Two new champs crowned
Eau Claire team and Too Old & Cold of Superior win Pond Hockey Classic titles
By KEN OLSON
Daily Telegram Sports Editor
The Lucky’s/Shenannigan’s team of Eau Claire was the last team to sign up for the Great Lakes Classic Pond Hockey Championships, which took place this weekend at Barker’s Island.
That was unfortunate for the rest of the field as the former UW-Eau Claire players won the fourth annual championship with an 18-12 win over Hydro Solutions of Crookston, Minn.
Ryan O’Neill, Dan Krenn, Dave Coleman and Andy Klapperick originally found out about the tournament when they were in town to play the UW-Superior Yellowjackets two years ago.
“We were playing UWS and drove by and saw a bunch of little rinks set up and our coach (Luke Strand) had heard about it,” Klapperick said. “It looked interesting and we ended up watching a couple of games.”
The former Blugolds actually forgot about the tournament until a friend recently saw an advertisement and told them the tournament was coming up.
“It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that we decided to get in,” Klapperick said. “We had a great time. You couldn’t ask for better weather. If it would have happened a couple of weeks ago, with the 15 below weather, it would have been a different story. We’re definitely coming back next year.”
After winning their pool, Lucky’s defeated Pearson & von Elbe of Duluth in the quarterfinals and Superior’s Need a Fifth, 18-15, in the semifinals.
Need a Fifth lost in last year’s semifinals one year after winning the championship. Members of their team were Tim Nelson, Clayt Weiby, Rob Downs and Chad and Jay Matushak.
Hydro Solutions defeated Superior’s 5th Year Spartans 18-14 in the quarterfinals and Cloquet’s Lost Tavern 22-18 in the semifinals.
Members of the runner-up team were Ben Larson of Rothsay, Minn., Nate Haskins of Spooner, Ryan Leadens of South St. Paul and Nate Timm and Andy Johnson of Silver Bay. All four played college hockey at Minnesota-Crookston.
In the Over 40 Division, Superior’s Too Old & Cold defeated the Landing Bar of Two Harbors 15-14.
Members of the winning team are Terry and Travis Schold, Greg Kaake and Pete Hanson. The Scholds are originally from International Falls, with Terry playing college hockey at UMD and Travis at UWS. Kaake currently plays in the Monday Hockey League at the Superior Ice Arena.
Too Old & Cold also defeated the Landing Bar 18-10 in pool play.
“Overall this year was a huge success,” tournament organizer Mike McCoshen said. “The biggest single contributing factor was the weather — the one thing I have absolutely no control over. We had temperatures in the 20s Friday, high 20s on Saturday and near 30 on Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful all weekend.”
This year’s tournament also grew from 30 teams last year to 42, the largest number of teams in the four years of existence.
“More teams brought out more players and in turn brought out more spectators,” McCoshen said. “Friday night was a huge success. There was no room in the tent, the bonfire was busy and there were plenty of people out on the ice.
“The biggest thing I noticed was the people at Saturday afternoon’s games. There were a lot of people watching each and every game.”
Also a success was SAHA’s Super Raffle, which raised more than $7,500.
McCoshen would like to see the tournament grow to 60 teams, and to help with that number he wants to get women involved.
“We created a women’s division this year, but we only had one team enter and they requested their money back,” McCoshen said. “But we had the Barker’s Island team which had three women on their team.”
Making history as the first women to participate in the tournament were Cathy Bacchus, Kristina Parkinson and Shannon Olson, all employees of Barker’s Island Inn and Convention Center.
“We’d like to have more women play and maybe we’ll create a powder puff division next year,” McCoshen said.
POND PERKS: The Pond Hockey Classic is a fundraiser for the Superior Amateur Hockey Association. ... Next year’s tournament is scheduled again for the last weekend in January.
Great Lakes Classic
Pond Hockey Championships
at Barker’s Island
Quarterfinals
Lost Tavern (Cloquet) 11, Gopher Rejects (Superior) 8
Hydro Solutions (Crookston, Minn.) 18, 5th-year Spartans (Superior) 14
Need a Fifth (Superior) 18, Armadillos (Thunder Bay) 15
Lucky’s/Shenannigan’s (Eau Claire) def. Pearson & von Elbe (Duluth)
Semifinals
Hydro Solutions 22, Lost Tavern 18
Lucky’s/Shenannigan’s 18, Need a Fifth 15
Championship
Lucky’s/Shenannigan’s 18, Hydro Solutions 12
Over 40 Division
Championship
Too Old & Cold (Superior) 15, Landing Bar (Two Harbors) 14
