Hockey night in Saskatoon: Backyard rink half the size of an NHL one

Jeff Clezy says most people ask the same question when they find out about his backyard skating rink: How big is it?

When he tells them it's about half the size of a regulation NHL rink 90 feet long and 40 feet wide they want to know how much water it took to fill it.

"It's actually not as bad as you would think," said Clezy, who lives in Saskatoon.

"It's about 100 hours or so of water by the time you get it to the point where it's full, just coming out of your standard garden hose."

Top-notch facilities

Clezy's backyard rink in the Willowgrove neighbourhood has all the bells and whistles.

There's a heated garage and warm-up shack, puck boards, night lighting and rubber-coated steps to protect the players' skates.

The rink is mostly for himself, his hockey-loving wife and two children, aged seven and 10.

But it's also used by other children in the neighbourhood and it once hosted players from the Western Hockey League.

Last February, Clezy'sfamily won a competition to host a backyard match withthe Saskatoon Blades. Kids got to meet players andreceived signed jerseys.

"There was a lot of big, big smiles on their faces that day," he said.

"It makes me feel that all those nights standing out by the light, freezing, may have actually been worth it."

Clezy said he tries to improvethe rink every year. This winter, he's adding more lighting and a new set of puck boards with the NHL gold stripe.

He said it's a lot of work but he can't think of a better way to instila Canadian tradition in his family.