Wisconsin Life

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Hockey rock song

skating, sticks hitting puck

>> They call it pond hockey. A simple version of the game that can be played almost anywhere there's a frozen body of water. And where do teams face off in a national championship of pond hockey? Eagle River. A place with lots of bodies of water and a love for the game. >> We're at the Pond Hockey Championships of the United States, USA Hockey sponsored championship. They did a lot of homework at the USA Hockey and they looked around and Eagle River's got a heck of a reputation all over the United States. >> It's a reputation Michael Eder tries to live up to every year. His team represents the host city in the 'Over Sixty Division' of the U.S. National Pond Hockey Championship. >> Our team is the Frozen Seven of Eagle River. I retired here just because I love the hockey program.

starts to slip on ice

Thank you!

laughing

I'm sixty-eight years old and we started doing this when I was fifty-six.

rock music and hockey noises

You each play three games, and then, the best teams go on and play two more games tomorrow. >> It's just a different type of hockey. You're playing outdoors. You've got four on four. You don't have any goalies.

skates and sticks scrape ice

I've got a good friend who's a goalie, doesn't think it's even hockey. >> But pond hockey players know it's hockey, the real hockey, the way it used to be. >> I've been playing hockey since I was a little kid. Pond hockey. I grew up on a little tiny pond, on a lake. Grew up in northern Wisconsin. Ever since then, I've been playing hockey.?? >> The sentimental pull of the pond is timeless. Even much younger players feel it. >> WHOOOOO! >> This is hockey. This is where it starts. The first time you laced up the skates was out on the pond. You know, back to the roots. I mean, it's pure hockey. This is, personally, the only time I play all year. But you wouldn't notice because I look pretty good out there.

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Yeah.?? >> Even if you didn't grow up with the game, you can enjoy the simple purity of sticks, pucks, and the pond. >> Come on! >> A lot of us started playing later in life so it's all about having fun. It's great, great people time. It's getting together with a bunch of friends and having some fun on the ice. >> The weekend will end with the crowning of champions in each division. But it will be a lot harder to determine who had the most fun on the ice. >> We come to play hockey, not to win, but just to play. And you get to relive your childhood. You get here, the only difference is you get to drink beer and do the same thing. It's nothing but good times and friendship. And you leave here with two hundred more friends than you came with. >> It's all about fun. If you saw the game we just played, it's all about fun. You want to win, but it's all about people, people who have a passion for hockey. People who have a passion for hockey, just, they never get rid of it.

skating, sticks hitting puck

>> Where's your goal?