Hay River’s pond hockey is a reflection of a climate crisis

Craig MacTavish was an Edmonton Oilers mainstay in the 1980s. He grew up playing pond-hockey in London, Ontario where he developed his skills and a love of the sport. 

MacTavish’s route into the game may not exist much longer. As the climate changes, Canada’s ability to sustain outdoor hockey is Measurably decreasing. (Environmental scientist even). Track conditionsYou can find hundreds of backyard rinks.

“That’s how you get good,” MacTavish, now 63, said of outdoor makeshift rinks as he attended Hay River’s Polar Pond Hockey this past weekend.

“You’re handling the puck, you’re outdoors, there’s lots of camaraderie, lots of competition … It’s something really deeply rooted in the fabric of Canadians.” 

Canada’s loss of outdoor rinks is so worrying that the Climate and Sport Initiative (part-funded by the federal governments) has begun backing it Save Pond HockeyEvents devoted to education about the climate crisis through sports. Though Polar Pond Hockey has existed in its own right for years, this year’s event also carried the Save Pond Hockey banner.

Bruce Dudley representing the Climate and Sport Initiative recalled a conversation about backyard rinks with Wayne Gretzky.

“He spent the entire time talking about when he was a kid and what it meant to him and his dad,” Dudley said.

“It was relationship-building, it was social skills-building and it was hockey skills-building.” 

Canadians have a fondness for outdoor rinks. They are beautiful. They are central to the nation’s winter-sports narrative. But Dudley argues they’re also community hubs that help kids whose families can’t afford access to other recreational sport, or who live in rural areas without facilities.

“We’re concerned that our children, or our children’s children, aren’t going to enjoy the same benefits from outdoor hockey that we did,” he said. 

Hay River, Polar Pond Hockey This was cancelled2019 was unseasonably warm. This year, the Arctic Energy Alliance – an NWT not-for-profit that helps residents and businesses reduce emissions and access clean-energy rebates – ran a climate and energy fair and hosted a tour of nearby energy projects.

“The North is going to see climate change first-hand,” said Terry Rowe, organizer of the tournament.

“Our water levels are rising from year to year. We had Flooding in Old Town last YearIt seems to be a common thing in our area. don’t have clean water, because the water levels were too high.”