January 29, 2021
When you grew up, did you go to the ODR (Outdoor Rink)? Did you grab your skates and stick and head down to the community rink to meet up with your buds? I know I did. And once I became a father, I spent hours working in the backyard in freezing temperatures making an ODR for my kids. This is truly a Canadian past time. Whether it is to promote outdoor activities, or to create the next Wayne Gretzky, many parents have done the same thing.
Most communities maintain an ODR throughout the winter. So, if your backyard is not big enough or you are lazy, you can go a few blocks to the community ODR. Once you get serious about this, you start looking for other ODR’s that are better:
Lights for the nighttime play
proximity to an indoor rink so the Zamboni can clean the ice regularly
better or higher boards so you don’t go chasing your puck all the time.
Change rooms so you can warm up on those cold nights
I can only speak for my kids, but the ODR has become one of the great past times for them. They have developed a love for hockey. Their friendships have mostly developed on the ice and they relax by going for a skate. Their Social network is built on the introduction to hockey and the ODR at a young age. Their hockey gear is always in their cars, so they are always prepared. You never know when a hockey game will break out.
Now a days, you can buy a back yard hockey rink kit. There are many to chose from. This makes the addition of an ODR to your winter play much easier.
Some Canadians have taken the ODR to extremes. Here a few examples:
If the kids are going to skate on it, they need to help maintain it 😊
I found a website – BarDown.com which deals with hockey related topics. From this site, here are unwritten rules of the ODR
No slap shots
Come on. This is the simplest rule, yet the one that we find to be the most frequently broken. It seems like every week someone comes onto the ice and takes a Subban-style full wind up slapper. Even if it’s on a breakaway, do you want to be the guy that shot a puck off a post and hit someone in the face? Work on your snapper because it could surely use some attention.
Random teams
We get that you’re there with your friends, but you know what’s even more fun than teaming up against a bunch of local scrubs? Playing against each other and getting some bragging rights. Everybody puts their sticks in the middle at the beginning of the game and you play to a number of goals or posts. Once that number is hit, re-shuffle the teams.
If you need to play on the same team as each other, sign up for a beer league team.
If you shot it, you get it
Nobody likes this one, but we can all agree that it’s fair if applied uniformly. If you shoot a puck and it hits a post/stick/rut and goes twenty feet outside of the rink, you have to go get it. Take a lap.
Let breakaways happen
If someone is 15 feet behind any player and on a breakaway, let him have it. We’re all here for the highlights anyways. There’s no need to waste your energy trying to catch him and risking your own safety and his. This is never going to be the best ice and you don’t want to send someone flying into the boards like McDavid.
Save that energy for playing some good defence when you’re actually in a good position to do so. We’re all for some good old fashion grinding out there, but a breakaway is not the place to find your Game 7 mentality.
EXCEPTION: If you’re in a next goal/post scenario, all bets are off.
Let the kids/beginners play
Listen, you have to do this. We know the quality of the hockey might not be as high and the game will go a little slower at times, but these rinks are for recreational fun. It’s not always going to be kids, because a lot of them will dangle you nowadays anyways, but just try to get everyone involved and make it a good experience.
That means not just letting them play but passing the puck too.
We want to keep people coming back to these games so more people can fall in love with the game we have so much fun playing. For the greater good!
Last group on the ice shovels it
This is something that might feel like the last thing you want to do on a frigid night after a couple hours of hockey, but if everybody shovels the ice after their done, it makes it much easier for everyone involved. This goes for the last people for the night especially because it helps out the volunteers who may have to flood the ice after you’re done.
These things are usually free, so the least you could do is pick up a shovel every once in a while.
Goalies switch
This is for when there’s only one goalie. Everybody knows that shooting on a goalie is more fun. So, set a limit, whether it’s three or five posts, have the goalie skate to the other end and give the other team some licks.
What other rules are there? Put them in the comment section
If you want to be a hockey player, you need to watch this YouTube Video. It explains it all
That’s is for now. Let’s hear what you have to say.
Ronco 😊
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