Eric Walker
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  • Well I am not sure what to think with this constant rain all day. I am fairly confident that it is not helping that rink as there is puddles out there… Is it spring already? 🌧️

    → 8:29 PM, Jan 16
  • Well done to these kids braving the cold and putting good use to the outdoor rink late into the night. 🏒

    → 2:27 PM, Dec 23
  • After a late night at the ER it was an early morning to wake up as the Ice Ops crew needed to resurface the ice. 🏒🥅🧊

    Ready for the skaters now!

    → 10:55 AM, Dec 23
  • 2022-2023 Ice Ops update: This weather with the other issue is not looking good for the rink conditions… 🌧️

    → 2:41 PM, Dec 13
  • With the temperature hitting a low of 5°F (-15°C) the rink was making lots of ice last night and has a nice layer on top… 🧊

    → 11:15 AM, Dec 8
  • Flooding Complete: A little over 18hrs of flooding brining my 9th year of this to a close. This year size was 54’ x 32’ and has about 14,041 Gallons (53,151 L) of water. Now I wait for it to freeze and keep my fingers crossed no leaks or sides blow out. 🏒

    → 12:38 PM, Dec 7
  • Now that my city upgraded our water meters and I have an app I can check it with, I realize that my calculation last year was way off. Guess I didn’t know how to read it or something but this year will be much more accurate but also with that much more shocking 😱

    → 12:25 PM, Dec 7
  • Flooding Update: 12 hours in.. things are progressing nicely but at this point we have not covered the base but should in the next hour.

    → 3:46 AM, Dec 7
  • 💦 Still watching water fill my backyard rectangle up and praying there isn’t a leak… Also, testing out the beta status.lol app 😉

    → 1:07 AM, Dec 7
  • Flooding update: 8hrs in and still going well but the ground is not covered yet. Also, some of the snow chucks have been sticking up in the tarp so I am keeping my fingers crossed it won’t tear a hole in it. 🫣💦🏒

    → 11:57 PM, Dec 6
  • Flooding update: 2hrs in and things are progressing nicely as water is touching all of the back wall at this point. No leaks but at some point tonight before this gets too far along I need to put up some support braces 🤨

    → 7:10 PM, Dec 6
  • It’s that time of year again when the air is cold and I am going to pump a lot of water in my backyard that hopefully freezes. Let’s go! 💦🧊🏒

    → 5:10 PM, Dec 6
  • Doesn’t everyone spend a break in their day snow blowing their backyard instead of eating lunch or doing something else important?


    Before


    After… Now we are ready to flood at some point maybe this weekend

    → 3:22 PM, Dec 2
  • It didn’t take me this whole time as I might have ducked out for a quick run but the boards are up. Next up I need some cold weather… Sorry other Minnesota people 🧊 😬

    → 7:50 PM, Nov 26
  • Well.. It is now or never (for this season), if I am putting up the rink today and tomorrow are the days to set the boards up. Let’s go!

    → 11:57 AM, Nov 26
  • Weather is not looking good for someone who didn’t get his hockey boards setup.. I am going to still tell myself there will be warm days ahead in December. 🤨

    Also, this next weeks weather will be a good test on the shed office insulation.

    → 10:27 PM, Nov 16
  • On one of her last days out of school due to COVID she decided to use that time to tear it up on the rink 🏒

    → 10:19 AM, Jan 29
  • Operation “fix the ice” is in full effect today for skating later 🏒

    → 1:41 PM, Jan 22
  • This sweet girl just lights up on ice 🏒. We have so many pictures where she is smiling behind her helmet as she plays 😍

    → 9:10 AM, Jan 11
  • The BEST skating partner! 🏒🐶

    → 9:09 AM, Jan 11
  • My most of the time team of one Maintenance crew finished shoveling the ice for tonight so it would be ready for another day of hockey and skating 🏒

    → 10:25 PM, Dec 29
  • Below 0°F today and it didn’t stop these kids from getting out on the ice to play a little hockey 🏒🥶

    → 9:46 PM, Dec 29
  • Even after a busy day of presents, food, and inside fun the kids wanted to get outside to do some night skating now that everything is solid again 🏒

    → 12:55 AM, Dec 26
  • Rink is open, and the fire is going… 🏒

    → 10:36 PM, Dec 23
  • Finally finished up flooding for my 8th year of doing this at 4am for a total time of 18 hrs. That equated to about 1484 Gallons (5618 L). Now we wait for it to freeze but this morning as you can see there is already a thin sheet of ice on it.

    → 9:44 AM, Dec 17
  • 13 hours in and the rink is full. Now I need to fill the whole thing up a couple more inches to be skateable. 🏒

    → 11:46 PM, Dec 16
  • 9 hours in to flooding and it still hasn’t covered the high side of the rink 😆. Also, the temperature keeps dropping and we are at 18°F now 👍

    → 8:03 PM, Dec 16
  • Finally, the day and time have come to flood the rink 👏 🏒 With 3 hrs in so far and this is all the water I have but only 1 hr of it has been 2 hoses. The wind has not been super helpful today as I have had to walk around it quite frequently so far.

    → 2:03 PM, Dec 16
  • What? You don’t use a snow blower to clear your backyard 🤷‍♂️

    cooler weather is coming again and I need to prep the rink area 😁

    → 10:51 PM, Dec 14
  • Had a great morning at the US Pond Hockey Championships. The kids enjoyed skating around as well.

    → 12:47 AM, Jan 26
  • These four wasted no time this morning getting outside to skate in the New Year!

    → 9:31 AM, Jan 1
  • After all the hockey played on the rink this afternoon it is time for the “Zamboni” to get to work… OK it is done now 😁🏒

    → 9:57 PM, Dec 15
  • From the Lens - Backyard Rink Glow

    In the peaceful night the glow of the lights on the hockey rink is very calming (Dec 2019, Eden Prairie, MN)

    Tuesday Photo Challenge - Glow

    → 2:36 PM, Dec 5
  • The season is upon us… 🏒

    This year I upped our rink game by making the rink 70' x 32' compared to the last 6 years of 46' x 32' 😁. The kids are going to love it. Now let’s get colder MN so we can skate soon 🧊⛄🏒 (sorry MN friends but the kids want to skate)

    → 2:10 PM, Dec 5
  • Wordless Wednesday 03/20

    Let the thawing begin as another backyard rink season comes to a close (March 2019)

    → 10:21 PM, Mar 20
  • With the temperature outlook for the rest of this week and the current standing water on the rink, I decided to puncture holes in the tarp… What a great backyard rink season and the kids are already wondering when we can set it up again 😂🏒

    → 9:27 AM, Mar 20
  • Had to get the snowblower to the backyard tonight to keep the ice clear… Now we can tackle the driveway #priorities 🏒

    → 7:05 PM, Feb 7
  • Look what I found on my run this morning in Ankeny, IA… Do I spy a backyard rink 👀🏒… Looks like a nice setup 👍

    → 6:59 PM, Dec 30
  • Not a bad afternoon for a fire and skating… 🏒

    → 5:08 PM, Dec 26
  • 5 Years of US Pond Hockey Championships

    I can’t believe today would have marked my 6th consecutive year of helping out with the US Pond Hockey Championships (USPHC). However, due to my travel schedule this year I will be unable to help. Instead, I am getting ready to fly back to Minnesota this morning from a work trip. As sad as it is to break such a good streak and tradition, I figured I would reflect back on my prior times volunteering and how I came to be a volunteer 6 years ago.

    *2013 US Pond Hockey Championships Opening Day Sunrise* *2014 US Pond Hockey Championships Opening Day Sunrise* *2015 US Pond Hockey Championships Opening Day Sunrise* *2016 US Pond Hockey Championships Opening Day Sunrise* *2017 US Pond Hockey Championships Opening Day Sunrise*

    Where it all Started for Me

    Honestly, I stumbled across the USPHC kind of by accident. It was in my early time using Twitter and started following people and companies in the Twin Cities. One day I finally realized that a couple guys and a company I was following, kept talking about this event as the weather was getting colder. As it turns out the company was SportsNgin (now called SportsEngine), who was the major sponsor of the event and the guys who kept talking about it worked there and as luck would have it we're the co-founders of the company (Justin and Carson). I decided to do some reading about the event and found out it was a big deal and that it was happening in January. To top it off, they were looking for volunteers and I figured what better way to spend a day off work than being outside.

    So you decided to take a day off work and volunteer to stand on the ice for 8 hours in what could be really cold January weather?

    Fair question, this probably piqued my interest more as I had just acquired the used materials for a backyard rink and was in the process of getting it ready for the cold. So as I was hearing about and seeing all of these pictures online of skating in the middle of a lake on an actual pond, I now wanted to see this event in person and watch some games.

    Quick side story, I grew up in Iowa and have never played hockey in my life or really ice-skated in any prolonged amount of time. I used to rollerblade and play roller hockey in the street but nothing on the ice.

    Side benefits of volunteering

    For what started out to be a random event that I volunteered at, actually ended up being a place I meet a lot of interesting people. Some of these people were ones that I had interacted with on social media before and now that we were meeting face to face it was like we knew each other already. Also, the tournament brings in a bunch of people from all around the state of Minnesota, across the US, and even a couple countries, so it was always fun chatting with people to figure out where they came from and their background stories of playing hockey. That is one of the side benefits of volunteering in an area outside of your “normal” zone, you get to meet people you probably wouldn't have in your life. Every year since then I have enjoyed volunteering at the USPHC like the first. I continue to meet amazing people as well as keep in touch with some from previous years. Also, I get to spend a morning being outside on a big sheet of ice enjoying what nature has to offer (warm or cold). Through the years lots of efficiencies have been made in the Tournament operations as they have really upped their game, but at the core, it has stayed true to its roots of just getting people to play hockey outside as intended.

    Next year...

    When you start to think about it 5 years is a long time to do anything in my opinion. Even though I couldn't help out this year, I hope to make it to Nakomis and watch a couple of games. It really is an exciting event to watch in person and I haven't experienced anything quite like it.

    If you have made it this far and want to see what it looks like check out the US Pond Hockey Championships YouTube channel as they have some amazing videos from 2016 and 2017. I hope they put one out again this year as they get some amazing shots of the games and tournament. I am looking forward to hopefully helping out again next year as I always have a great time volunteering. Oh, and did I mention they give out some good hats. ?

    *5 years of Volunteer Hats from the US Pond Hockey Championships* *Rinks are all ready to go!*
    → 7:51 AM, Jan 26
  • These kids are going to make me work this afternoon… But what a beautiful day it is today at 0°F #backyardrink #hockey

    → 3:52 PM, Jan 1
  • Figure skating Boo… ⛸️👻 #backyardrink #skating

    → 7:27 PM, Dec 30
  • It was a great day to enjoy the Minnesota outdoors #backyardrink #hockey #family

    → 11:30 PM, Dec 28
  • Wordless Wednesday 02/15

    *Melting Ice Problems as another backyard rink season comes to an end... (February 2017, Eden Prairie, MN)*
    → 10:47 PM, Feb 15
  • Wordless Wednesday 12/07

    *Peaceful night listening to the flowing water fill the outdoor rink while watching the freezing at the same time (December 2016)*
    → 7:46 PM, Dec 7
  • Finally it’s that time of year again… #floodtherink #backyardrink

    → 8:50 AM, Dec 6
  • Wordless Wednesday 11/16

    *The rink is patiently waiting for more cold weather (37°F in this picture), before flooding. (November 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*
    → 5:05 PM, Nov 16
  • Some of you might not want to believe it.. but it is time #backyardrink

    → 10:46 PM, Nov 12
  • Ice is clean… Who is up for skating?

    → 10:00 PM, Feb 15
  • Good night to smooth out the ice…

    → 11:29 PM, Feb 10
  • Love his priorities after school today.. I am just glad I had a helper.

    → 5:47 PM, Jan 15
  • These kids were really making me work hard this afternoon

    → 10:30 PM, Jan 3
  • Not sure when these kids will come back inside…

    → 7:09 PM, Jan 2
  • That is a good looking backyard rink now that we have ICE! (again)

    → 7:46 PM, Dec 18
  • The Season is upon us...

    The weather is finally turning cold in Minnesota and that means that people are starting to think of the one sport everyone in Minnesota seems to play… HOCKEY!

    For some background, I grew up in Iowa never playing or really watching hockey.  Once I moved to Minnesota after college I started watching Hockey and have even taken up skating.  It really must be something in the air or water here as my kids talk about hockey all the time and it seems to be on their mind all the time (Not that I am complaining).  For that reason, when I had the opportunity to acquire some boards last year to set up my rink in the backyard I took advantage of it.  Some of my friends outside the state of Minnesota are shocked that we actually flooded the backyard to create a rink to skate on.  Honestly, it does sound a little strange but the whole family had a blast skating and playing hockey on it last year.  The best part was you didn’t have to get in the car, or walk down the street to enjoy it.

    Since the weather has been turning colder and there was snow in the forecast, I spent some of the weekend setting the rink up to ensure I was ready for the season.  I was lucky that some family was in town to do some of the heavy lifting/swinging to get everything setup in really good time.  Here is how it looked as of Sunday night with the Boards up, and the tarp clipped down.

    *Backyard Hockey Rink*

    There were two things I did differently from last year:

    1. Used clips I found at the Hardware store to keep the tarp in place instead of stapling it to the boards
    2. Left extra tarp on the small boards' side because as last year I was cutting it really close after the water pulled the tarp to the deep end
    Now that everything is set up we will just wait for it to be cold enough and stop snowing to fill with water.  By the looks of the forecast for the next seven days, this weekend might be the best time.

    Below are some pictures of my helpers assisting in the setup, as you can see they had a great time helping set the boards out.

     
    → 8:21 AM, Nov 12
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