Lang’s hockey cathedral draws attention from around the world

Last week, chances are you didn’t know where the Village of Lang was located or much about it.

But thanks to the era of social media, the village of fewer than 200 people could now be considered home to one of the most popular “must-see” destinations in the hockey world.

It could almost be called the most unknown cathedral in the hockey world.

Earlier this week, someone skating at the arena in Lang posted a video of two men walking down some steps to reach the ice surface so they could play in their men’s league game.

In the video, the stairs had to be lowered through a pulley system, which wasn’t working as planned, so it nearly knocked the two men off the stairs as they were trying to force the staircase onto the ice.

I play here sometimes. https://t.co/U2lSkXDmkZ pic.twitter.com/ndSaGxg3br

— Mike Foley (@mikefoleyfarms1) January 30, 2023

The video raised eyebrows and people were stunned by the fact the players had to take stairs from the top of the building to the ice surface. It’s something you almost never see in a hockey rink.

Shout out to the rink in Lang, SK! -24 outside but probably a nice and balmy -23 inside the barn 😅 pic.twitter.com/4QnTJxBlIp

— Braden Konschuh (@the_konch) January 28, 2023

It turns out, the rink that’s gone viral just turned 95 last month and it has been like that forever.

Ray Beck is one of many people who has been involved with the Lang rink for pretty well his entire life. He first started skating on the ice in 1958. He also happens to be the father of Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck.

He says four generations of his family learned to skate on the famous sheet of ice.

“The rink was built in 1928. It was state of the art in 1928. My dad was 15 years old and he came in here for the official opening back on Jan. 1 of 1929. Our family has been skating in here every year since,” he explained.

The rink is a sense of pride for the community and is likely one of the oldest in the country.

Beck mentioned that when he was a kid, the rink was the place to be.

“Myself personally, I grew up here,” he said. “The winters were spent here because we didn’t have anything else.”

“My family’s been here forever. We lived (at the rink) in the winter time,” added Mike Saip, who’s also very involved in the operations of the rink. “On Christmas, you couldn’t wait to get gifts open and come down here and blast pucks around.”

The old-school rink has everything you could think of when you think of classic old arenas.

The floor and stands are made out of wood, some spectators have to watch the game right on top of the benches, and the ice and lines are all done by hand by volunteers. It’s cold and the goal judge boxes — perched above the ice surface — are still intact.

When you walk into the rink and hang a left, you’re greeted with what is a dressing room for public skating and also some stands that were built by hand so spectators could watch their kids skate.

In 2023, there is Plexiglas separating the stands from the elements and a nice furnace to keep everybody warm, but Beck and Saip both said it wasn’t always like that.

“(The Plexiglas) used to have chicken wire over top of natural real glass. You had to have the furnace cranked pretty good to keep warm,” said Saip.

“Some of the older gentlemen used to sit down here and watch all the games through that chicken wire. They then decided, ‘Let’s fix this up,’ so all the windows were donated by the individuals who sat in here,” Beck explained.

In the corner of the lower bowl stands is where the famous Zamboni sits. It was likely last upgraded in the 1980s, according to Beck.

The ice-cleaning apparatus used at the Lang rink. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

But it still works fine to keep the ice nice and crisp.

“There’s a fill pipe (out by the scorer’s box) and we drop the hot water in (the resurfacing machine) there and we put the rag on and we drag it around and finish off the flood,” said Saip, who noted his grandfather also built the contraption.

After taking a look at the warm viewing area, Beck and Saip were able to walk through a door that was tightly shut. It was tightly shut so the rink and ice could stay nice and cold.

Walking into the rink, it felt as cold as it did outside — and it was. A thermometer read it was about -15 C inside the rink, which is normal according to Beck.

“One of the caretakers one time said it was so cold inside the rink he had to go outside and warm his toes,” Beck laughed. “It was 30 below!”

Beck then spoke about the trusses keeping the wood stands up on top of the player benches.

The hallways at the Lang rink. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

“These beams (inside the arena) came in on the train in the late 1920s. They’ve been rebuilt with metal, so they’re really solid,” said Beck. “And the rafters, they must’ve built them on the ground and lifted them up somehow. I don’t know how they got them up there in 1928.”

Upstairs, there are two benches for spectators to sit on, but most of it is standing room only.

Upstairs is where the dressing rooms are, which have been renovated and are quite spacious compared to back in the day.

One of the dressing rooms at the Lang rink. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

The rink was home to several hockey clubs. The Notre Dame Hounds called the rink in Lang their home in the 1940s and the local senior A team, the Lang Knights, played their games in the arena.

For Knights playoff games, the place was jam-packed on some nights, according to Saip.

“We played Lucky Lake (in the playoffs) and this place was so full, (spectators) were sitting on top of the dressing rooms,” Saip said. “There was no room. You were hoping the fire marshal wouldn’t come. Our capacity limit was a little over the top.”

While the stairs to and from the dressing room from the arena might be the coolest feature, the most unique feature has to be the goal judges’ boxes.

One of the boxes is placed in front of the dressing rooms and hangs above one of the nets with a perfect view. The other, however, is located above the garage door and the only way to get up there is by using a ladder.

There was also no protection for the goal judges and they were lucky if a space heater was available.

“That’s not a safe place to be. You have to be aware,” Beck laughed.

The goal judge’s perch at the Lang rink. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

The penalty boxes were also side by side, with nothing keeping players on either team separated from each other.

Beck did note, though, that he doesn’t recall there being many major injuries involving spectators who were watching the games. He says that’s because if you were inside the arena, you had to be aware of the play going on.

Despite almost being 100 years old, the rink still works well for 2023.

It now mostly plays host to under-nine hockey games, as well as public skating sessions and shinny.

The rink is owned by the community and members there volunteer their time to keep the rink updated.

They don’t hire workers to fix their rink; people step up and help where they can.

“We look more to maintain than to upgrade,” said Saip.

They do this because they know if the rink goes, it’s not coming back.

“You’ve got to keep this one as long as you can,” said Beck.

Year-round, the rink depends on donations through memberships and money from grants to keep things going, as well as donations from sponsors.

Over recent days, a GoFundMe page has resurfaced from a couple years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Since that page has resurfaced, it’s seen donations come in from as far as Austria.

“(The rink) has been really good for getting sponsors. All of the major projects are pretty well-funded by the big corporations now,” Beck explained. “Now becoming 100 pretty soon, there’s not too many buildings like this.

“I’m pretty sure that there’s going to be more available because it’s good advertising for them.”

“It has been the community and surrounding areas supporting the rink,” Saip added.

While a lot of people now know about the rink, those who live there think it’s a great thing for the community.

“I think it would be awesome if the ice surface could be used more,” Beck said. “I hate to see it not being utilized. We have the manpower and staffing and I’d love to see a little bit more action here. I really hope we can get some more traction.”

Today, I got to check out one of the oldest rinks in the world located in Lang, Saskatchewan. (45 minutes south east of Regina)

Here's a thread of the 95-year-old rink. @CJMENews @CKOMNews pic.twitter.com/9gdGA0gVPT

— Shane (@ShaneC06) February 1, 2023