View source for World Pond Hockey Championships

{{Short description|Annual competition in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, Canada}}
[[File:World Pond Hockey Championships Championnat mondial de hockey sur étang 2010.jpg|thumb|2010 edition of the Championship.]]
The '''World Pond Hockey Championships''' is an annual international competition that takes place on a lake, playing the [[pond hockey]] variant of [[ice hockey]]. The event takes place in [[Plaster Rock, New Brunswick]], in the village of [[Tobique Valley]], on Roulston Lake.<ref name="point">{{cite web |url=http://pointstreaksites.com/view/worldpondhockey/tournament-info |title=World Pond Hockey Championships {{!}} Tournament Info |website=pointstreaksites.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211195809/http://pointstreaksites.com/view/worldpondhockey/tournament-info |archive-date=2012-02-11}}</ref>

==History==
The first World Pond Hockey Championship tournament was held in 2002.<ref name="point"/> The event was created by Tom Chamberlain and Danny Braun, the director for community development of [[Plaster Rock]]<ref name="tsn">{{cite web |url=https://www.tsn.ca/story/print/?id=196048 |title=Plaster Rock is Pond Hockey Capital |website=www.tsn.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407064043/http://www.tsn.ca/story/print/?id=196048 |archive-date=2014-04-07}}</ref> and the current President and CEO of the tournament.<ref name="chronicle">{{Cite web|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/67220-plaster-rock-pond-hockey-mecca|title=Saltwire &#124; Halifax}}</ref> Danny first set out wanting to organize an event to help raise money for a new recreation centre for the Tobique Valley community.<ref name="point"/> So in 2000,<ref name="tsn"/> Braun organized a fundraiser in the form of a [[snowmobile]] race. The event was popular and well received by the community, but it failed to generate a large enough profit to justify running for more than two years.<ref name="chronicle"/> It was at this point in 2002 that Braun got the idea to organize a pond hockey tournament instead.<ref name="tsn"/> In its first year ever run, the World Pond Hockey Championship tournament featured 40 teams from the Canadian provinces of [[New Brunswick]], [[Nova Scotia]], and [[Prince Edward Island]], and from the state of [[Maine]], [[United States|U.S.]]<ref name="point"/> Unlike the [[snowmobile]] race, it was financially successful, and continued to grow with more teams registering every year.<ref name="chronicle"/> Its continued growth and popularity allowed for the construction of the Tobique-Plex recreation centre that officially opened in November, 2007. Over the past seven years that the tournament has been held, the profits from the event continue to help pay for the operating costs of the centre.<ref name="point"/>
[[File:Championnat mondial de hockey sur étang - 32200122683.jpg|thumb|The championship in [[New Brunswick]] in 2017.]]
Since its debut, the tournament has greatly expanded from its original 40 teams. It now features 120 teams from 15 countries all over the world such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[Singapore]], the [[Cayman Islands]], [[Puerto Rico]], and [[Denmark]].<ref name="chronicle"/> There are now participating teams from all of the Canadian provinces, and from 35 states from the [[United States|U.S.]] Every year, over 200 volunteers help to maintain the ice and run the event, while over 8,000 people, including many representatives from newspapers, television networks, and other media companies, watch and participate in the tournament.<ref name="point"/> In 2007, the organizers of the event received over 800 applications from teams wanting to enroll in the competition, which is significantly higher than the 100 applications they received in the first year the tournament was held. It was in this same year that the [[Prime Minister of Canada]], [[Stephen Harper]], attended the World Pond Hockey Championships, dropping the puck to signify the official start of that year's tournament.<ref name="tsn"/>

==Description==
[[File:Championnat mondial de hockey sur étang.jpg|thumb|The championship's outdoor rinks in [[New Brunswick]].]]
The World Pond Hockey Championship tournament is played in a four-on-four, [[Round-robin tournament|round robin]] format. The 20 outdoor rinks allow for 40 teams to play at any given time.<ref name="point"/> All competing teams consist of 4 players ages 19 and over, but they are permitted to have a fifth member in case of injury or illness.<ref name="tsn"/> Every team is guaranteed at least five 30-minute games over the course of the four-day tournament. The [[playoff]] round starts on the Sunday of every tournament weekend, which features the best 32 teams from the previous rounds.<ref name="point"/>

The Pond Hockey Championships feature some untraditional rules and notable differences in gameplay as compared to traditional hockey games. The nets that players must score on are 6 feet wide, but only 10 inches high, so all shots must be kept low to the ice. This is to ensure that pucks cannot be shot into one of the other closely situated rinks and disrupt games or spectators. There are no [[Goaltender|goalies]], and players have to be over the centre line of the rink in order to score. There is also no traditional [[penalty box]] in this tournament; if any [[penalty (ice hockey)|penalties]] are called on a member of one team, the opposing team automatically is awarded one [[Goal (ice hockey)|goal]].<ref name="tsn"/>

{|border=1
|-
! Country 
! Championships
|-
|| {{flag|CAN}}
| 12
|-
|| {{flag|USA}}
| 6
|-
|| {{flag|CZE}}
| 2
|-

|}

==Tournaments==
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Champs2003.jpg|thumb|right|340px|2003 Champions - Progressive Planning]] -->
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Year 
! Champion Team 
! Origin
! 
! Team
|-
|| 2002 
| Tobique Puckers 
| [[Plaster Rock, New Brunswick|Plaster Rock]], [[New Brunswick]], Canada 
| {{flag|CAN}} 
| Scott McNabb, Shaun Davis, Ryan Porter, David Myles 
|-
|| 2003 
| Progressive Planning
| [[Fredericton, New Brunswick|Fredericton]], [[New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}} 
| Brad Tremblay, David Deap, Troy Small, Sean Smith
|-
|| 2004 
| Boston Danglers
| [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States|United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}} 
| Mark Goble, Cooper Naylor, Mark Cornforth, Rob Atkinson
|-
|| 2005 
| Boston Danglers
| [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}} 
| Mark Goble, Cooper Naylor, Mark Cornforth, Rob Atkinson
|-
|| 2006 
| Boston Danglers
| [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}} 
| Mark Goble, Cooper Naylor, Mark Cornforth, Rob Atkinson
|-
|| 2007 
| Boston Danglers
| [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}} 
| Mark Goble, Rob Beck, Mark Cornforth, Rob Atkinson
|-
|| 2008 
| Wheat Kings
| [[Saint John, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}} 
| David Myles, Charlie Cameron, Bob Brown, Jeff Peddigrew
|-
|| 2009 
| Wheat Kings
| [[Saint John, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}} 
| David Myles, Charlie Cameron, Bob Brown, Jeff Peddigrew
|-
|| 2010-Open Division
| New York Boars
| [[New York, New York]], [[United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}} 
| Steve Malley, Brad Parsons, Mike Sayre, Chris Corrinet, Chris Dirkes
|-
|| 2010-Ladies' Division
| STU Has-Been Tommies
| [[Fredericton, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}} 
| Zachary Boudreau, Rebekah Thompson, Amy MacLennan, Sarah Braam, Kristina O'Brien
|-
|| 2011-Open Division
| New York Boars
| [[New York, New York]], [[United States of America]]
| {{flag|USA}}
|Steve Malley, Brad Parsons, Tyler Moyer, Steve Shirreffs, Chris Dirkes
|-
||2011-Ladies' Division
| Hilltop Bud Lights
| [[Fredericton, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
|-
||2012-Open Division
| Hilltop Budweisers 2012
| [[Fredericton, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
|Brad Henderson, Fred Walsh, Adam Nelson, Jason Nelson, Shawn Mersereau
|-
||2013-Open Division
| The Acadian Boys
|[[Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
| Ulysse Brideau, Martin Mcgraw, Glen Ferguson, Martin Richard, Jeff Wilson
|-
||2014-Open Division
| The Acadian Boys
|[[Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
| Ulysse Brideau, Martin Mcgraw, Glen Ferguson, Martin Richard, Jeff Wilson
|-
||2015-Open Division
| The Acadian Boys
|[[Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
| Ulysse Brideau, Martin Mcgraw, Glen Ferguson, Martin Richard, Jeff Wilson
|-
||2016-Open Division
| The Acadian Boys
|[[Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
| Ulysse Brideau, Martin Mcgraw, Glen Ferguson, Martin Richard, Jeff Wilson
|-
||2017-Open Division
| The Acadian Boys
|[[Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick]], Canada
| {{flag|CAN}}
| Ulysse Brideau, Martin Mcgraw, Glen Ferguson, Martin Richard, Jeff Wilson
|-
||2018-Open Division
| Starý Pušky (Old Guns)
|[[Žďár nad Sázavou]], Czech Republic
| {{flag|CZE}}
| Aleš Stoček, Miroslav Bukáček, Petr Janda, Jiří Plachý, Pavel Pelán, Ondřej Mařata (coach)
|-
||2019-Open Division
| Captains Náměšť nad Oslavou
|[[Náměšť nad Oslavou]], Czech Republic
| {{flag|CZE}}
| Jiří Krčál, Martin Pejchal, Mirek Bednář, Ondra Kohút, Petr Lainka
|}

==See also==
* [[U.S. Pond Hockey Championships]]
* [[Canadian National Pond Hockey Championships]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://worldpondhockey.ca/en/home World Pond Hockey Championships homepage]

[[Category:Ice hockey tournaments in Canada]]
[[Category:Pond hockey]]
[[Category:Victoria County, New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Ice hockey competitions in New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2002]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in New Brunswick]]
[[Category:World championships in hockey variants|Pond]]