New Years Day will bring the best of both worlds for Tom Chorske.
After watching the Capitals and Penguins renew their rivalry in the Winter Classic, the 11-year NHL veteran plans to lace up his skates and play a little pond hockey near his home in Minnesota.
“I try to tune in every year,” said Chorske, who retired in 2002 and is a television analyst for the Minnesota Wild and the University of Minnesota. “I wish I could have played in it. Its great for hockey.”
Outdoor games like Michigan against Michigan State remind players and fans of pond and backyard hockey games. (AP) In its fourth year, the Winter Classic remains a novelty for fans not used to seeing hockey played outdoors. For the participants, however, it takes them back to a simpler time, one without big crowds, stoppages in play or Zambonis.
Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek was a sophomore in 2001 when the University of Michigan played Michigan State before 75,000 fans in a game billed as the “Cold War.” He remembers his teammates flipping pucks through the football goalposts during the morning skate at Spartan Stadium. And once he stepped on the ice for his first shift, other memories came flooding back.
“The noise your skates made hitting the ice just reminds you so much of pond hockey growing up,” Komisarek said. “You could barely see the [blue and red] lines. The puck was bouncing around everywhere. It was pretty neat. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.”
Playing outdoors has proven to be a twice-in-a-lifetime thing for Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith. He scored a goal in his collegiate debut for Michigan State against Komisarek a decade ago in East Lansing, then scored again in the Hawks 6-4 loss to the Red Wings in the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
“Both atmospheres were incredible,” Keith said. “Being outdoors, it goes back to my childhood. Its where I learned to play. A lot of fond memories. Youre just playing for fun. Theres no pressure, nobody watching and youre just out there having fun with your friends.”
Thats exactly the k when he founded the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. In 2006, the marketing executive spent his own money to buy enough boards to build 25 rinks on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. Within hours of announcing the event, organizers had 100 teams on a waiting list.
Participation doubled after the inaugural event, with 300 teams expected to compete from Jan. 21-23 on Lake Nokomis. Theres competition in five divisions, including women and players over 40 and 50.
“We wanted to create something pure, something that harkened back to our childhood,” explained Haberman, 44. “Theres something that goes really deep, something very emotional that we connect with. So many of us who grew up playing in our backyards, wed go out there for hours and hours and hours. Theres an unbridled joy thats generated. When we created this event, we connected with that authenticity that we all crave.”
Komisarek echoed those sentiments. Last week, he and the Maple Leafs helped unveil a refurbished outdoor rink in Toronto by holding an open practice.
“I think at the end, the guys wanted to stay out there and just keep scrimmaging,” he said. “Theres nothing better on a sunny day than being out on an outdoor rink.”
Chorske participated in four of the first five 4-on-4 pond hockey championships, joining fellow NHL veterans Phil Housley and Brian Bellows. The event also has attracted countless players with college hockey experience as well as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Gov. Wendell Anderson, a defenseman on the U.S. team that won a silver medal at than in the NHL and the boards are only 18 inches high. There are no goaltenders, but the goals only rise a few inches off the ice. Slap shots and checking are prohibited.
“Youre not playing with whistle stoppages and faceoffs, so its a little more free that way,” said Chorske, a first-round draft pick after he was named Minnesotas “Mr. Hockey” in 1985. “Youre not always wearing hockey gloves, per se. In real pond hockey, you might not even be wearing shin pads.”
There are no cash prizes. Instead, teams battle for the honor of having their names inscribed on the Golden Shovel.
“The shovel is one of the most important implements as it relates to outdoor hockey,” Haberman said. “You have to shovel the rink before you play. At the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, regardless of whether youre a former NHL player or the governor of our state, you go out and shovel before your game.”
Because the tournament attained almost immediate popularity, it was largely unaffected by the advent of the Winter Classic.
“Whats really exciting about the Winter Classic is that you have a number of the best hockey players in the world who grew up playing outdoor hockey, pond hockey, and this is a connection back to where and how they learned how to play,” Haberman said.
“All of us, when we were playing on the pond as kids, would say, OK, Im going to be Bobby Orr or Im going to be Brad Park or Im going to be Bobby Clarke. Today, theyre saying, I want to be [Sidney] Crosby or [Henrik] Zetterberg. Now some of these guys, like Crosby, theyre playing in the NHL on a backyard rink in a stadium. Thats cool.”
There could be another more ominous connection between the Pond Hockey Championships and the Winter Classic. Last year, Haberman said, rain wiped out the final day of the three-day event.
