 In addition, because there are no protective barriers behind the goal to contain high errant shots, the top of the goal is lower, in fact only slightly taller than the width of a puck, and the game does not have a formal goalie.Because of these differences, pond hockey places more emphasis on skating and puckhandling ability and less on shooting and checking.Non-competitive pond hockey is played with improvised goals, rinks of a variety of sizes, and no boards or snow barriers.