Pond hockey players relive childhood at LITH tourney

Lake in the Hills' first outdoor ice hockey tournament gave grown men a chance to compete like teenagers, kids a chance to play in the snow and the parks and recreation department a chance to use one of the village's lakes during winter.

The one-day tournament held Saturday also gave a group of men who spent their childhood in Elgin a chance to reunite as team X-Large.

“One of our team members flew in from New York City,” said Bob Mihelich of Elgin. “Hopefully it can be a yearly thing.”

With 40 teams on the waiting list and 12 who were lucky enough to take the ice, parks department officials say they plan to make the tournament an annual event.

“It's only going to get bigger,” said Trevor Bosack, recreation supervisor and the tournament's coordinator.

Participants like Tim Brubacher said they enjoyed the opportunity to play pond hockey at a tournament that was just well organized enough to run smoothly, yet just grass-roots enough to remain low-key.

“I grew up playing on the ponds,” said Brubacher, 33, of Fox River Grove. “It's a treat to be on this (surface).”

Brubacher's wife, Sara, said the event became a family gathering, as members of the team “7 by 2ers” brought their children to watch the games on Woods Creek Lake. Kids made snow angels on the ice, skated on a small rink and took turns warming up by a fire pit or in a wooden shelter with a space heater.

In the meantime, teams played four-on-four hockey on rectangular areas 75 feet wide and 150 feet long. The games went quickly, with two fifteen-minute running halves, a two-minute halftime, and an eight-minute break between contests. By 4:30 p.m. a team called the Geese walked away as the tournament's first champion.

As players skates scratched the ice, surface conditions worsened, changing the pace of each game, Brubacher said. But unlike in indoor ice hockey, there was no Zamboni to resurface the ice and create a smoother top layer.

7 by 2ers team member Tom Casali said so-called “Human Zambonis” took to the rinks between games to shovel away ice shavings and redefine the borders. Players said the imperfect ice conditions were part of the experience of playing on lake, and part of the draw of the event.

“We're taking advantage of what's here all along,” said Ben Klimek of Fox River Grove.