perhaps the biggest asset pond hockey gives its players is creativity. Outside on the ice, trying new things is encouraged. It’s on the pond that allows players the freedom to attempt things they wouldn’t otherwise do in a practice or game.

Want to try a spin-o-rama like your favorite NHL player? Go for it. Want to try to replicate Patrick Kane’s lightning-quick hands on a breakaway? Give it a shot. Want to try a no-look, behind-the-back pass to a teammate? What’s the worst that can happen? Sure, you could turn the puck over and the other team could score, but outside, the score doesn’t matter.

On the pond, mistakes are allowed. Learning by trial and error has been proven to be a primary method for improvement, no matter if you’re trying to improve on the piano, on the stage or on the ice. So the next time you’re at the park, try something new. Make mistakes. In time, that creativity and learning by trial and error will translate into great things for your game.

Another key aspect the pond teaches its devotees is hockey sense. Players who play outside are exposed to a free-flowing game not otherwise seen in the sport. Systems are absent, so sensing what is going to happen next is a big part of the outside game. 

And how is hockey sense learned? By playing in a fun, relaxed atmosphere absent of systems-obsessed coaches. There’s a reason that many of the game’s top players point to their time on the pond as a crucial aspect of developing their hockey sense and creativity.

With so much time devoted to installing specific forechecks, defensive systems and special team strategies, there’s little time for unstructured play in today’s youth hockey practices.

Thankfully, the pond provides just that – a place to try things on the ice unencumbered by the pressure of making mistakes. 

What fun Ben and Lucy have had at the park,
Now it’s time to go home, the sky’s getting dark.

With temperatures expected to be below freezing for the near future, there’s no better time to experience all that hockey in the great outdoors has to offer. From memories and friendships made, to creativity and hockey sense fostered, the pond or neighborhood rink is a perfect place for the burgeoning hockey player.

It’s a great time of year in the Upper Midwest. The ponds are frozen and the warming houses are open. It’s time for hockey in the great outdoors.
 


Pond hockey in the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota. Photo: Paul Pluskwik

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Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News  Kevin Kurtt