Refrigerated arena-quality ice, full boards, goal creases and three heated dressing rooms. Open December 1 to April 1.
Hamblyshockeyville is a refrigerated sheet, not a flooded lawn. That is the difference between ice that holds through a mild January and ice that turns to soup. Full boards, marked goal creases, lighting good enough to play under after dark, and three heated dressing rooms so nobody laces up in the cold. Pucks are provided. It runs December 1 to April 1.
The refrigeration, the boards and the dressing-room shed are all Peter’s own work — the same trade that puts roofs on Kitchener houses, pointed at a sheet of ice.
Every autumn the pad goes down before the ice does: insulation, then mat after mat of refrigeration tubing rolled out and tied off across the whole surface. That is what holds a hard sheet through a mild January instead of turning to slush.
Each mat is numbered and lands on its own manifold, so a run can be isolated and balanced rather than the whole floor being one guess. It is the unglamorous part, and it is the reason the ice is even end to end.
Peter framed and clad the shed himself in rough cedar — three heated dressing rooms with benches and hooks, and the room where the rink gear lives out the summer. Same hands, same standard.
Want a look at it in person, or a price for an hour on the ice?
Text Peter about the rinkA backyard rink in Kitchener that has had visitors from four continents on it.
Open skates and pickup games run through the season, with neighbours and family on the ice most weeks.
House league, travel and junior-level groups book the sheet for practices and small-group sessions.
Goalie and skills coaches use the ice for one-on-one and small-group work through the winter.
Up for December 1, run hard all winter, down again by April 1 — then built again the next year.
The calendar below is the live booking sheet — 8:00 am to 10:00 pm, December 1 to April 1. Anything blocked out is taken. To book a slot, or to ask what it costs, text Peter.
The rink is in a family backyard, not an arena. These few things keep it that way — please pass them on to everyone in your group before you arrive.
Every skater on the ice, every session — no exceptions for adults.
The rink sits in a family backyard. Anyone drinking is asked to leave.
Keep the puck below knee height. There are houses and windows on all sides.
Groups run back to back, so the next one needs the sheet on time.
Bottles, tape and wrappers go home with the group that brought them.
