Polar Pond Hockey will not be going ahead this year.
The annual and popular event – which had been set for March 22 to 24 – has been nixed by unseasonably warm weather that turned the ice on the Hay River into puddles of water.
Polar Pond Hockey organizers made the cancellation decision at a meeting on Monday evening.
Terry Rowe, chair of the organizing committee, informed The Hub of the decision in a text.
“Cancelling ‘til next year,” the text states. “Won’t be able to maintain the ice all week in this weather.”
Just a couple of days before, organizers had been on the ice in front of Fisherman’s Wharf plowing out rinks on the river.
The temperature was unseasonably high, but organizers were hoping there might be a turn towards cooler temperatures.
“We’re just hoping for a little bit colder weather,” said Rowe on March 17.
There had been some discussion among organizers whether the event should go ahead as scheduled or perhaps be delayed until the following weekend.
By Monday, the daytime temperature had reached 13 C, and even at midnight it was still 8 C. The daytime temperatures are forecasted to be 5 C or above each day leading up to the weekend.
Polar Pond Hockey has seen a wide range of temperatures since the event was created in 2007.
“Normally, we get pretty cold weather. It’s March, right,” said Rowe on March 17. “So we’ve had everything. We’ve played in -30. We’ve played in 0.”
Rowe said organizers may hold the tournament at an earlier date next year to avoid more warm weather.
“We never stick to the exact same date,” he noted.
As of late last week, Rowe said 20 teams had registered for this year’s now-cancelled event, which had put it on pace for between 30-35 teams, including some from Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson.
This will be the second year in a row without Polar Pond Hockey. It was not held in 2018 to avoid conflicting with the South Slave Arctic Winter Games and to allow volunteers to concentrate on that international event.