The U.S. Pond Hockey Championships are an annual pond hockey event on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though an amateur tournament, the competition draws hockey enthusiasts from all over North America, many of whom have pro and college hockey experience.
ESPN.com listed the tournament as part of their "101 Things Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die."[1]
The tournament includes competition in six divisions:
The Bender Division is for the beautiful late bloomers of the Pond. Boys and girls who got in to hockey long after the glory days of high school were gone.
The teams compete for a trophy called the Golden Shovel. Each year, the winners of each division get to engrave their names into the Golden Shovel in a tradition reminiscent of the NHL's Stanley Cup.
| Year | Team | Origin | Roster | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Wright Homes/Almost 40 | Curt Wright,Justin Brown,Dan Goff,Dave Bakken,Dave Shute,Randy Gallatin | ||
| 2007 | Whiskey Bandits | Jamison Steinert,Matt Elsen,Jess Johnson,Tim Olson,Nick Hanrahan,Dan Ibrahim | ||
| 2008 | Wright Homes/Almost 40 | Curt Wright,Justin Brown,Dan Goff,Dave Bakken,Dave Shute,Randy Gallatin | ||
| 2009 | Concord USA | Sam Cornelius,Peter Fitzgerald,Billy Hengen,Justin Kapsen,Geoff Kragness,Jeff Yurecko | ||
| 2010 | Wright Homes/Almost 40 | Curt Wright,Justin Brown,Dan Goff,Dave Bakken,Dan Donnette,Randy Gallatin | ||
| 2011 | Whiskey Bandits | Matt Elsen,Tim Olsen,Nicholas Hanrahan,Joey Dustin,Jesse Johnson,Jamison Steinert | ||
| 2012 | Wright Homes/Almost 40 | Curt Wright,Dave Bakken,Dan Donnette,Randy Gallatin,Geno Parrish,Matt Erredge | ||
| 2013 | WoodStars | Nick Reichert,Doug Nelson,Erik Heltne,Ross Cooney,Kevin Rollwagen,Mike Taylor |
| 2014 | Wright Homes/Almost 40 | ||
| 2015 | Surging Cycle/Red Army | ||
| 2016 | Wright Homes/FHIT |
Due to the unusually warm weather in Minnesota during the winter of 2006–2007, tournament sponsors moved the tournament from Lake Calhoun to Lake Nokomis. Notable players in the 2007 tournament include:
Held January 21–23, 2011 on Lake Nokomis.