“We were out there last Wednesday flooding rinks from fire hydrant hoses until 2:30 in the morning. I can’t say enough about all the volunteer work done. The last three nights, we worked until midnight or later. We have a really good group of guys working on this,” said Lucas Heiderscheidt of the Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Club.

Heiderscheidt said he and his friends didn’t know just how much interest there would be when they created the Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Classic three years ago.

“The idea was to put a tournament together as a community hockey event that can grow in the years to come,” said Heiderscheidt.

The event was held on four rinks on Sleepy Eye Lake in 2022.

Submitted photo Aided by cold weather, the Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Club and volunteers set up seven rinks just east of Sleepy Eye Arena over the past few days in preparation for Saturday’s Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Classic.

Heiderscheidt said he expected six teams at first and wound up with a dozen teams from Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, the Twin Cities and South Dakota. Six-player teams played 3 on 3.

Heiderscheidt’s team, the Jump Ropes, won the championship. Team players were Heiderscheidt, Brandon Helget, Alex Stark, Sean Mathiowetz, Matt and Tony Fulkerson. Tristan Pietig coached. The team received a $1,000 grand prize. Plans included using the prize money for a Minnesota Wild game trip together.

“Everybody had a lot of fun. It was a good time, better than I expected. I got lots of volunteer help,” said Heiderscheidt.

Last year, the pond hockey classic was moved to Burnside Park.

This year, seven temporary rinks are set up for a 16-team tournament east of Sleepy Eye Arena. Beer, drinks and hot food including sandwiches and hot dogs will be sold at the tournament site. Fire pits and two large, heated tents and the arena will be used for heat.

Pond hockey games begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Championship and consolation rounds follow.

The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

In case of a tie, play moves to sudden death. If no goal is scored, a sudden death shootout will take place. Players will take turns taking penalty shots 20 feet from the goal. When one team scores and the other does not, the game is over. All team players must take penalty shots if nobody scores.

Several teams include players from New Ulm and Sleepy Eye. Other teams competing include former hockey players from North Dakota, South Dakota, Redwood Falls, Fairmont, the Twin Cities metro and as far north as Finland, Mn.

While pond hockey tournament games go on outside, youth hockey games will be played in Sleepy Eye Arena from 12:45 p.m. to late afternoon. Teams include Sleepy Eye/New Ulm, St.Michael Albertville, Marshall, Luverne and St. Cloud.

“New things this year include more places to keep people warm, youth hockey, a couple new teams, three more rinks and a new Zamboni,” said Heiderscheidt.

“This tournament is going somewhere. At first a lot of the pond hockey players came because they were our friends. Now we’re getting more hockey players, making our tournament a lot better,” Heiderscheidt said.

Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey, similar to traditional hockey, but simplified and designed to be played outdoors on naturally frozen body of water.

Game times and more information will be posted on the Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Classic Facebook site.