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Outdoor hockey traditions under shadow of climate change
The Associated Press ^ | January 8, 2021 | By STEPHEN WHYNO

Posted on 01/08/2021 4:53:48 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

KINGMAN, Alberta - Larry Asp grew up playing shinny outside in this tiny rural town he calls home again after 40 years away. Since returning, he also holds the keys to the outdoor “Rink of Dreams” that gives the 90 local residents the chance to skate outside during the keen Canadian winters.

Out here on the prairie an hour’s drive southeast of Edmonton, the ice in the former “Lutefisk Capital of Alberta” doesn’t seem to freeze as long as it used to, not like when Asp was a kid.

Pond hockey has been a tradition for generations in places like Kingman and Sylvan Lake, across Canada, parts of the U.S. and cold environments around the world. Yet winter sports are, as Asp notes, at the mercy of the elements.

Experts say climate change is making for shorter, freezing winters and poses a threat to the very existence of the outdoor stick and puck games at the root of hockey.

“The climate is warming, we are having more variability, there is less ice coverage overall,” said Michelle Rutty, assistant professor of faculty of environment at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. “It is conceivable that we will continue to see sort of a shorter season, so pond hockey is absolutely at risk. There’s no denying that.”

The Winter Classic, an annual headline event on New Year’s Day for the National Hockey League, was put off this year because of the pandemic. No fond memories offered by players recalling how they laced up their skates outside, no fans bundled up in large, open-air stadiums to watch their teams play through whatever Mother Nature had to offer.

A generation from now, professional players might not even have those childhood memories.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: globalwarming; hoax; hockey; propaganda; socialism

1 posted on 01/08/2021 4:53:48 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

But I thought that Al Gore and others told me that the polar ice caps were going to be gone by now, sort of like what happened in the movie Waterworld.


2 posted on 01/08/2021 4:55:55 AM PST by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966 )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

So turn the hockey pond into a rice paddy.


3 posted on 01/08/2021 5:00:20 AM PST by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
What freaking hand-wringing and pearl-clutching.

Do these people even know that outdoor hockey games have the same chillers under the ice that indoor rinks use? Sheesh.

4 posted on 01/08/2021 5:00:50 AM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Two or three years ago the Minnesota High School Hockey teams played their annual outdoor rink “Hockey Classic” tournament - before Christmas, and before the regular season starts.

Outdoor rinks on a pond, open stands, etc. I think the top teams from around the state get called.

One of the top players of the top teams got frost bite in the -45 degree wind chill and missed a bunch of his regular games. Concern was raised by some, but the coaches and players all agreed that “Hey - that's hockey in Minnesota!”.

I grew up in Minnesota. I recall those types of winters. I also recall mowing the lawn on Christmas Eve! (Mainly to get rid of the last of the leaves, but still....)

5 posted on 01/08/2021 5:03:05 AM PST by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Things have changed from when you were a kid? The answer must be to dismantle Capitalism! /sarc


6 posted on 01/08/2021 5:06:37 AM PST by aynrandfreak (Being a Democrat means never having to say you're sorry)
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To: Yo-Yo

“Do these people even know that outdoor hockey games have the same chillers under the ice that indoor rinks use?”

You’re probably right - but all I ever skated on was ponds or backyard rinks. Three families in my neighborhood had hockey players. They would put up some 2”x8” boards in an oval in their back yard and flood it with the hose for hockey rinks.

My sister (Minnesota) just before Christmas said the ice on the lake was thick enough for cars, but not much snow, so perfect for ice skaters and ice boats and sail skating. I think they got a bunch of snow around Christmas though.


7 posted on 01/08/2021 5:10:44 AM PST by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s 10 degrees in Calgary right now. Do they have different water there?.


8 posted on 01/08/2021 5:11:44 AM PST by Varda
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To: Varda

lol


9 posted on 01/08/2021 5:12:29 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Al Gore is a fraud. He left office with a net worth of $2 million and now he is reported to have a net worth of $330 million.

In 2006 he predicted the following:

1. Rising Sea Levels—inaccurate and misleading. Al was even discovered purchasing a beachfront mansion!

2. Increased Tornadoes—declining for decades.

3. New Ice Age in Europe—they've been spared; it never happened.

4. South Sahara Drying Up—completely untrue.

5. Massive Flooding in China and India—again, didn't happen.

6. Melting Arctic—false—2015 represents the largest refreezing in years.

7. Polar Bear Extinction—actually they are increasing!

8. Temperature Increases Due to CO2—no significant rising for over 18 years

9. Katrina a Foreshadow of the Future—false—past 10 years, no F3 hurricanes; “longest drought ever!”

10. The Earth Would be in a “True Planetary Emergency” Within a Decade Unless Drastic Action Taken to Reduce Greenhouse Gasses—never happened.

Leftists are crooks.

10 posted on 01/08/2021 5:13:00 AM PST by wildcard_redneck (COVID lockdowns is are the Establishment's attack on the middle class and our Republic)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Making sure kids can play outdoor hockey in Alberta...I can’t think of a better reason to totally remake the world economy with the hope that it MIGHT lower the global temperature 0.1 degree in 2120.


11 posted on 01/08/2021 5:29:34 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom ("Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out" -- David Horowitz)
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To: Yo-Yo

The ponds and lakes have chillers?


12 posted on 01/08/2021 5:30:01 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom ("Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out" -- David Horowitz)
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To: Varda
The author has his panties in a big twist about Sylvan Lake. (An aside -- my grandmother was born just down the road from Sylvan Lake in 1906).

So let's check the weather at Sylvan Lake right now and see if there might be some ice there...


13 posted on 01/08/2021 5:35:56 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom ("Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out" -- David Horowitz)
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To: Varda

Omg epic post..

Ty


14 posted on 01/08/2021 5:52:38 AM PST by Swiffer_Ralf (Orig. Eureka_Lead)
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To: aynrandfreak

Man-made-climate-change is the new hoax to be used for controlling the U.S. citizenry.


15 posted on 01/08/2021 6:16:39 AM PST by abclily
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
But wouldn't a warmer winter make for less "carbon emissions", less "greenhouse gas"? If the heater is running less, the only conclusion is less "greenhouse gas".

16 posted on 01/08/2021 6:17:40 AM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (Guide me, O thou great Redeemer, pilgrim through this barren land.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

There are a lot of words such as “could”, “possibly”, and “perhaps” in the article.


17 posted on 01/08/2021 7:14:36 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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