Players from as far as Kentucky and California will lace up their skates and hit the ice for the sixth annual U.P. Pond Hockey tournament on the ice of Chain Lake in St. Ignace. At least 160 teams have signed up for the tournament, passing last year’s 155 teams. Competition dates this year are Friday, February 17, through Sunday, February 19.

The crisp air, camaraderie, and all-around fun will bring seven teams from the Louisville (Kentucky) Adult Hockey Players Association. Three LAHPA teams came last year.

“I could probably have brought 10 teams, so many people are excited about it,” said Don Rogers, a director of two hockey programs for LAHPA.

Mr. Rogers said he enjoys the feeling of freedom while on the outdoor ice.

“It’s one of the coolest experiences you can have,” he said. “I could have skated all the way to Mackinac.”

Pond hockey is similar to conventional hockey, except it’s played four-on-four without goalies. Rinks are smaller – 75 by 150 feet, compared to the 90 by 200-foot indoor arenas – and pucks sail through goals six feet wide and six inches tall. Instead of boards surrounding the rink, two-foot-tall snowbanks stand in for boards. The St. Ignace tournament is one of the three largest pond hockey tournaments in North America, said Mark Sposito, Special Events Committee chairman.

“It’s more of a tactical game,” said Scott Milliken, who plays on an 18-and-older team from Ann Arbor called The Super Dudes. “There aren’t boards to play off, so you really have to make sure you play as a team so you move the puck well and execute and score a lot of goals.”

The Super Dudes have played in other pond hockey tournaments in southern Michigan but have decided to play pond hockey exclusively in St. Ignace, Mr. Milliken said. Downstate tournaments are not as competitive and can be less reliable because of varying weather, he said.

“Beyond the reasoning of the weather, the competitiveness of the tournament in the U.P. is what really draws us here, and the organization and the structure behind it, the planning and commitment of the volunteers behind the scenes that put together the event,” he said. “It’s so well organized in comparison to other events, it drew us here to make that one our regular trip.”

The Super Dudes usually come up Thursday night and enjoy the long weekend at the tournament. Generally, family and friends stay home.

“We try to keep it to a men’s event,” Mr. Milliken said. “Maybe when we get to the Over 40 league we’ll do something like” inviting family members along.

For Mr. Nicks, a women’s team from the Detroit area, the weekend is different.

“Actually, it’s a girls’ weekend for us,” said Angie Bernath, team captain. The seven women share a vehicle and a single motel room.

“It’s a blast. It is a blast,” she said.

Ms. Bernath said the scenery keeps her, and her team, coming back.

“I love going over the [Mackinac] Bridge. It’s beautiful. I love the U.P. I love going up there,” she said.

The weather doesn’t faze Ms. Bernath, who plays in two hockey leagues in Detroit, in addition to coaching girls.

“One of the years it was sleety when we were playing, and the wind was blowing in your face,” she said. “That was harsh, but you just put on the thermals and the hoodies and get your hand warmers and skate warmers going.”

Johan Nilsson of Santa Barbara, California, said he loves the February weather here.

“It’s great. Michigan winter’s the real thing. Ice, snow, wind, cold temperatures – it’s thrilling. I love it,” he said.

Mr. Nilsson is the only member of the Grand Haven Gringos not from Grand Haven – the group of Great Lakes surfers who make up the team met him while on a surf trip to Costa Rica. They heard about the tournament from a friend who owns a St. Ignace motel and mentioned it to Mr. Nilsson, who is of Swedish ancestry and grew up playing roller hockey in California weather.

“[Mr. Nilsson] told me, ‘Dude, you have got to make sure we do this tournament,’” Team Captain Ben Braymer said.

The Michigan members of the team were familiar with St. Ignace, having stopped here on their way to Lake Superior or northern Lake Michigan to surf, and they enjoy the pond hockey break in the winter lull.

“Mid-winter, when we haven’t surfed in a while and everything is kind of shut down, to go back to St. Ignace and have it be like a big hockey weekend was a big plus,” he said. “We had the best time of our lives. We’re going to vow that we’re going to make it to the tournament every year, no matter what.”

The Grand Haven Gringos, noted for their bright Latin attire and signature sombreros, enjoy their time socializing and playing hockey.

“Pond hockey sort of resembles a surf trip in a way,” Mr. Nilsson said. “You party hard all night long, then wake up the next morning and surf or play pond hockey, then do it all over again.”

Mr. Braymer calls the Grand Haven Gringos “a true pond hockey team” because they do not play together in a men’s hockey league but are rather a tightknit group of friends.

“Our wives are friends,” he said. “We spend a lot of time together doing other things, and hockey happens to be one of our passions.”

“We’re getting into this whole pond hockey lifestyle, where people get into it and it’s not just about the hockey but about your costume and how you carry yourself out on the town that night,” he said.

Mr. Nilsson said his teammates have taken to calling him the Swedish Roller Ringer – he doesn’t have much experience playing hockey, especially ice hockey, but he was able to score some goals and help his team.

“I play hockey once a year, at pond hockey,” he said.

Inexperience didn’t deter players from Kentucky, either. Don Rogers directs the Never Ever program with the Louisville Adult Hockey Players Association, which is geared toward adults who are new to the game.

“Most of the players coming to this are beginning hockey players. We didn’t win too many games last year and we may have the same issue this year,” Mr. Rogers said. “We don’t come there to win. We just come for the fellowship and just being around a super event.”

At 66 years old, Eddie Cunningham is excited about prospect of being the oldest player on the ice.

“My tagline now is not only will I be the oldest player out there, but I think there’s a possibility I might be the coldest player,” he said.

He didn’t come with the Kentucky teams last year because of the weather.

“A group went up last year from Louisville, and I said I didn’t want to go because it was Michigan and it was February and it was too far north and it was cold,” Mr. Cunningham said.

After his teammates gave him a hard time last year, Mr. Cunningham’s wife signed him up this year.

“My wife just looked at Don Rogers and said, ‘Sure, we’ll go,’” he said. “Then it was too late. There was no way I could say no.”

Mr. Cunningham said he’s “absolutely” looking forward to playing hockey with his friends at this year’s tournament.

“It’s a great sport. It’s a tremendous amount of exercise of course, especially for a guy my age. But what I like most about it is the people I play the game with. They’re just really an extraordinary and fun group of people that bring the right attitude to the ice,” he said. “They become more than just teammates. They become friends.”

The Kentuckians took advantage of their time in the Upper Peninsula last year, visiting Tahquamenon Falls and stocking up on whitefish. When they returned home, they emptied their coolers and had whitefish parties.

“It’s just a quaint little town with so much to do that I can’t imagine any other pond hockey tournament being more fun than in St. Ignace,” Mr. Rogers said.