Six degrees on Thursday, 48 degrees today. Should I tell you about our sister site, backyard-reflecting-pool.com? Nah, let’s just check out this week’s Puckdrop.

• Sick of playing bubble hockey in your basement with your buddies? Hop a plane to Buffalo and battle the best in the world at the 2010 World Bubble Hockey Championships, taking place December 27th and 28th at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Bubble hockey championships? Are you laughing? The guy who brings home the biggest chunk of the $20,000 prize probably will be too. The Championships are part of the Hockey Towne USA FanFest, a three-day event featuring interactive games, vendors, autographs, and more. For more information, check out the official website, http://hockeytowneusa.com.
• The people who edit the Guinness Book of World Records have been busy lately. After rewriting the entry for “largest live crowd for a hockey game” back in May when 77,000 people watched the opening game of the IIHF World Championships in Germany, they had to get busy with the white out when over 113,000 people witnessed the University of Michigan top Michigan State at Michigan Stadium this past Saturday. Dubbed The Big Chill at the Big House, the game was a follow-up to the 2001 Cold War game, played between the same two teams at MSU’s Spartan Stadium. We in the hockey community owe a debt of gratitude to these two schools, as the Cold War is regarded as the catalyst for the growth of outdoor hockey events in the last 10 years. Without that 2001 game, who knows if the Heritage Classic or Winter Classic even exist.
• Our pond hockey page is getting a lot of love lately, with visitors from as far away as Russia, Australia, and Poland checking out our list of purist events. And the list just keeps on growing. We’ve added three events today alone, bringing our total to 68 pond hockey tournaments. The latest adds are the Lapeer Optimist Pond Hockey Tournament in Lapeer, MI; the Southern Minnesota Pond Hockey Championships in Fairmont, MN; and the Mites to Men Pond Hockey Tournament in Escanaba, MI. Which events are you playing in? Check ’em all out here.
• For those of you in New England, this Saturday, December 18th, is Restore Hockey Day at the TD Garden, as the Boston Bruins take on the Washington Capitals. Bring your used gear to the game, buy some 50/50 tickets, and help Restore get the equipment into the hands of kids who can use it. Restore’s full schedule of equipment drives can be found here.
• Finally, a quick trivia contest with a nod to the record-breaking college games above. The 2001 Cold War game featured a number of current NHL players, most notably the Michigan State goaltender and a speedy Michigan sniper who potted two of Michigan’s three goals that day. Name these two players. Need a hint? The pair currently play in the same division in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. To enter, send your guess to joe@backyard-hockey.com by Sunday, December 19. I’ll pick a random name from all correct entries and send that person a free Backyard-Hockey.com bumper sticker.