Minnedosa’s annual Skate the Lake hockey tournament was held this past weekend on the frozen-solid ice of Lake Minnedosa.
When it comes to February outdoor activities in our corner of the globe, “expect the unexpected” is often the best approach and that held true for teams and volunteers for the 14th edition of Manitoba’s largest pond hockey tourney.
Saturday brought blustery winds, to be followed up by near-whiteout conditions for about an hour on Sunday afternoon. I happened to make the drive up on Sunday, arriving in the thick of the heavy snow for what turned out to be a handful of fun pics of everyone on the ice putting on their best Manitoba face and enjoying the unique surroundings with the tournament getting down to its final games across its different divisions.
With the lake quickly blanketed with what had to be more than 5cm of the white stuff over about an hour and the weather system leaving as quickly as it came, it took the efforts of some hard-working volunteers for the ice to be cleared for the tourney’s final games. Those games would start on-time at 4pm for both hockey and curling as champions were crowned in each.
The edge of the same system brought only about 1/2 cm of snow to Brandon.
Following are a handful of the better pics I was able to get along with a pair that were submitted to me of what the setup on the lake looked like before the snow hit...