Video of Sask. hockey rink's 95-year-old staircase grabs national attention online
Video of Sask. hockey rink's 95-year-old staircase grabs national attention online
One of Saskatchewan’s oldest hockey rinks has garnered national attention for its unique features and unusual design.
The community rink in Lang, Sask. just turned 95 years old and still has much of its original infrastructure, including what players call the “catwalk.”
The catwalk is a drawbridge-style staircase that players use to go from the dressing rooms in the attic down to the ice surface.
“It’s counterweighted with some cement blocks so you slowly come down it and it’s supposed to slowly draw down,” said rink board member Mike Williams.
“When you’re done you push it back up with your hockey stick and away you go.”
A video of two men’s league hockey players nearly getting stuck on the staircase went viral earlier this week.
This has to be the craziest way to get on the ice we’ve ever seen, TSN said on Twitter
“That was probably the only time I’ve ever seen anyone have an issue with it to be honest,” Williams said.
All ages get to use the catwalk when they play inside the Lang rink, including the U9 Milestone Selects who played against Regina on Wednesday night.
“It was kind of scary. I was scared I was going to fall onto the ice,” said Selects player Ryder Moon.
Moon, 8, said her father learned to skate in Lang’s rink and her uncle used to play for the hometown team. The significance was not lost on her during her second time at the rink.
“It’s pretty cool,” she said.
“I really like playing in these old barns.”
Moon said the rink’s makeshift Zamboni is another highlight.
Volunteers flood the natural ice with a green barrel on two wheels that they fill with hot water. A mop, custom-made by a woman in town, is attached to the back.
The contraption is about 70 years old, according to Williams.
“Every now and then we try to make some engineering improvements to it, but over the years it’s done us well,” he said.
A volunteer operates the walking Zamboni. (AllisonBamford/CTVNews)
This year, Williams said they were able to hire someone to be the official Zamboni walker. But in previous years, volunteers take turns each night scraping and flooding the ice, which is about 80 per cent of the size of a regular rink.
NDP leader Carla Beck was born and raised in Lang. She called it a “rite of passage” when she was finally old enough to push the scrapers on the ice.
“It was unique and in a town of 200 it took a lot of people pitching in and making sure the ice was cleaned in time for the next period,” Beck said.
“It’s more than a building. It’s a place where people learn some independence—the first time you get to go down those stairs by yourself, the first time you get to scrape the ice.”
According to volunteers, Lang’s natural ice is fairly unique.
Mike Saip, has been volunteering at the rink for the last 35 years. He helps put the ice in every season, using both town and rain water to flood it.
“It makes nice, natural, hard ice. I don’t think there’s many other rinks out there that you’re going to find with this kind of ice,” Saip said.
“Big city rinks compared to this, it’s quite a difference.”
The rink is known for creating memories for every generation.
Beau Bechard played in Lang 30 years ago. He still remembers the stairs and the cheering fans hanging over the boards on the second level.
The Lang community rink was built in 1928. (AllisonBamford/CTVNews)
Bechard now coaches his young daughter and gets to watch her play on the very same ice that he did.
“Just thinking back to all the memories I had growing up and her getting to experience this is pretty cool,” he said.
“I’ve noticed from coaching that the kids all just love coming to these old rinks.”
Williams said the rink is a “second home” that the community is trying to keep for generations to come.
The rink board recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover maintenance and repair costs.
“It’s not cheap to upkeep an old barn like this,” he said.
Volunteers recently replaced the puck boards in the rink. Williams said it took two and a half summers and 1,000 man-hours to complete, and cost $18,000.
It was a lot of work, but he said it’s worth it.
“We just want every next generation to get to experience what we experienced, whether it’s unlimited ice time or just the nostalgia of getting to play in your hometown,” Williams said.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
If you are yearning to walk the trails around Mud Lake in the Britannia Conservation Area, be aware there are wild turkeys looking for mates. A gang of three have been chasing and pecking at visitors to the nature trail for weeks.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.
Mounties in Port McNeill violated a suspect's Charter rights by failing to allow him to contact a lawyer promptly after his 2019 drug trafficking arrest, a judge has ruled.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
A volunteer operates the walking Zamboni. (AllisonBamford/CTVNews)
The Lang community rink was built in 1928. (AllisonBamford/CTVNews)
