For years now, a group of hockey enthusiasts have traveled north to Herb Lake, a remote body of water adjacent to Algonquin Park in search of hockey nirvana. This pilgrimage usually occurs early in the new year and this year is no exception. Gary Beechey is the host and we look to him as our Walter Gretzky. He's also the finest photographer in the land so we have a treasure trove of great photos to help us through the non-hockey months.
So, on Friday, Gary , Tom Walden and I drove up to work on the ice surface.
The first year I was there, it was minus 40 degrees and snowy (see photo). There's nothing like skating into the wind, stickhandling like a mad fool and hoping your nose won't fall off from the cold. Ah, that's living. Last year, the plus 15 degree weather in January kind of put the brakes on that tournament. 2008 is looking much better.
Upon arrival, we walked to the lake only to find 4" of slush covered by a foot of densely packed and very heavy snow. The industrial size snow blower failed after only a few minutes and we were three sad looking hockey enthusiasts.
Then, Tom's eyes lit up and he demanded we dig deep into our shallow hockey psyche and solve this problem. And that's how it came to be.
Gary dug out the miniature snow blower while Tom and I drove to Dorset to buy some large ergonomic snow shovels. We then began to dig and move tons of snow. Within three hours, my arms felt like rubber, Tom's toes were tired and sore, Gary's nose was running like Ben Johnson and the dogs Nova and Tess were bored out of their little doggy minds BUT, we had cleared a surface 85' x 100'. There would be a hockey tournament at "The Herb" after all.
So, after a few floods and a bit more snow removal, we headed back to town a contented lot. Sleep came easy that night and of course, the dreams were of remarkable goals scored in perfect outdoor conditions.