And apparently so would Zdeno Chara! :-)

She's a bitch! Last night, we squeezed in one last skate before the weather was turning to crap (again) in Ottawa (so much for the All-Star weekend festivities on the canal). It started to snow last night around 11pm and was supposed to turn to freezing rain (again) over night. It dropped about 3-4 ...

Yesterday was another 8-10cm (3-4in) of snow to be followed by more freezing rain... (Aside: What is with all the freezing rain this year?!). I watched the Sens blow a 2 goal lead to the Bruins (screw you Joe) and decided that I would clear the rink of all the snow before the rain hit. It took me an...

Either she is a member of the Backyard-Hockey forums or she has forgiven me and blessed us with some fantastic upcoming weather. Take a look at this forecast!! All is forgiven - well except for that blip on Monday but we'll get through this together - and just in time for Winterlude in the nation's ...

The missus and I are attending the Sens/Blues game tonight so I decided not to drive 50 minutes to work, 50 minutes back home and then make the same drive to the game so I worked from home. It just so happens that today is also a beautiful sunny day with an afternoon temperature of -5'C (22'F). I'm ...

Never done made pond ice as an adult - just remember shoveling the snow off as a kid and skating. Why wouldn't you address the situation the same way you would address your back yard rink - by using a homeboni or rinkrake? If you are too far from a hose connection, I've heard of people drilling a ho...

Got my PHC Prize Pack in the mail last week... love the toque! Just wish it was cold enough to use it. :-(

I don't know how the rest of you are doing but February has been an awful month for the backyard rink. I have been dealing with +5'C/41'F on and off for the last week and a half. The last decent cold snap was Feb 11-12 and wouldn't you know it, I was laying on the couch that weekend battling bronchi...

Spent the better of the morning and early afternoon clearing the 20cm of snow we got yesterday and scraping it clean down to the ice. I slapped two coats of water onto the base at -6'C (~21'F) to get rid of the rough spots around 2pm - it looks good. Temperatures are supposed to drop to -13'C (~9'F)...

We are expecting 10-20 cm (4-8") of the white stuff over the next two days - followed by balmy +5'C (41F) for Friday and Saturday but dropping back down to -2/-5'C (28-25F) on Sunday and Monday. I'm planning on leaving the snow on the ice for insulation to protect it from the warmer weather. Cl...