Hockey is listed as Canada’s official winter sport. But it’s much more than a sport, it’s part of our culture
In the province of New Brunswick, Danny Braun is the president of the town of Plaster Rock’s, World Pond Hockey Championships.
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Of course the most storied league is the National Hockey League with famous names like Eddie Shack, Jacques Plante, Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Sidney Crosby and so many more.
But many got their introduction to the game like millions of Canadians before and since, not by playing on indoor rinks in organized leagues, but out on frozen lakes and ponds.
And that’s where the idea came for the little town of Plaster Rock, New Brunswick.
Members of the West Coast Highlanders from Vancouver showing the fun aspect of the competition, sport kilts as they at the World Pond Hockey Championships in Plaster Rock, N.B.in 2007
Looking for a fund raising event to replace an aging arena, they first tried an international snowmobile event. But while successful, it wasn’t profitable.
Then looking at the pond with the smooth ice cleared for the races, the idea came, why not a hockey competition?
The charitable event is listed as “pure hockey the way it was meant to be played.
The international competition quickly became world famous and has inspired similar events across the country and indeed in other countries around the world
Danny Braun is the president of Plaster Rock’s World Pond Hockey Championships
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