On January 14, Can Life Sports once again hosted the Annual Beijing Pond Hockey Tournament at Shichahai in the heart of central Beijing. The tournament was presented by Bauer Hockey, sponsored by Teck China, WPIC, and Hydralyte, and supported by CanCham Beijing.

Six teams consisting of more than 50 players of all ages from around China came together to play on the natural ice in downtown Beijing, a traditional way of playing hockey in nations such as Canada and Finland. This is the ninth year of the Beijing Pond Hockey Tournament, which attracts thousands of fans every year to watch the action.

Per hockey tradition, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Canada to China Gillian Frost joined the event in the morning for a ceremonial puck drop with Noah Fraser, CCBC Managing Director, China, and Brian Lee, local hockey representative, facing off.

While every team put on a terrific effort in the cold and windy conditions and every game was fiercely competitive, the championship “Steel Stick” was awarded to “Bovine University,” garbed in their bull costumes, who edged out “Les Tons Positifs” in sudden-death overtime in the final bout. One of the favourite traditions of the tournament is to dress in unique themes, fun costumes or in classic hockey jerseys.