Pucks on Saratoga Lake

The inaugural year of the Saratoga Pond Hockey Tournament on Saratoga Lake was, by all accounts, a success

A large section of Saratoga Lake was cleared off this past weekend for the first Saratoga Lake Pond Hockey Tournament. The tournament consisted of over 30 players and their families who battled the subzero temperatures for a fun, competitive and joyful weekend.

The impetus behind the tournament was Levi Wood, Wyoming Game & Fish Game Warden. A former junior and UW Hockey Player, Warden Wood realized that Saratoga Lake is an ideal setting for pond hockey.

“The cold weather and low wind this winter make the ice great for skating,” said Wood.

Spending multiple nights shoveling, scraping, and flooding the ice were essential to establishing an even surface for the tournament.

“The community has been great in donating equipment and time to help with the ice surface,” said Wood.

The tournament players consisted of former and current collegiate hockey players and close friends from throughout the state. Alex Bakken, current Carbon County Sheriff and a hockey native of Colquet, Minnesota, was excited to see hockey in Carbon County.

“First time I have seen organized pond hockey in the state. Really great we got all these players throughout the state to show up,” said Bakken.

A number of former and current UW hockey players from Laramie, Casper, Cheyenne and Sheridan also participated. Evan Heck, current president of the UW Hockey club team, thought the tournament was a great idea.

“This was how hockey was meant to be played,” said Heck.

Despite the bitter cold temperatures, everyone believed the weekend to be a great success. Quillan Reed, current UW hockey player, said it was “really cool to see everyone come together and it was great being here for the inaugural year.”

On Sheriff Bakken’s team was Sergeant Bracken of the Wyoming Highway Patrol. He mentioned that this was the “first time playing pond hockey since moving from Michigan and hope it continues each year.”

Wood believes the future is bright for hockey on Saratoga Lake and an annual Saratoga Lake Pond Hockey Tournament.

“If we find a few more players we could play weekly on Sunday afternoons - this would be helpful in building hockey in the valley,” said Wood.

He also would like to see an annual pond hockey tournament on Saratoga Lake that would include multiple divisions and age groups.

“Next year we might try an A and B division for the tournament,” said Wood.

Wood believes that it is possible to have another section of the lake’s ice surface prepared next year that could accommodate these divisions.

“The people of the Saratoga community were wonderful and this would not have been possible without their help,” said Wood.