The 20th annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships wraps up this weekend at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.

On Thursday, Tucker Hafner was sitting at a table with his team in a heated tent after winning their first game. This tournament is Hafner’s fifth time competing with work friends, who take time off to play in the event.

“Conditions are really nice compared to last year,” he said. “It’s really hard ice, so you’re able to fly around out there. There’s just a lot of cracks, which is normal on a on a lake or a pond. So pretty darn good.”

Hafner, who lives in St. Paul, hopes his team makes it to the championship round.

“My favorite thing about being a part of this is one, taking work off — that’s awesome. And then two, just hanging out with all these guys and having a beer between games and just kind of messing around,” he said.

Mason Coudron of Minneapolis has played at Lake Nokomis since 2013. He looks forward to the hockey championship to reunite with old friends from North Dakota, where he once lived.

“It’s great getting to see people I used to play with,” Coudron said. “And then the facilities usually work really well for this. We could sit out here all day. Take a couple days off of work and just have some fun.”

Scenes from the Saturday championships

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