Lake Nokomis freezes just in time for U.S. Pond Hockey Championships
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The 19th annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships are set to kick off with events Thursday, and games starting Friday.
Up until the cold snap of last week, it was up in the air whether the tournament would be held on lake ice.
“We’ve been fielding phone calls for the past month, obviously — what is it, about two weeks ago? We could have gone swimming out there,” said Jesse Delorit, the event manager for the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. “Lake Nokomis is a lake that really grows ice quickly. So we’re just blessed with this lake. It creates the best ice in the Twin Cities without a doubt.”
The ice really grew over the weekend. An ice fisherman out on the eastern side of the lake Wednesday drilled in the ice and found nine inches under his feet, though lake ice thickness can vary quite a bit from place to place.
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Workers on Wednesday snapped chalk lines, unloaded boards and anchored them into place to set up the rinks.
Bill Boes, who lives a few blocks away from the lake, said as of Jan. 12, there was still open water on Nokomis. He took laps on the ice Wednesday on his Nordic skates.
“It’s thick now,” he said. “I can see it’s at least a foot thick where I was skating.”
Delorit says the weather cooperated at the right time.
“We have multiple plans in place, depending on our ice depth and making sure that it’s safe enough,” he said. “We would not put anybody out there whether it’s our crew, our players and the spectators. That’s the most serious thing that we take into account.”
This year’s tournament, which is split into two weekends, will bring in close to 300 teams and 30,000 to 40,000 spectators, he said.
“We’re excited. We’re ready to go,” he said.
A block from the eastern edge of the lake, Nokomis Beach Coffee Shop and Cafe is expecting a bump in business with the crowds coming to the event.
“If the weather is somewhat decent, you know, we’ve always gotten quite a bit off of it, especially now that it’s been there a few years,” said Dennis Kloek, who owns the coffee shop with his wife Mary. “It definitely helps the business overall.”
Kloek said it also introduces plenty of new people to the neighborhood.
Kloek, who has two sons that play hockey, said he tries to catch a few games during the tournament.
“You have a lot of amazing players. I mean, guys that have played in the NHL for years that now come back and do this fun tournament,” he said. “So it’s probably some of the best hockey you could see in person other than going into the Xcel [Energy] Center.”
For more information on the tournament, go to the event’s website.