As the mercury drops across the high country and ice forms on our local lakes Grand Lake is gearing up for the second annual Pond Hockey Classic.

Last January a group of Grand Lake residents, led by local man Brian Blumenfeld, came together to put on the first ever Grand Lake Pond Hockey Classic. The event, which was put on under the auspices of the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce, featured 27 teams with over 150 competitors taking to the ice on four different rinks, all on the icy surface of Grand Lake.

The Pond Hockey Classic returns in 2019 during the first weekend in February. Tournament Commissioner Blumenfeld said the tournament is expected to be a significantly larger event this year with roughly 40 teams competing on half a dozen or more rinks. Blumenfeld said he anticipates around 200 to 250 skaters for the second iteration of the Pond Hockey Classic.

Competitors in the tournament are broken down into three different divisions based on skills with a different division for beginners, intermediate level players, and advanced hockey players. This year the Pond Hockey Classic will also be adding a fourth division, called the sled division, which will feature sled hockey teams competing against each other. The sled hockey portion of the Pond Hockey Classic is being conducted in conjunction with the Warriors Aves, the sled hockey team for the Colorado Adaptive Sports Foundation.

Blumenfeld noted that this year’s hockey classic will also feature a new charitable element as $10 out of every registration fee will go to Parker’s Platoon. Parker’s Platoon is the charitable organization of Grand Lake area homeowner, retired Colorado Avalanche player and Stanley Cup Champion Scott Parker.

Registration for the second Pond Hockey Classic, to be held Feb. 2 and 3, began in early December. During last year’s registration period Blumenfeld took special care to ensure all teams competing in the event were either Grand County teams or were teams with specific connections to Grand County, such as teams whose members owned homes in Middle Park.

This year the registration process is open to all and team registrations will be filled on a first-come first serve basis. According to Blumenfeld nine teams have already registered for the event with all nine teams hailing from the Front Range.

“Registration is already filling up and we want Grand County teams to have a good showing so visit the website, get your team together and get registered.”

Prospective competitors can register for the Pond Hockey Classic by going to the event’s website at: https://fraserhockeyvolunt.wixsite.com/grandlakeclassic. The Pond Hockey Classic registration page can also be accessed via the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce website.