Saturday, volunteers were out on Lake Nokomis, assembling boards to partition off 25 ice rinks in time for next weekend.

It takes 112 18-inch boards to connect one rink and just as many volunteers to get the job done.

Fred Haberman is the man behind the idea for the tournament.

"I had a backyard rink and played with three to eight-year-old kids and thought it’d be great if all of Minnesota could come together and play this phenomenal sport," Haberman said.

This is only the third year of the tournament, with 225 teams competing from 34 states, Canada and the United Kingdom.

"You’re going to see competitive hockey, division-one hockey players, NHLers, former players, all trying to win the gold metal," Haberman said.

The public is welcome to come out and watch the games. This year, there are five female teams. The first game starts at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning at Lake Nokomis. The championship game is Sunday night.