Prepping Lake Nokomis for the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships [VIDEO]

Craig Lassig

A member of the George Monson & Sons "ice-ops" crew readying the rinks.

The 6th annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships are underway on Lake Nokomis this weekend (January 21-23), with more than a thousand skaters set to battle for the Golden Shovel in their respective divisions.  In recent weeks, I had the pleasure of rapping with event co-commissioner Justin Kaufenberg before assisting the ice-ops crew of George Monson & Sons in getting the rinks ready for play.

To read my account of the wealth of prep required to put this baby on, please enjoy the article in this week's City Pages print edition.  And to see some terrific images of the crew readying the ice, take a visit to Craig Lassig's great slideshow.

Want some moving images, puckheads?  Here's a little video I shot of the Monson crew doing rink prep amidst a steady clipper and 15-degree temps.  Enjoy, and check back next week for follow-up coverage of the tourney's championship Sunday: