Mark Boyle

Although most hockey players dream of skating in a big arena with thousands of fans cheering them on, those who make it cannot help but remember the feeling of playing outdoors in cold weather with no arena and no fans, just friends.

Playing hockey outdoors gives skaters the chance to experience the sport the way it was supposed to be played. When the ponds freeze over, the skates come out and eager players turn the frozen body of water into a makeshift rink.

“Being outdoors brings me back to when I was a kid playing on the ponds,” Craig Adams says. “The air in the face, the hard ice.”

This brings back memories not only to this Penguins forward, but also for Paul Martin and Deryk Engelland as well.

“You’re probably not out there for another reason, just to mess around and get outside,” Martin says. “I enjoy being outside, so it definitely brings back some good memories.”

Engelland remembers some of his favorite experiences playing outdoors.

“When I was first learning to skate, my Dad would freeze the backyard, trying to make a rink out of it,” Engelland says. “Other than that, the Winter Classic for sure. It’s next to none.”

For last year’s Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals, held outside at Heinz Field, the players say that they prepared the same way as they do for indoor games, despite the elements.

“Maybe you put on an extra layer to make sure you’re staying warm,” Adams says. “But other than that, you’ve still got to play the same way.”

Engelland, on the other hand, admits that he got hot during the game and suggests maybe taking a few layers off.

Although the Penguins were more concerned about rain than snow last January, they seem to agree about what it is like to play under a wintery landscape.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Martin says. “If it’s snowing too hard, that makes it tough to see, especially when you get skating fast. It’s fun to be out there and in the elements.”

Adams agrees.

“It’s just as pure as you can get,” he says. “You’re outdoors. It’s snowing. You’re in the weather. You’re playing the sport you love to play.”

The snow is a sure sign of hockey season, according to Engelland.

“When it starts to snow around Christmas and you’re on break from school, you try to get as many guys together as you can to play out there,” Engelland says. “If the weather’s cooperating, it’s great.”

It’s the cold weather that gets fans excited to see their idols playing under such conditions.

“Everyone bundles up and drinks their coffee and hot cocoa,” Adams says. “It’s just a big event. It’s something fun for everyone to be a part of, whether you’re playing or watching. It makes for good hockey.”

Good hockey is what kept Martin and his friends entertained when he played outdoors.

“When you’re outside, you’re obviously playing for fun,” Martin says. “It’s not organized. If you’re out there, you’re just out there to have a good time.”

Adams and the other kids from his neighborhood would play pickup games on the frozen pond behind his house.

“As a kid, I have some of my best memories being out on the ice,” Adams says. “It’s being outside that brings me back to my childhood.”

It is the simple, laidback atmosphere that comes with outdoor hockey that means so much to Martin.

“I have memories of playing with friends late into the night and just staying out there as long as I wanted, having nobody tell me when I’ve got to get off,” Martin says. “Half the fun is being outside.”

Being outside, playing hockey in the snow still has a special meaning for these players, particularly Engelland.

“When the snow comes, you really know it’s hockey season.”