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Photos: Pond hockey arrives in Vancouver as region hit with abnormally cold weather

Ice hockey has arrived in Kitsilano
Brendan Kergin
Brendan Kergin

While ice hockey is Canada's official winter sport, there are few opportunities to play it outside in Vancouver.

However, with a blast of Arctic air, ponds and puddles around Vancouver turned into impromptu ice rinks. From Jericho Park in Kitsilano to construction sites in East Vancouver, people were strapping on skates to spend some time outside on the ice.

The cold weather is expected to end shortly, but over the weekend, after temperatures fell as low as -13.7 C. This meant thick ice formed on fresh water throughout the region. Normally this time of year Vancouver sits around the freezing mark, meaning ice can form, but it's not normally thick enough to skate on.

On top of that, the weather has been sunny and clear, which meant it was a nice day to be outside.

Bozidara Hrindova and Jiri Stetka live in Kitsilano and headed over to Jericho Park where their son Simon, who's three-and-a-half years old, got his first skating lesson.

"We come here pretty often," says Hrindova. "It's rare it's frozen."

Nearby a group was playing hockey wearing Canucks, Senators, Team Canada, and other jerseys.

Elsewhere one man was spotted wearing a Charlestown Chiefs from the movie Slap Shot while skating at a construction site.

And in Vanier Park another group gathered for a game of shinny.

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