Each year, Caledon transforms into a winter wonderland. Drive through Palgrave in mid-January and the Millpond is a homespun scene from the last century, recalling a very Canadian sense of rustic camaraderie with hot chocolate before a warm fire. Perhaps more uniquely Canadian is the winter activity for which there is a specially designated area on the Millpond where families and friends can play together. Hockey, the great Canadian pastime, does not always require a huge arena and stadium seating.
Caledon, on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area, brings the sport of hockey back to its basics in the hinterland.
Ken Hunt started maintaining the Palgrave Millpond ten years ago for his teenage children. Warmly recalling memories of his childhood in the Gaspé Peninsula, in Palgrave he saw the potential to recreate those moments for a new generation. Motivated by a sincere desire to provide children with a wholesome activity, Ken expends a superhuman effort to make the pond a safe and enjoyable environment. Spending up to sixty hours a week from Christmas until mid-March, he tends the rinks, making sure to leave sticks and pucks available, building benches for bystanders, and bringing his own generators for lighting. It is clearly nothing short of a labour of love that pilots these lonely sojourns on mid-winter nights.
It wasn’t a community effort at first, but grew into one as more people started to lace up and hit the ice. There are stories of Ken bringing out his own plow in the wee hours (after waiting for teenagers to leave the ice), or shoveling snow by hand to create a winter scene straight from a Hallmark card, or a seasonal Tim Horton’s coffee cup. In the beginning, it was only Ken appearing at 2 a.m. to siphon out water for a smoother surface. Then, slowly, as the Palgrave Rotary became involved in donating the basic necessities, it has grown into a civic project, stemming from an almost patriotic love of winter sport.
The fastest growing team sport in the country, pond hockey is as close to the original conception of the game as can be achieved. It originated in New Brunswick with the World Pond Hockey Championship. The Kinsmen Club of Bolton (whose motto, “to serve the Community’s greatest needs” aptly describes its function) for several years has been at the helm of an initiative to bring the game to Caledon and the GTA as the Kinsmen Canadian Pond Hockey Championship. Their all-volunteer crew organizes, keeps score, and officiates at the tournament held annually in mid-February in the Albion Hills Conservation Area, in support of various local causes. In the past, they have included supporting local sports teams, donating proceeds to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation, and donating the first defibrillators to Bolton ambulances. The Kinsmen Club, while boasting the best and smoothest ice for pond hockey enthusiasts, is exclusively non-profit and without overhead cost, meaning that all money raised goes directly to charity. The cost of participation in their tournament is $375 per team.
The Kinsmen pond hockey tournament is played four-on-four with five player teams. There is no goalie or goal tending allowed, enabling scores to run easily into the teens and twenties. There is no player substitution during a game, so the fifth team member is used in another game to let a tired player rebuild his strength. A rink is usually 75 by 150 feet, with only snow banks to define boundaries and no lines, meaning no offside or icing calls. Regulation width nets are only ten inches high, ruling out slap shots. Equipment consists of only skates, sticks and helmets, eliminating the need for expensive and cumbersome padding. This comes in handy as the game requires much endurance and stamina, with tournament finalist teams required to play five games in forty-eight hours. The game has 3 fifteen-minute periods with a strict no-contact rule, which sets it apart from the ‘blood sport’ of the NHL and other leagues, and demands a high level of speed and skill. A player marked with a major penalty (such as inflicting an injury or threats to others) will be banned from that game, as well as the rest of the tournament, and his team will play three-on-four for the duration.
For the younger set, pond hockey is available at the Teen Ranch located on Highway 10. Offering a league with levels from age 4 to 13, and running until March 25, the organization describes itself as a Christian “non-competitive league where players are encouraged to develop skills and meet new people.”
Last year, Alton Mills held its first charity pond hockey game at the Fire and Ice Festival, something it hopes to make an annual event. Here the Alton firefighters battled it out with the “Caledon Notables” with funds raised benefitting Caledon Youth Services, as well as the Alton Mill Pond Rehabilitation Fund to clean up their millpond so that perhaps, in the future, regular pond hockey games can take place.
In recent years, hockey sticks have been prohibited from elementary and high school premises. It is a sad state of affairs that Canada’s national sport is being discouraged in institutions that could be nurturing the next Wayne Gretzky. If the result of last year’s Vancouver Olympics is any indication, Canada is still the number one hockey nation. Our deeply rooted, passionate fans hope to never see the day when either Russia or the United States, or any other country, may take our hockey title away from us.
Pond hockey is a return to the ‘iceroots’ of the game, a renewal of something so uniquely Canadian that it takes place in the beaver’s natural habitat.