Courtesy / Maine Pond Hockey Classic
The Maine Pond Hockey Classic is played in all but the most extreme weather.
February 1, 2023
Too cold for hockey? Maine Pond Hockey Classic is postponed
Courtesy / Maine Pond Hockey Classic
The annual Maine Pond Hockey Classic has been rescheduled to Feb. 10-12, ahead of forecasts predicting bone-chilling temperatures this weekend.
By Ann Fisher
The year 2023 started off with record-breaking warmth: the morning low temperature of 43 degrees on New Year's Day is now the warmest low temperature ever recorded in Portland.
Fast forward a month and it's going to be too cold to play hockey in Maine.
Wai-what?
You heard right. In a world where ice fishing derbies have been canceled in recent years due to — you guessed it — lack of ice, the annual Maine Pond Hockey Classic has been rescheduled to Feb. 10-12, ahead of forecasts predicting bone-chilling temperatures this weekend. In fact, factoring in the potential wind chill, the temperature compared to Jan. 1 — a mere 32 days past — could be 80 degrees colder.
The Maine Pond Hockey Classic, returning for its 11th year, was to be held Feb. 3-5 at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney. But that's now been — pardon the pun —put on ice.
“We’ve been closely monitoring the weather ... as the safety of our athletes, volunteers and staff is our highest priority,” said tournament director Patrick Guerette. “The weekend’s forecast calls for temperatures that are as low as -40 degrees with the wind chill, which would be unsafe for tournament participants, so we have postponed the tournament for a week to give time for the expected cold snap to subside.”
Extreme cold temperatures that only occur about once every decade are expected this weekend, according to a Wednesday release from Maine.gov.
The National Weather Service Offices in Gray and Caribou report wind chills are expected to remain well below zero across the state for at least 48 hours beginning Friday morning. The potential exists for wind chills below minus 35 along the coast and below minus 45 in the foothills and mountains. High temperatures Saturday will remain below zero in the mountains and in the single digits along the coast.
Think again about penciling in the new date if you think the classic event is only about playing hockey. The Maine Pond Classic is expected to include 600 players across 75 teams, but the festival-like atmosphere also includes a community skating area, a beer garden, fire pits, music, food vendors and youth skating clinic. One hundred volunteers and up to 1,000 spectators are expected to attend and cheer on their teams.
And it's all for a good cause: all proceeds from the event support youth scholarships and programming at the Boys & Girls Club and YMCA of Greater Waterville at the Alfond Youth & Community Center.
The Maine Pond Hockey Classic began in 2013 with 14 teams. This year, the tournament offers six divisions for players of different ages and abilities, including Open ‘A,’ Open ‘B,’ Open ‘C,’ Recreational ‘D,’ Women’s Open, Women’s Recreation, 30+, 40+ 50+ and Just for Fun.
Each player on the winning teams in the competitive division receives a credit to spend on tournament merchandise in the NLC Ice Skate Shop, and the winning team receives a unique trophy featuring the State of Maine cut from old hockey sticks.
For a complete schedule of events on Feb. 10-12, click here.
"The Maine Pond Hockey Classic is a tournament that represents everything that is great about winter in the Northeast," said a release praising the event.
One can only hope that come next weekend, it's cold enough to play and there's enough ice to skate on.
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