Is there anything more Canadian?

Cogeco Beaver and NipU Piker join Canadore President Barbara Taylor to launch this year's Canadian Pond Hockey Face-Off. Photo provided.

There’s nothing more Canadian than standing in a Tim Horton’s line talking about pond hockey. Add minus 30 degree weather and you have the perfect atmosphere for a National Tournament.

Chris Dawson, Co-chair of the Canadian Pond Hockey Face-off, officially kicked off the fourth annual tournament that is scheduled for the February thirteenth long weekend.

“We’ve doubled in size every year since we started. We went from 20 our first year to forty, to eighty last year,” Dawson said.

The Canadian Pond Hockey Face-off will be once again teaming up with the Atlanta Thrashers and the Low Income People Involvement (LIPI) to give three local players and three players from Atlanta the chance to compete as the ‘Junior Thrashers’.

“This great partnership, resulting from North Bay being named Hockeyville in 2007, has allowed us to not only offer great opportunity to deserving kids, but allows us to highlight some of the best North Bay has to offer,” Dawson said in a press release.

The Tournament committee has teamed up with Canadore College to make the Pond Hockey Face-off a success.

“I think it’s a great group of employees involved with Chris and the community,” Canadore President Barbara Taylor said. “It’s great to continue to see staff involved in a great initiative,” she added.

Dawson said the Canadore campus provides the best scenery for the event.

“This is the best infrastructure which makes it unique,” Dawson said of the campus.

“I think we have the most beautiful college campus in Ontario if not the country,” Taylor said.

To add to the tournament festivities, the committee has announced a mascot challenge in a unique hockey game. Mascots that will be involved are the Nipissing Lakers mascot, Nipper the Crime dog, and the Pond Hockey/Cogeco beaver.

“Many local businesses, schools, and sports teams are excited about the opportunity to showcase their mascot by participating in a friendly game of hockey that will no doubt bring a lot of laughs,” Dawson said in a press release.

Registration is filling up fast. To register visit www.pondhockeyfaceoff.com or call 472-POND.