US Pond Hockey Championships canceled for final weekend

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The final weekend of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis will not be held as scheduled due to the warmer temperatures leading to unsafe ice conditions.

In a social media post on Thursday, event organizers said the "winter season has been like no other we can remember" and "unfortunately" they've had to make the "difficult decision" to cancel the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships Golden Weekend, scheduled for Jan. 26-28.

"We’re as gutted about this as all of you are. This event sometimes teeters between a couple of degrees, and we’ve had good luck, and we’ve had bad luck. Last weekend was good luck, this weekend is bad luck. We were hoping that the temps would get at least a few degrees lower to freeze overnight. That doesn’t appear to be the case. We hoped that humidity would be lower to help evaporate the water, it’s at 95%. We hoped the daytime temps would stay in the mid or low 30s. They are in their upper 30s. And forecasts this week have gone from potentially good, to not good, with each passing day," the announcement said. 

Event organizers acknowledged people traveled and spent money to get to Minneapolis for the tournament, but the surface ice is unplayable. A pity party was held at the main tent at Lake Nokomis Thursday night, and event organizers are encouraging people to play some pickup games.

"For our friends from out of town, state, or country, let's show how the State of Hockey can come together and connect for a pick-up game or to show off all that Minneapolis and our hockey community have to offer," a post said on the tournament's Facebook page.

The tournament is the latest event to be canceled due to the warm winter. Here's a list.