A year ago, Mass-resident Steve Pailler was just like you and me. A rinkbuilding dad, he’d schlup the hose out late night, he’d obsess over the conditions and the weather, and quietly and unassumingly do all the things we backyard rinkbuilders do to keep our ice as smooth as possible. Then in early February, Steve, a reader of backyard-hockey.com and frequent contributor on our Facebook page, saw our story about the Warrior ‘Backyard Dynasty’ contest. So he did what many of us did – snapped a pic of the slab he obsessed over, and sent it in.

Two weeks later, he was no longer just an anonymous rinkbuilder. He was Steve P. from North Grafton, MA, the winner of the first-ever Warrior Backyard Dynasty photo contest. His rink, which started out years ago as a small slab using 2×10’s, evolved into a contest-winning 40×90 beauty.

“We were so excited to win last years contest,” says Pailler. “What an honor.” An honor it was, considering the caliber of some of the entries. Steve’s prize for winning first place? An unreal package including 20 Warrior Dynasty sticks, a stick rack, Warrior clothing, pucks, and a puck bag. All told, it was worth north of $5,000.

So, think we can make it two-for-two with backyard-hockey.com readers winning a Warrior contest? Let’s give it a shot.

This year, Warrior has named the contest after their latest release, and thus, the Backyard Battle is on from now until January 21st. The rules are similar to last year:

-Entries may be submitted on this Warrior Facebook page from now until January 21st at midnight.

-Judging (by Warrior) will take place between January 22nd and January 28th. They’ll select 5 US rinks and 5 Canadian rinks to move on to the next round.

-Fan Voting will take place from January 29th to February 4th, with one US rink and one Canadian rink chosen to win the Grand Prize.

Speaking of prizes, they’re pretty unreal. From the Official Rules (which you should really read – they’re mostly in non-legal English):

(1) The Bambini 30-Gallon Backyard Zamboni, five (5) Dynasty AX1 LT OR Dynasty AX1 ST sticks (to be chosen by prize winner at time of the return of the Prize Notification Documents), five (5) pairs Dynasty AX1 Gloves, five (5) Warrior “Fear the Power” jerseys, and five (5) Warrior water bottles, with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of $3,295.

There will be one (1) second prize winner who will win one (1) Dynasty AX1 LT OR Dynasty AX1 ST stick (to be chosen by prize winner at time of the return of the Prize Notification Documents), one (1) pair of Dynasty AX1 Gloves, one (1) Warrior “Fear the Power” jersey, and five (5) Warrior water bottles, with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of $520.

There will be one (1) third prize winner who will win one (1) Dynasty AX1 LT OR Dynasty AX1 ST stick (to be chosen by prize winner at time of the return of the Prize Notification Documents), one (1) Warrior “Fear the Power” jersey, and one (1) Warrior water bottle, with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of $320.

All finalists selected by the judges who do not win a Grand Prize, Second Prize, or Third Prize, a total of six (6) finalists, will win one (1) Dynasty AX1 LT OR Dynasty AX1 ST stick (to be chosen by prize winner at time of the return of the Prize Notification Documents), and one (1) Warrior water bottle with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of $250.

The one (1) Voting Winner who is selected at random from a pool of all entrants who voted during the voting phase will win one (1) Dynasty AX1 LT OR Dynasty AX1 ST stick (to be chosen by prize winner at time of the return of the Prize Notification Documents), one (1) Warrior “Fear the Power” jersey, and one (1) Warrior water bottle, with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of $320.

Not too shabby, if I say so myself. But don’t get too comfy, as the contest ends in just four days. Enter your photos here.

As for Steve, he’s not letting go of his title without a fight. When I asked him what he’d done differently to his rink THIS year, the list sounded like my to-do list for the next ten seasons: a new rinkside deck, a hot tub, a skate sharpener, and a zamboni. Needless to say, Steve is ready for this Battle.