As Washington faces blizzard, New Hampshire hockey tournament seeks ice

BOSTON (Reuters) - As the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States braces for a massive blizzard, the organizers of New England's largest pond hockey tournament were forced on Friday to move their event due to a lack of ice.

"Mother Nature's made a decision," said Scott Crowder, commissioner of the New England Pond Hockey Classic, which had been scheduled for Feb. 5-7 on New Hampshire's largest body of water, Lake Winnipesaukee.

Instead, the roughly 1,800 skaters who compete in the tournament will take to the ice on the smaller Lake Waukewan, in Meredith, New Hampshire.

"Our events are dependent on the weather not only during the three-day event but also we're depending on about eight weeks of weather leading up to the event just to set up the ice and freeze it and get to the point that it is safe and sound," said Crowder.

This is the second time in the event's seven-year history that organizers have had to move it due to lack of ice, Crowder said.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Bernadette Baum)