ST. IGNACE, MI -- Good news for more than one-thousand hockey players who made the trip to Northern Michigan this weekend: despite warmer temperatures, it's game on!

The UP Pond Hockey Tournament will face off at Chain Lake, just north of St. Ignace.

160 teams will take the ice this weekend on one of the many rinks.

The tournament usually plays on the Lake Huron ice, but this year, it just wasn't there.

"Because of the current condition and the wind, it was starting to erode it. We had 6-8 inches and then we had 4-6, so we just said no, there was an area that we probably could have pulled it off, 6 inches of ice, it was only up to your knees, but this is a lot safer," said James DeKeyser, President of the St. Ignace Visitor's Bureau.

DeKeyser says this weekend's tournament is a huge economical boost to the region and because of the already slow snowmobile season, it would have been devastating to have to cancel it.

Games run through Sunday, when teams play for the championship.