Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/112773
Ryan Blick of the Waupun Wolves celebrates their victory in Gold division at the 2013 USA Hockey Pond Hockey National Championships. Below, Liz Guilmet of the Yaks 1, squad finds a snowbank to get ready for her game. For three frosty days in February, more than 2,400 adult hockey players from 30 states converge on the "snowmobile capital of the world" looking to rediscover simpler times, when the light in the sky was the only clock that mattered, when teams were chosen from of a pile of sticks and success was measured by how much fun you had with friends. Out on the frozen field of recaptured dreams, a player's skill level, age and occupation are irrelevant. Out here, all that matters is a passion for a game that exists in the hearts and minds of hockey enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. And when the day is done, players find a seat inside the big tent, slowly sipping on a beer while peeling off layers of sweaty clothes along with the years that have passed since the last time their skates came in contact with natural ice. Those memories are slowly stripped away and replaced by a new wave of images that will fuel the desire to return year after year. —Harry Thompson Local hero Mark "Mugsy" DePuydt, who was awarded the USA Hockey Adult Ironman of the Year returns for another pond hockey tournament. For one weekend in February, the population of Eagle River, Wis., swells as thousands come to town to play pond hockey and partake in the town's famous hospitality. USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM march. 2013 17