House team wins coveted pond hockey Beaver Cup

By Stephen Clearheart Johnson
North Forty News

Seventy-two pond hockey players skated through 50 games in a three-day period at the third annual tournament hosted by the Fort Collins Pond Hockey League at the Beaver Meadows Lodge and Resort near Red Feather Lakes.

For the second year in a row, team Beaver Liquors skated off with the coveted Beaver Cup. Team members Rob Roemmich, Chris Hau, Kevin Kassian and Paul Knight outscored Camel Toews 26-10 in the final round on Feb. 1.

League organizer David "Bike" Beichley noted that since the first year the tournament has grown from 10 four-man teams to 18. The league started informally in 1992 with friends meeting to skate on local ponds.

"Hockey is the fastest sport I know," said Beichley. "It takes agility, coordination and lots of stamina."

The timed half-hour games often score a goal per minute.

"During playoff games, it is definitely a young man's sport," he added. Yet, two players were in their 60s. One player traveled home from school in Texas just to play this tournament.

Pond hockey is different from professional hockey - just four players per team. The goal is lower and narrower, a safety measure to help keep the pucks lower to the ground. The players wear less equipment or padding and play on a smaller rink.

There is no Zamboni. The ice is rough; the rinks are marked off by logs. Flying chips and snow spin across the rinks on the icy winds to pile up against the logs. Each player keeps a shovel handy to clean the rinks, reflecting the players' motto "No shovel - no skate."

Dan Barch of Wellington, after playing the sport for 42 years, explained his love of it by saying, "It is the camaraderie: being outdoors and having a blast together."