Dorchester-area dad builds NHL-sized backyard rink

A Dorchester-area father hastaken hisbackyard rink to a whole new level.

Like many dads, Mike Colp wanted to build a skating rink so his daughter could shoot pucks at home.

He started out flooding the backyard, but after a few yearsmoved the rink tohis neighbour's pond in hopes of improving the skating surface.

Information Morning - Moncton7:35A Zamboni and a Tardis

Mike Colp talks about his impressive backyard hockey rink.

Colpsays he thought hewassatisfied, but everythingchanged when he got a call from a friend.

"As we started using the pond my friend called and said there's aZambonifor sale on-line. Who has not wanted to drive on a Zamboni?"

Colp bought the second-hand, ice-grooming machine and then realized he couldn't get the Zamboni down to the pond.

"It's too steep a bank to get it down, so I thought, 'Oh, I should build a rink for it,' and the rink turned into a little bit more than I thought but if you get a Zamboni, you need a rink," he laughed.

Help from friends and neighbours

The outdoor rink on Colp's land just outside of Dorchester, took more than a year to build andis NHL-sized, complete with boards, painted lines, a big blue maple leaf and lights.

"We've go a nice little rink house for the kids to play in, some hot chocolate to warm up their hands, it's a great place to go and have fun."

Colp says manyfriends and neighbours helped to build the super-rink, including one friend who brought in two bulldozers so they could level the land.

I'm my daughter's hockey fan that's what I am.- Mike Colp

"The first year we just had the ice surface, then my daughter was complaining that she was losing pucks in the snow, so I said well we'll put boards on it."

"We worked on it...pretty much until the snow flew.We were putting the lights up when it was minus20. I got my daughter to help."

Colp, who admits he isn't the biggest hockey fan,says the outdoor rink is being enjoyed by everyone in the area, especially his daughter.

"I'm my daughter's hockey fan that's what I am," he said.

"She thinks it's great. Her friends are always over.I know where she is and her friends are - they're out there skating on the ice and they're not playing video games and they're nottexting on the phone - well actually they are texting on their phones," he joked.

Hockey rink not the only attraction

Asif the NHL-sized rink wasn't enough of an attraction, Colp also has a TARDISon his property, inspired by the time machine in the British science fiction show Doctor Who, which he and his son used to watch together.

Colp saysthe rink was built for his daughter, and the TARDISfor his son.

"I'm a contractor, a carpenter and I thought it would be kind of cool to have a TARDISso one winter we weren't working very much so I went up to the shop, and him and I worked at it and built us a TARDISyou know it's another one of those things I thought I needed."

The TARDISserved asa changing room for the first rink but has since been replaced by a bigger and better changing house, complete with a wood stove.