Educational Media Reviews Online

Along with coverage of the first U.S. Pond Hockey championships (2006) this film makes a strong case for a return to outdoor hockey (recreation centers, frozen ponds and rivers, backyard rinks) in climates that allow the ice to remain naturally frozen for weeks and months at a time. Why in this era of indoor rinks, high priced ice time, travelling peewee teams, helicopter hockey moms and dads would anyone think of a return to the outdoor origins of the game?

Analysis: The player and at least one family member are up well before dawn to drive to an indoor facility for an hour of ice time (about 45 minutes actually on the ice). A short time is spent on conditioning drills. Each team probably has 3 offensive lines that rotate through shoot and chase drills. Each forward gets 5 or 6 shots on goal, defensemen fewer. Bottom line: not enough shooting or stick handling in that hour to improve the player’s skills significantly. Further, a junior hockey coach cites the statistic that 40% of beginning hockey players drop out after their first year in a program. The reason he thinks is “boredom” … it’s just not any fun for them.

So, where did hockey legends like Wayne Gretzky, Phil Housley, John Mayasich, Sidney Crosby, Neal Broten, Patrick Kane, and Marian Gaborik learn their skills? Well, solo, in twos or threes, in mixed ages pick-up games on outdoor rinks! Hour after hour of playing, often with rules made up to fit the situation, stopping when Mom called them in for dinner. All say it was fun! Many of these great players and the coaches interviewed for the film don’t know where the next skilled players are coming from. Meanwhile, the Pond Hockey championships are also a treat. These are tough days of tournament hockey followed by long nights of serious relaxing in a state well known for its beverages. These competitors also remember their days spent skating on outdoor ponds and wish they saw more kids skating outdoors when driving around the countryside.

The extra features on the DVD Hockey Greats and More Frozen Memories provide longer interviews with Gretzky, Broten, Mayasich and others. These also are very worthwhile viewing.