Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey very similar in its object and appearance to traditional ice hockey, but far simpler and designed to be played on part of a natural frozen body of water. The rink is 50% longer than a standard NHL-specification rink, and has no “boards” or “glass” surrounding it to add to the convenience of setting up and removing the rink. In addition, because there are no protective barriers behind the goal to contain high errant shots, the top of the goal is far lower, in fact only slightly taller than the width of a puck, and the goalie therefore does not require the specialized equipment that traditional ice hockey goalies must have. Because of these differences, pond hockey places more 온라인경마 emphasis on skating and puckhandling ability and less on shooting and checking. Non-competitive pond hockey is often played with no proper goals, rinks of almost any size and no boards at all. There exists a World Pond Hockey Championships for players to aspire to. The term “pond hockey” is also often used, especially in Canada, as a synonym to Shinny. In this context it is meant to describe any form of disorganized ice hockey that is played outdoors, typically on a naturally frozen body of water.
Equipment
Pond hockey discourages hard physical contact, the equipment involved is basic. Helmets are not mandatory, but recently the trend has been to wear a helmet for apparent safety reasons, also shin pads have evolved into popular use. Most pond hockey enthusiasts also decide to wear gloves, because of the temperature and because gloves provide safety from unintentional slashing from hockey sticks, or skates. Other equipment involved corresponds directly to basic ice hockey equipment such as a hockey stick, skates, and a hockey puck. Many times the goals are hand-made by the players clothing or shoes. However, in a classic game of pick-up pond hockey the nets are usually make shift.
Rules
The rules of pond hockey generally follow the same set of rules as ice hockey but are typically less strict depending on the players and the level of play involved. There is also variability in the rules depending on other factors such as how many players there are and what equipment is available. More rules are often followed in high level play, such as in organized tournaments. Many ice hockey rules are not observed in pond hockey due to the different playing areas. Rules such as offsides and icing are often not followed due to the difficulty in their regulation. One of the other major differences in pond hockey is that checking rarely occurs due to players not wearing the same level of padding as they would playing normal ice hockey. Another distinctive rule in pond hockey is the concept of picking teams, which usually occurs in pick-up games. Since teams are generally not organized, they have to be picked before the game starts. Teams are often either picked by designated captains or by a method known as “drawing sticks” or “sticks in the middle”. This method involves all the players putting their sticks in a pile where one of the players then separates them into two groups, each with half the sticks. The players who have their sticks in the same group are then on the same team.