While many may dread the very cold weather of January, the organizer of a local pond hockey tournament says the conditions are ideal for making ice, and he needs a lot of it.

Ray House is getting ready for the second annual Pond Hockey Tournament on the Erie Canal in Fairport. It's two days of hockey, hockey, and more hockey. Both Saturday and Sunday games begin at 8 a.m. and continue through the night with the new lights on the canal.

Everyone from beginners to 50-year-old veterans will have a game to play.

"So, basically, you try to keep the snow off, make sure the cold can dry the ice off a little bit deeper," said House. "Next, so we keep the snow off, then we built the rinks of out of two by sixes, so they are going to be about 150 by 50 feet, so we have 10 rinks set. Then, we start laying really light coats of water, which really makes a nice surface to play on."

Heated tents will be filled with food and drinks for on-lookers. House estimates that one thousand people watched each day of the tournament last year.