Pond Hockey in the Mountains

Before I moved to India, I learned of this great ice hockey tournament in the mountains. However, no matter who I contacted, no one could give me info. The next year I was determined to go, but again, it didn't pan out. This year I was resolute and, sure enough, the trip was on. The opportunity to play hockey, outdoors, on a pond, in the mountains of Leh at 12,000ft was worth the wait.

I played with a team of people from the Canadian High Commission. We were called the New Delhi Sacred Bulls and were 12 skaters in all. Luckily, most of us got a chance to play a few times before the tournament at a crappy rink in Gurgaon.  We flew out early on a Friday morning - or at least that was the plan. After arriving at the airport and boarding the plane, we sat on the runway for 3.5 hours due to "fog" (but we all know it was heavily influenced by pollution).

Can you see the plane next to us on the runway? No? It's less than 100ft away...

Eventually, we were off for the 1 hour flight to Leh, and were treated to some amazing mountain views on the way in. It was fairly cold in the mountains, with temps around -11 Celsius. We made our way to the hotel for lunch and a relatively uneventful day as acclimating was key.

Sleep is not easy at 3500m and we were up early for breakfast.  Because the games are on a pond, we dressed in our hotel rooms. Two teams boarded the bus, piling sticks and equipment in, and drove to the rink.  Snow had fallen over night and it took a good hour to "clean" the ice (shovel it then sweep it with straw brooms). I tell you, if you need a workout, try shoveling snow at 3500m. It leaves you gassed in seconds.

Dubai and Delhi riding to the rink

Overnight snow on the rink - it took more than an hour to clear the ice

Our first game was against the Dubai Buds.  This team had played together a bit in Dubai and that was an advantage for them (we had not skated as a team). However, we started out hot and I scored a few minutes in by coming across the middle and beating the goalie glove side.  We were tied  1-1 going into the second half when I scored a wrap around goal to give us the lead. We didn't have a team goalie so we had to have a local player in net, and this proved to be a disaster. He let in 4 goals, not one of them a legit shot. Long, half-ice shots bounced in. It was devastating to lose (4-2) when we could have skated with that team. I had both goals, and we now knew how to prevent the problem in the future - limit their shots.

AES Teachers - Michael, Kristin, and Justin

AES Teachers - Michael, Kristin, and Justin

The next game that morning was against the India Select team, basically an all-star team of the local players.  They were young and fast, but like the Qatari national team in Doha, they were one dimensional.  I didn't score in game 2, but I had to skate a lot on both ends of the ice to keep the attacking and defending happening. We rotated centers, so I played every other shift.  We played to a 1-1 tie with just a minute to go when one of our players got loose and scored. We won, 2-1, and had 30 min rest. Our final game was against a team from Bangalore who was very inexperienced. They mostly were learning roller hockey and some had never been on ice. They picked up a few women from the Indian national team.  We handled them pretty easily. I scored early, and then Kristin got one. An AES parent, Matt, wanted a goal since he was going to miss the 2nd day of the tournament, and I was able to bring the puck out from the corner and find him in front where he buried it for a 3-0 lead. Bangalore managed to get one but we still won.

I pull up on the boards against the India select team.

Our forward gets lose and scores against the India select team with under a minute to go to give us the win.

We loaded on to buses and headed down the mountain about 20 minutes to another couple of ponds. We were there to skate with several other teams in a charity event called the Ability Cup. One team was the India Army team, another a group of kids, and the last team a group of disabled athletes who played on sledges.  We laced up our skates and pushed some of the athletes on sledges around then joined them in a game. As tired as I was, it was invigorating to see all these different people of all ages and abilities learning the game and loving being out there.  We left, pretty toasted after 3 games and a fun skate event. We returned home to shower and had a few cocktails before dinner, which was  a banquet with local performers and music. If we weren't so exhausted, it would have been a wild night. 

Supporting the efforts of charities at the Ability Cup

Sunday was the final day of the tournament. I awoke extremely sore: my lower back was aching and my legs toast, but we had to get back out there. Luckily, there was no snow overnight so we didn't have to clear the ice. Unfortunately, cracks were forming in the ice and would only get worse throughout the day. We finished as the 2nd seed on day 1 so we drew the India select team for the elimination round. Again, I scored early in the game. Our task was to limit shots, but it made no difference: a long, rolling, slow shot trickled past our goalie. We did what we could but they just kept shooting and the goalie just didn't know how to stop the puck. We lost 4-2 in the semi-finals.

I scored this goal by going through 3 guys and roofing it while the D pulled me down

There was no time to lick our wounds as we played in the consultation game against Bangalore immediately after. I grabbed a water bottle and a puck between games to try and fill the cracks but it was to no avail. We started out strong and controlled the game from the start. I split the defense and buried a goal while being pulled to the ice. Then there was a hard shot from the point that rang off the post and behind the goalie which I tapped in with little effort. We were rolling and scored a couple of more. I tried desperately to set up Kristin and our defensemen for a goal. I won a few faceoffs back to them but they just didn't find that back of the net. We won easily.  We grabbed some beers and went to the rooftop to watch the final game: India select vs. Dubai Buds.  India won 2-1 with a goal late in the game. They completely out skated Dubai who looked like they could barely skate - altitude was definitely a factor. 

Leh hockey rink 

Watching the finals from the rooftop above the rink

Despite being exhausted, we wandered around town and stopped in Wanderers for some momos. We nearly froze waiting over 1 hour but all was well returning to the hotel where we enjoyed some drinks late into the night.  

I had 6 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, but more importantly, we played hockey outdoors in the mountains on the highest outdoor ice rink in the world. It was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to play again next year.