rip, pond hockey?

This is depressing to me, and I wasn't even fortunate enough to live in a place where pond hockey was a possibility.  As a hockey fan, though, you understand the significant role pond hockey plays (played?) in the development of many of the game's best. 

Elegy for a Vanishing Pastime
17 February 2008
Almost no one skates outdoors in New England anymore. People seldom do it even in Canada or Minnesota. For hockey players the indoor area has long replaced the backyard rink or the frozen prairie slough as the incubator of future talent, and even in those northerly climes skatable outdoor ice has become an uncertain commodity. Around here it’s like oil, so scarce that its value goes up every year.