by SARAH MUSGRAVE

It was about beer caps, not salary caps. There were no referees, no face-offs, no helmets, no boards, no goalies, no painted lines, no heated dressing rooms for spoiled players and no seats for cashgouged fans. For anyone sick of NHL noodling, last weekend's nofrills, big-chills, all-thrills World Pond Hockey Championships was just the thing to set the sport straight.

The fourth annual tournament, held Feb. 18 to 20, brought 384 pairs of skates to the tiny timber town of Plaster Rock (pop: 1,200) in northwestern New Brunswick. Two Montreal- area outfits, the Maroons and the Trappers, along with 94 foursomes from places as far away as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Great Britain, states from Minnesota to California to Florida, and every Canadian province except Alberta, paid $400 a team for the pleasure of an international pickup match.

"It brings the game back to what it should be about, it goes back to the roots," Montreal Maroon Marc Tanguay says. "Growing up in Montreal, hockey was always in an outdoor rink in a park. At 25, I have as much fun as I did at 10 years old."

The difference is, in the adult version you can skate into the beer tent after a game, or pop open a cool one between periods.

Starting on Friday evening, 24 games were played simultaneously on Roulston Lake, which was cleared to create ice surfaces about three-quarters the size of a regulation rink. "As good as the ice is, it tends to get worn down, with all sorts of holes and cracks," Tanguay notes. Games had two 15-minute periods of non-stop action, with nets of normal width but reduced height. Weather (minus 20 with 30 km/hour gusting winds) and outdoor conditions added to the challenge.

"If the puck winds up in a snowbank, the first player to dig it out gets to go with it," explains Trapper captain Dave Smrta, adding that a volunteer holding a bucket of pucks was on hand to award goals for penalties. "It's really about a good time, the camaraderie is what's so great."

Each team was guaranteed a minimum of five games, up to 10 if they advanced to the playoffs. Locals took the medal rounds off this time, however, as last year's winners the Boston Danglers (all Canadian expats) again took home a wooden replica of the Stanley Cup.

The Maroons had a personal connection to Plaster Rock: it's the hometown of team captain David and brother/teammate William Burridge's father, and Grandma Burridge still lives there. "We got her a jersey, so she could be our number one fan!" Tanguay says.

Smrta describes the village as "incredibly super-friendly." Last year, the town's bank manager filled in for a teammate who cancelled; this year it was an area university student. "Which was great because we got local fans at our games!" he points out.

Not surprisingly, after playing with snow stinging their faces, frozen toes and a seven-hour road trip home, these guys are fed up with pro-league season shenanigans. "It's too bad, I mean, when it comes down to it, it's a sport," Smrta muses. "I know a bunch of guys who'd gladly replace any of those players for one-10th of the price." But the upside is that the pond hockey championships got more attention, Tanguay notes. "The competition is getting stronger. It really is becoming a world-class event."