U.S. Pond Hockey Championships
Launching a phenomenon
Branding | Public Relations | Business Visibility | Events + Experiential Crisis Communications
We are the creative force behind the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships. A labor of love, the tournament began as one of Fred Haberman’s wild ideas and grew into a bona fide spectacle, bringing hockey lovers from across the country to play on a frozen lake in Minneapolis.
The first year nearly 120 teams and tens of thousands of spectators attended. By its third and fourth years, the number of teams doubled and crowds swelled. Today, it’s bigger than ever—still going strong—it’s a national event and a beloved tradition.
Sports Illustrated Coverage
“It makes too much sense not to try.”
Fred Haberman
Fred Haberman with his daughter, Celeste
Haberman had the vision: to celebrate hockey, the joy of play and the community of enthusiasts. But it takes more than vision to start a movement.
To launch the first-ever U.S. Pond Hockey Championships (USPHC) in 2006, we unleashed all of our talents and storytelling capabilities. From crafting the vision, to building the infrastructure, to lining up sponsors and managing event logistics to leading all event planning and executing the marketing program.
Our storytelling strategy simply put: share and tell the human interest stories of people of all ages and all abilities playing the sport they loved as a kid in the environment they loved as a kid and doing it during the coldest time of the year.
Campaign
We launched the event with a strong ambassador strategy in place. We secured then Governor Tim Pawlenty to participate in a humorous video teasing the event, and held a press conference with the governor and well-known former NHLers, including Phil Housley, announcing the event.
Press Coverage
Media Relations
Throughout the annual tournament, Haberman recruited national media personalities to participate in the event, including reporters from the Today Show, The New York Times, Outside Magazine and Sports Illustrated; we leveraged top tier professional hockey players for media interviews; and gathered testimonials from prominent business leaders, including Apple executive Guy Kawasaki and Boeing CEO James McNerney. We also helped develop the incredibly successful documentary Pond Hockey featuring Wayne Gretzky, Lou Nanne and dozens of other amazing, high profile ambassadors.
“Pond hockey is, like, the essence of pure hockey,” says Ryan Equale, sitting behind me. “We all started playing on ponds, we’re all brothers out there, and at the end of the day everyone’s together sharing a beer.” I laugh and nod approvingly, not realizing I’ll be hearing this sentiment repeated about 17 dozen times over the next two days.
Paul Lukas
ESPN
The first year, tens of thousands of spectators came to cheer on more than 250 teams. Since then, USPHC has brought in visitors from across the globe. The event has been recognized by ESPN for its broad appeal and listed it with Wimbledon and Sturgis as one of “101 Things Every Sports Fan Should Do Before They Die.” Sports Illustrated called it “perfect in every detail.”
“Pond hockey is, like, the essence of pure hockey,” says Ryan Equale, sitting behind me. “We all started playing on ponds, we’re all brothers out there, and at the end of the day everyone’s together sharing a beer.” I laugh and nod approvingly, not realizing I’ll be hearing this sentiment repeated about 17 dozen times over the next two days.
Paul Lukas
ESPN
In 2010, after five successful years, Haberman sold the tournament to a passionate group of hockey fanatics who now carry on the unique Minnesota tradition of “hockey the way nature intended.”
- Created an experience and event from a place of pure passion that’s been enjoyed by people around the world.
- Hosted tens of thousands of athletes
- Recognized by ESPN as one of “101 Things Every Sports Fan Should Do Before They Die.”
- Sold and now managed by NBC Sports