ST. IGNACE, MI — Hockey in its purest form.
Players of all skills levels got together in St. Ignace last weekend for the 2016 Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championship. Typically held on the frozen water of Moran Bay in Lake Huron, the mild winter moved the event to Little Bear East Arena. It was hardly mild Feb. 13 as teams competed for the Labatt Cup championships in a variety of divisions. In all, more than 70 teams competed over the weekend in freezing temperatures ranging from single digit to the low teens.
MLive photographer Emily Rose Bennett traveled to St. Ignace to shoot photos of the annual event, which draws teams from across Michigan, the Midwest and into Canada. You can see them in the gallery above.
Pond hockey is similar to traditional ice hockey, but simplified. Rinks are typically smaller than standard NHL-sized hockey rinks and there are no boards or glass to contain the puck. In the UP tournament there were no goalies and the goals were low to the ground, forcing players to keep the puck on the ice. And checking is rare to nonexistent among players with widely different playing abilities.
The Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championship is one of about a dozen pond hockey championships played each winter. The World Pond Hockey Championships will be held this year in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick from Feb. 25-28.
