Three-day pond hockey tournament drops the puck in Chestermere

Thousands are set to gather in Chestermere this week for the Tim Hortons Western Canada Pond Hockey Championship.

Nearly 1,000 players aged four to 66 are lacing up their skates to participate in the sixth annual event.

"Over the years, it's been amazing. Last year was bitterly cold at minus 37. This year has been a dream," said organizer Alex Halat.

Halat also takes charge of the World's Longest Hockey Game and knows that Chestermere can handle the influx of people, the lake will hold until Thursday.

With nearly 100 teams competing, one of the most challenging parts of the event is scheduling, Halat said.

"[It's] 1,207 games organized in a total of 15 hours of play," Halat added. "You can imagine the maintenance is a bit of a challenge," he said.

"We have the amenities here to run events such as this, that hold six to 7,000 people a day," said Halat.

"At the end of the day, the funds that we raise, whether it's through the world's longest hockey game or pond hockey tournament, they go towards supporting Calgary and area."

On Tuesday, a thick fog and freezing rain greeted the players as they stepped onto Chestermere Lake.

Andrew Marriott, Tim Hortons franchisee in Chestermere and southeast Calgary says the event brings the community together.

"We get a lot of people from out of town coming to the pond hockey, and this is Canadian," said Marriott.

"You can't get more Canadian…on an outdoor lake in the middle of winter and walking up and having a hot chocolate or a coffee and enjoy watching your kids, your friends, your father play hockey on an outdoor rink."

Marriott says $11,000 was raised through the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign, which supports three charities for which the pond hockey tournament is raising money.

The event runs until Thursday, with the finals set for 9:00 a.m. puck drop on Chestermere Lake.