Crowd Turns Out to Rock the Rink

Crews worked through the night to make a great surface for pickup hockey at the Sister Bay Sports Complex Feb. 11. Unfortunately warm temperatures turned it to slush by mid-day. Photo by Chris Miller.

Hundreds of players and supporters were at the Teresa K. Hilander Community Ice Rink in Sister Bay on Feb. 11 to get in as much play and fun as they could. 

It wasn’t the full pond-hockey tournament that organizers and players had hoped and planned for, with warm temperatures forcing the cancellation of the tournament portion of the event, but crews worked through the night to create great ice for Saturday morning nonetheless. That meant that teams were able to play pickup hockey until noon, when temperatures reached 40 degrees and the ice surface began to turn to slush. 

“Obviously we were disappointed to not have a full tournament,” said organizer Brian Fitzgerald, “but the feedback this morning was great. A lot of teams still showed up and had a great time playing pickup the way we grew up playing. And the support from the Sister Bay Advancement Association and the parks and ice-rink staff helped us pull off a fun experience at the rink, even without a full tourney.”

The event raised thousands of dollars for the rink through food and beverage sales, and a crowd of hundreds enjoyed live music by Absolute Bratwurst, bonfires and games throughout the afternoon.