Pond Hockey Community Makes for Another Great Year

SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake welcomed 44 teams and nearly 250 players for the sixth annual Seeley Lake Pond Hockey Tournament (SLPH) on the ice in front of Lindey's Prime Steak House Jan. 8-10. With the best weather they have had in the past six years, the ice was smooth and the teams were on fire. Three of the four defending champion teams returned to defend their titles and two ended up in the championship game again this year.

One of the big changes this year was the online scheduling using Sport Ngin software. SLPH Tournament Organizer Megan Lindemer worked with Seeley Lake resident Tim Ruppert to keep the SLPH Sport Ngin website updated. This allowed the teams and spectators access to the schedule, standings and any announcements.

"Online scheduling was a major improvement this year," said co-founder and maintenance coordinator Mike Lindemer. "Now that we have all the equipment to run the tournament, we can start refining how we do things."

SLPH hopes to offer online registration for next year's tournament.

After maintaining the rinks for a month and a half and putting more than 300 miles on his four-wheeler, Mike said it was a relief to have the ice stay frozen and the moisture hold off for the tournament. The fire pits and beer helped keep the spectators warm.

Megan was grateful for all the help from the community members for making the tournament possible. Volunteers helped keep score and time the games, serve beer, sell SLPH gear, keep the fires going and a host of other activities to keep the tournament running smoothly.

"Thank you to all the volunteers that helped with SLPH this year," said Megan. "We really appreciate all your hard work and being available to us. This weekend wouldn't have been possible without you."

Two of the rinks will be maintained and one set of lights will be left up for the Winterfest Fireworks show on Seeley Lake, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. The community is invited to bring their skates down before and after the fireworks.

Tournament Wrap Up

The 44 teams all played one game Friday night, two games on Saturday and were guaranteed at least one game on Sunday. Those that moved onto the championship rounds played two games on Sunday. Games were played on four separate rinks. The loser of the game shoveled the rink.

This year's Golden Shovel Award, the team that shoveled the most and had the least number of goals at the end of the tournament went to The Beavers: Eric Richins, Luke Geraci, Patrick Schwab and Colten Roeser.

The Women's League had four teams completing this year. Shinny Dippers went into the championship game undefeated against the second ranked team Miracle Whipped on Ice whose only loss was to the Shinny Dippers. While the half time score was close 14-10, Shinny Dippers out-scored them in the second half winning with a final score of, 31-18.

Of the 10 teams in the Co-Rec division only two teams, Multiple Scorgasms and Soft Dump in the Corner started Sunday off undefeated. Multiple Scorgasms was knocked out of the finals by the fourth seeded team Swamp Donkeys of Missoula, Mont.

Second place finisher from last year, Soft Dump in the Corner also from Missoula returned again this year and made it to the final game. They faced-off against their friends, Swamp Donkeys. With a tied score at the half, 9-9, they were able to claim the cup this year with a final score of 19-13.

Bill Bevis, 74-year-old player on Soft Dump and possibly the oldest player in the tournament said, "I feel old but pond hockey never gets old."

Soft Dump in the Corner Team Captain Kylie Paul who has played in the tournament for the past four years said they had a great time at the tournament.

"They always put on a good show," said Paul. "It was grand to be victorious as Soft Dump in the Corner. The pink jerseys set the tone."

For the B Division, MilesofRod.com of Missoula were back in the final game to defend their title against Blueribs of Bozeman. This is the second year the two teams have met in the championship game. Both teams were undefeated until the championship game.

While the score was close at the half with Blueribs only three goals ahead, MilesofRod.com was not able to defend their title falling to Blueribs with a score of 26-19.

MilesofRod.com player Scott Eggeman said Blueribs had a couple different players from last year and in the end, "We just got out hustled."

For the A Division, the BAMF'S from Great Falls returned to defend their title for the third year in a row. Of the eight teams in the division, BAMFs were the only undefeated team in the division going into the finals.

The BAMF'S met the 2013 champions USED-Ta-Coulds for the first time in the tournament for the championship game. The BAMFs never let up leading by 9 points at the half and defending the cup for the third year in a row with a score of 31-23.

"Every year the competition gets better and we get a little more nervous," said BAMFs' Casey Baker, whose family lives in Seeley Lake.

BAMF'S team captain and Casey's brother Matt Baker said, "It's a lot of fun to come back every year. The people and hospitality are good and we are starting to get to know the other teams."

When commenting on the win for the third year in a row, Matt said, "We drank more beers this weekend than we put goals in the net [scoring around 30 goals per game]. It was a great year."