U.S. Pond Hockey Championships

Greetings, fellow pond friends!

Hope you and yours are enjoying a bright and shiny new year full of lots of good things... especially ample amounts of pond hockey.

Folks, the pucks drop in less than two weeks!

A couple housekeeping notes:

• Games schedules will be out by next Sunday, Jan. 15th.
• Player check-in takes place Thursday, Jan. 19th in the warming house tent from 5-9 p.m. Come hang out, have a few beers and a bite to eat with the Pond Crew! (Late check-in is Friday, Jan. 20th from 7-8:30 a.m. in the tent.)

You may be curious to know about ice conditions. We have been constantly monitoring ice thickness on Lake Nokomis over the last few weeks and will continue providing detailed updates to the USPHC website in the coming days leading up to the tournament.

Current readings put ice depth at 8 to 9 inches. With highs in the 30's, and lows in the 20's over the next couple of days we expect to maintain ice levels. Current weather patterns show a cold snap starting mid-week with temps dropping dramatically leading up to the tourney. We expect to make significantly more ice during that time and to have outstanding safe and thick ice for the Championships! Construction begins early next week on the giant warming tent and 25 rinks that will be placed on Lake Nokomis for the 7th annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships.

Ice conditions continue to be updated on the "Nokomis LIVE" page of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships website.

Team registrations keep pouring in for this year's Timberland Boot Hockey Tournament!

The tournament is a light-hearted co-ed event that brings friends together to share in competition, camaraderie and a love of hockey... in their boots and for a great cause! Modeled after the social evening games that we grew to love in high-school and college, the Timberland Boot Hockey Tournament is as much a party as it is a competition. So get your friends together and come join us for the "evening session" on Lake Nokomis.

Learn more about this awesome event and register your boot hockey team today!

We’re looking for more volunteers and referees. Be a part of the "Best National Amateur Sporting Event" (Mpls./St. Paul Magazine) without even lacing up your skates. Referees will be paid $10 per game and we provide training. All refs also get to wear stylin’ fluorescent yellow vests. Chicks dig it.

Click here to sign up to be a referee or volunteer.

The following presenting sponsors have partnered with us to help fund the greatest pond hockey tournament in country and make it a great success! As you know, our goal is simply to break even while giving money to our charity partners (a line item in our budget) and to keep this incredible pond hockey tradition alive!

We are proud to be associated with organizations who value "the pond" as much as we do. The 2012 USPHC Presenting Sponsors are: Bud Light, Timberland, Muscle Milk, T-Mobile, 3M Thinsulate Insulation, Haberman, a media + marketing firm, and the company behind the USPHC: TST Media.

We'd like to thank our 2012 Rink Sponsors: Tria, Joe Sensers, KEWL, Rohlik Financial Group, Lucky Puck, Channel 45, KFAN, Ultimate Events, UV Vodka, Strikemaster, IceHole, Westwood Sports, Minnesota Insurance Professionals, and Xyience.

We kiss the ice you skate on!

A huge thanks to George Monson & Sons, the incredible snow removal and ice-ops crew that works through our crazy Minnesota weather to create the breathtaking rinks that grace the surface of Lake Nokomis!