"Spongee" or Sponge Hockey is a cult sport played almost exclusively in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 by thousands of players in dozens of leagues. It gets its name from the puck that is used: instead of the hard vulcanized rubber puck that is used in regular hockey, a soft sponge puck

Puck (sports)

A puck is a disk used in various games serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games. The best-known use of pucks is in ice hockey, a major international sport.- Etymology :The origin of the word "puck" is obscure...

 is used.

Origins

Spongee is an adaptation of road hockey, which has been played everywhere as long as the game of hockey itself. It originated in Winnipeg, Manitoba at River Heights Community Centre, probably in the 50's. Originally, a tennis ball was used, and players wore standard winter boots. The game's appeal was twofold. First, in very cold weather feet in skates are subject to frostbite, whereas boots allowed for much longer exposure. Second, skating skills were not required, so poor, or non-skaters could play. The spongee puck originated when someone took a red, white and blue ball and cut out the center, leaving a rude approximation of a standard hockey puck.

A controversy in one of the leagues was the subject of a humorous, but true documentary, "Spongee: Checks Lies and Videotape." which aired on the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

's flagship Sports program, Hockey Day in Canada, in February 2004.

Equipment

It is generally played on outdoor rinks and differs from ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 in a number of significant ways, the most important and obvious being that instead of skates

Ice skate

Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice. They are worn as footwear in many sports, including ice hockey, bandy and figure skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with...

, players wear soft-soled shoes, also called Broomball shoes. Players generally do not wear helmets or padding, except for goalies. Some players wear volleyball knee pads, elbow pads and/or shin pads, and some cut their hockey sticks somewhat longer for spongee than for ice hockey, to allow for greater reach.

Gameplay

Wearing slippery footwear on ice means that game play and strategy and skills are also different than those required in hockey. Players say that the game is much more like a mix between soccer, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and ice hockey. There are usually two twenty-minute halves, although if the temperature and windchill are extreme, teams may have the option of two 15 minutes halves, by mutual agreement.

A non-contact sport

One of the original leagues was the Robertson League, named after its founder, John Robertson, who adapted Spongee hockey and made sure that there is no contact involved. In spongee hockey, icing

Icing (ice hockey)

Icing in ice hockey occurs when a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines, the opposing team's goal line being the last, and the puck remains untouched. It is, however, not icing if the puck is shot from behind the halfway line into the goal, or when the shot must be played by the...

occurs only the last three minutes of the game unless the winning team is shorthanded

Team Composition

Each team can have a maximum of six people playing at a time. You can play in multiples of six, five, four, three or two.
If there are six players against each other, seven are allowed on the ice, having one the goalie. If there is a limited amount of players on a certain team, one player must become the goalie.

Equipment and Uniforms used

Hockey sticks must be safe and can only be used if said so by the referee. No spikes or tacks on the bottom of shoes, only soft-soled rubber shoes are allowed. Broom ball shoes are normally used. Players are not allowed to use any product on the soles of their shoes that would create greater grip on the ice. Goalies are allowed to wear anything necessary when playing their position. Helmets, masks and protective eye wear are recommended. Each team must have the same color uniform with a number written on the back that is visible. The captain must have the letter "C" on front of their jersey. There is only allowed one alternate and he/she has to be identified by the letter "A" on their jersey.

Rules

Only the captain and alternate may talk to the referee while the game is in session for any clarifications.
The goalie must stay in their area, they are not allowed to go past the center. There is absolutely no body checking or any form of physical contact allowed. A warning will be issued if a player has their hockey stick above waist level. Any misuse of the stick including slashing and hooking will not be tolerated. Stepping on the puck is not tolerated only by certain officials who have previously consulted with the doobie brothers.

Penalties

A double minor penalty is a result of six minutes, a minor penalty is a result of three minutes, a major penalty is also six minutes plus a free shot for the other team. Players may not go back and play on the ice unless they served their penalty fully.

Penalty Shot

If one of the players receives three penalties, he/she will be taken out of the game. If a team receives seven penalties it results in a penalty shot for the opposing team. The player who was on the ice while the penalty was taking place will be able to take this shot.

The key

The key is a 20' by 20' marked box in front of the net. A player may not stand in the opposition's key for longer than three seconds. Violations of the key are not called if the puck is in the key, if the offensive team does not have control of the puck, or if the puck is on the opposite side of center.

End Result

If the score is tied at the end of the game, they will have a five minute sudden victory. If the winner is still not determined there will be a shoot out. The first shooters must be different and will participate until a winner is determined. If a winner is still not determined, a one for one shoot out occurs. This means that after the first team shoots, the other team has to match it, or they will automatically lose.

Notable Players

Three of the most notable players in spongee history all play for a team called The Bloody Fists of Revolution. Kevin Hilder, Chris Walstra and David Silva have scored over 2000 points in a 9 year career (combined).

Jeff Dzikowicz - AKA ALL TIME - is the greatest player in spongee history. Often referred to as a the Wayne Gretzky of Spongee for his scoring prowess. He has won every conceivable spongee championship, and has amassed more points than any other player in the game.

Rudy Loepp - AKA THE ICON - The greatest pure goal scorer in the game. Known to be sent from the spongee gods to play the game, this un-athletic character has the best hands in the world around the net.

Fred "Fisherman's Friend" Penner - AKA GREASE IN THE CREASE - The dirtiest player in spongee history (in both playstyle and personal hygiene). He is the only player to have more penalty minutes than ice time, and is also the only player who has removed his spongee shoe and beaten another player with it. His career PTPG (punches thrown per game) is 5.65.

Mark Leitch-AKA THE STALKER- Although he does not score very often, Mark is most famous for hanging around community clubs hours before and after games watching, and writing down stats. He will often ask players from other teams if they want to order pizza with him.

Phil "I'm Sorry" Delaney-AKA-NO TUQUE- Phil is the last player in spongee history to not wear a tuque. It does not matter if it is -50 Phil will refuse to wear a tuque explaining "I get too hot". Phil is most famous for saying "I'm Sorry" to players on his own team, or even the opposistion when he steals the puck from them.

Brian "Hopper" Hopkins-AKA-HOPPER-Hopper is a member of the Legion Of Doom Spongee team. Hopper has the highest PDPG (Pre Drinks Per Game) ratio in Spongee history. Hopper has one of the hardest slap shots in history but he is most famous for his one liners. Some are "When in doubt....Pull out", "That Kenny, he goes 110%". Hopper is also well known for booking trips to Mexico during Playoffs, yet he books his return time for the finals so he can get all the glory of winning the championship with Legion of Doom. Hopper also has an obsession with cats.

Notable Teams

Tumbleweeds

One of the most notable teams in spongee history is the Tumbleweeds. Three leagues and three decades ago, the Tumbleweeds laced up the broom ball shoes for the first time and played their first league game. It was 32 years ago the Tumbleweeds started league play in the Manitoba Sponge Hockey association, ((M.S.H.A.)now Canford Sports), at Sir John Franklin Community Club. Over the next 24 years Tumbleweeds played in the Canford Sponge Hockey League, (1978–2002). The Tumbleweeds moved to the Sponge Puck Hockey League, (Old Ex), for the 2002-2003 season and remained at Old Ex until 2007. The Tumbleweeds won their first Championships at Old Ex in 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. In 2007 Old Ex ceased operations. The Tumbleweeds were with out a home. For the 2007-2008 season the Tumbleweeds joined the Kildonan Spongee League, (K.S.L.), where they continue to play against such teams as The Bloody Fists of Revolution. Since joining the K.S.L. the Tumbleweeds won championships in 2007-2008, (Tumbleweeds 30th anniversary), and also in 2008-2009. Now into their 4th decade there are two original Tumbleweeds still playing to this day, Cam Currie and Tom "Red Pants" McMahon. Over the last 32 years the Tumbleweeds have 28 players as alumni and a current roster of 15. The Legion of Doom has never defeated the Tumbleweeds, but if they played each other, Legion of Doom would beat them like a coed team filled with red headed step children. The Tumbleweeds had a successful 2010-2011 season finishing with 10 wins and 4 losses and were ranked 2nd in the K.S.L's Men's 3rd division. One of the regular season Hi-lites was Dave "New Shoes" Brennenstuhl and Rich "Orange Pants" Normadeau finishing in the top 30 for stats. The Tumbleweeds have set up their own network on YouTube. The YouTube link is Reference (8).

Legion of Doom

Legion of Doom is one of the most successful teams in Spongee history. They formed in 1994 and have won the league championship 7 times.