Pond hockey appears to be very similar to ice hockey, however, it is far more simple and artistically designed as it is traditionally played on a part of naturally frozen body of water. Games of pond hockey are usually casual events, though some tournaments are held.
The rink in this sport is smaller than in ice hockey - about 50 to 80 percent of the standard size of a NHL-specification rink, with teams of just four players. The playing area used in this sport also do not have any boards or glass surroundings as there are in ice hockey. In addition, there are also no such protective barriers behind the goal to contain high missed shots.
In pond hockey there is usually no specific goalie, which means that in this sport more emphasis is on skating and puck handling ability as compared to shooting and checking. Players wear limited protective clothing, and hard contact is discouraged.
Similar Sports
- Ice Hockey — a contact sport that is played on ice while wearing skates and using a stick to hit a puck into a goal.
- Bandy — a team sport played on ice using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal, a precursor to ice hockey.
- 3x3 Ice Hockey — a variation of ice hockey played on a half rink with just three players on each team.
- Rink Bandy — a variation of Bandy that originated in Sweden in the 1960s, played on an ice hockey rink.
- Rinkball — very similar to Rink Bandy, though played with ice hockey sticks instead of bandy sticks which are more like those used in field hockey.
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports