Heading to the ODR’s: a look at Saskatchewan’s backyard rink builds

Saskatchewan’s hockey community may have some free time on its hands following the province’s new restrictions Wednesday.

Hockey will be done officially Thursday at midnight, with the exception of small practices, until 2021.

With the extra time, we were wondering if you’ve taken to the outdoor rinks, or at least attempting to build a separate sheet of ice from the confines of your own backyard.

With the help of Twitter, we were able to take a look at some of Saskatchewan’s outdoor rinks:

Hey Saskatchewan!

🥅 I’m looking to see your homemade backyard rink set-ups this winter for a feature on @CKOMNews 🥅

Please post your photos below 👇🏼 and if you’d like to chat about your ODR, feel free to email me at blang@rawlco.com or shoot me a DM! #yxe #yqr #Sask

— Brady Lang (@BradyLangSK) November 25, 2020

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An aerial shot of Kelly Baillargeon's rink near Edam. (Kelly Baillargeon/Twitter)

Kelly Baillargeon, Edam

“Growing up, we always had a rink built in the backyard. Now we live in the same farmyard I grew up in. And I think I’ve been doing it for four, five years here now and it just kinda seems to get bigger every year.”

Baillargeon said it was just a few winters ago when he and his family decided to build a warm-up shack, which sits right beside his rink.

“It saves a lot of room in the garage and not having to walk out with skates on,” he explained.

“There’s going to be a lot more spare time during the week and on the weekends… we’ll have to start using our own rink or finding stuff to do out here.”

Baillargeon did have a tip for those looking to get into building their own outdoor, backyard rinks.

“Make sure the ground is level. That’s probably the biggest thing. Especially if you start making it a bit bigger. It being an inch or two out in a few areas can make for a lot of extra time in flooding and a lot more water,” he said.

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Ty Lloyd, Saskatoon

2020 wasn’t the first time Lloyd tried to build a rink in his backyard, but it’s the first year his kids were able to take some strides a few feet from their back steps.

He said his first attempt in 2019 didn’t go well.

“There’s a fair bit of slope in our yard, on the shallow end it was maybe four inches of ice but on the deep side, it was more like two feet. Water is heavy and I didn’t put the proper effort into the carpentry so it ended up falling over a few times as I was filling it,” he said, before explaining that he decided to stop his 2019 edition early on.

“I’ve been thinking about this (year’s rink) pretty much since the last one. We did change the location in the yard… The big thing that I put into it this year was a lot more effort into stronger boards on the deeper side with good bracing.

“As my son’s hockey coach told me, ‘there’s something new that you learn every year when you build a rink.’”

Just like Baillargeon, Lloyd has some tips for new rink builders.

“Plan ahead, for sure. There are lots of kits available online… I opted for plywood and some 2 x 4 construction… A white tarp or clear poly is better than something with colour because it’ll melt your ice underneath,” he said.

“Have fun, it was a fun process. All the other hockey dads that I know (share) their pictures and talk about their rinks.”

Lloyd said his kids have only been able to hit the ice a few times, he just finished the build under a week ago.

Lloyd and Baillargeon weren’t the only two to show off their backyard rinks.

Scroll through to see more: