The off-season...

Board Work
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

I had procrastinated enough... time to get some work done on the boards. Laura and I went out to Pearl and each board received a frontal white coat, or a back coat of green preservative. I'll be going out in another week to do the other side of the boards... and I'm also going to paint the bottom 8"'s of the boards a nice bright yellow... the same as the "kick plates" on NHL boards.

See, who says you can't do anything in the summer?

Soccer goal!

Soccer goal
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy

With hockey season now caput for a few more months, I finally got around to erecting the soccer goal for Hannah... I did it though, with consideration of the hockey rink.

the 4x4's (10') are sunk exactly 16' feet apart. While a tad smaller than the regulation goal for her age group, the 16' works perfectly with the hockey rink in the fall. 16' just happens to be the exact width of the end boards. So these 4x4's will anchor the ends of those boards into place... AND, I'm going to put halogen lights on the top as well.

Yay. So even in the "heat' of the spring, we can still look forward to our hockey rink this winter!

Deconstruction!

Deconstruciton
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy.

It's neat how something that took you 4 to 6 hours to assemble and put up can be taken down in under half an hour.

But there we were... Jay and I and my trusty drill... and *POOF*

All the boards were down. I did number them to hopefully make reassembly a breeze next fall. Of course, we know that won't really go as planned...

Mr. Ducky!

Mr. Ducky!
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy.

Mr. Ducky likes the water!

Sometimes it's hard to believe that just last week we were playing hockey on this surface.

Have fun Mr. Ducky! But come November you'd best be off....

THIS IS HOCKEY COUNTRY!

"That'ssssss all folks!"

Last Skate of 2006/2007
Originally uploaded by Big Swede Guy.

A beautiful, warm Saturday afternoon allowed us a final skate on the old ice rink before it melted. A few of the girls off of Hannah's hockey team dropped by for a few hours to shoot some pucks around the rink.

2 days prior to this, it was cold enough during the night (-10c to -20c) that I was able to get two solid floodings in - which provided a pretty decent ice surface for Saturdays skate. Even though the temp Saturday was about +5C or so (the girls were taking off coats because they were too warm) the ice held up for about 3 hours. By the end of it though, it was pretty chewed up, and one end had become a wading pool.

In the end, goals were scored... saves were made, and smiles were had by all. I'm glad we were able to say goodbye to the rink in a more fitting fashion.

Last night we had a pretty good thunder shower, with temps well above freezing. Put a fork in it, we're done for the season.

Big thanks to Jeff, Tony, Laura and Jay for helping out with the rink this year. Big plans for the summer and next fall for next year. I can hardly wait!

See you then!

Brief but Cold

The rink was in horrid shape. The far end was slush the other day... But thanks to a full solid 24 hrs of -18C, it has all refrozen. Looking at the forecast, (showing highs of -2C and lows around -10c for the next two days) I decided to flood once more in an attempt to have one final day of skating.

I checked this morning, and the ice was actually skatable again. Yay!

Hopefully it stays that way until Saturday when we go to use it... I'm going to invite some of the girls over from Hannah's hockey team if they're around.

"I'm meeeeeeelting..."

Part of my yard is under water... This would be the area right around my shed, and the far end of my rink. About a foot in some places, thanks to the warm temperatures the last 3 or 4 days.

It looks like it might get a bit cooler over the weekend - but I fear too much ice will be lost by then to salvage anything. I may be wrong, cross your fingers. Maybe I can get one more skate in Saturday afternoon...