The timing couldn't be better for Ryan Brindley's January getaway – from Florida, where it was 79 degrees Wednesday, to Minnesota, where it's expected to be 15 below Thursday night, the coldest weather of the winter so far.

Brindley is one of 1,800 players from around the United States and Canada who are looking forward to good ice at the sixth annual U.S. Pond Hockey championships at Lake Nokomis Friday through Sunday. The temperature for his team's first game Friday morning could be about 5 below.

"I'd rather have minus 5 than 50 [above]," said Brindley, who will be joining some boyhood pals from Thunder Bay, Ontario, on a team. He remembers how the final day of last year's tournament was canceled due to rain, slush and standing water.

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