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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Kerry Guin said his "Herculean effort" to flood and shovel a backyard rink he's created just off Williams Avenue is all worth it when he gets to watch the kids play.

Guin - or Zamboni Kerry, as he is beginning to be known in his neighbourhood - has flooded an open area in a condo complex and turned it into a thriving hockey rink that brings in kids from all over the area.

Chris Mangelana, 12, right, breaks in on the goalie for a shot on a backyard rink off Williams Avenue, with Bradley King, 13, middle, trailing behind. The rink has been a neighbourhood staple for the past three years, and is maintained on the back of Kerry Guin - or Zamboni Kerry, as he is known around the rink. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

Guin got the idea to start the rink when reminiscing about his youth, when he played on outdoor rinks in Toronto.

"Before climate change, everything was outdoors," said Guin, who figured youth in his neighbourhood should have the same as he did. "I guess it's part of my nature," he said.

Guin said it pleases him to see kids being active, and playing shinny for what it is: fun. He said the game loses some of the fun in its organized, competitive form.

"I was amazed," he said, watching kids playing hockey. "I was just like them."

Evin's Stepson, Chris Mangelana, 12, was battling it out for the puck on Sunday afternoon. He said he is out on the rink all day, every day. "Friday after school, I was out until 10," he said.

Bradley King's home overlooks the rink. Bradley, 13, said all he has to do is look out the window to see if anyone is outside on the rink and if someone is out there, he usually joins them.

"It's very fun," he said.

Chris said there are sometimes as many as 20 kids skating on the rink.

Last Saturday night, Dawn Mangelana - Guin's partner - said there were a dozen kids chasing after pucks.

"I guess they're all sleeping now," she said on Sunday afternoon.

Guin said he is happy the rink keeps kids active, healthy and out of trouble.

"Hockey is like a religion," he said. "There are rules. It's a nice way to establish order."

"It's heaven for us," said Dawn. "It keeps them out even in the cold, cold weather."

Guin had toyed with the idea of installing the rink for some time, but because it would sit in a shared area, Dawn told Guin he should ask around to see if neighbours would support it.

"Everyone was all for it," said Dawn.

Neighbours have done their part to accommodate the budding hockey players.

Jean Gouinlock, whose home sits next to the rink, provides water for kids when they are out working up a sweat.

When clearing the rink, "Zamboni Kerry" must carry shovel loads of snow down a set of stairs before heaving them away, as there isn't enough room alongside the rink to pile the snow.

Over the past three years, Guin said the quality of his ice has improved.

"I've learnt how to do it better," he said.

The snow shovelling hasn't gotten any easier though, with record snowfalls in the city this winter.

Dawn said "Zamboni Kerry" is out shovelling the rink at all hours of the night. "He takes pride in it," she said.

The first year the rink was in, Dawn said a young child came to her house and asked Guin to come out and shovel the arena. Dawn told the youngster he was out of town and couldn't do it.

"The kid was too young to understand that he wasn't in town," she said.

Throughout the interview, hockey players came and left the rink.

At one point, a youngster asked Guin if he could tie his friend's skates.

"He doesn't know how," the boy said.

Guin obliged, kneeling down on the ice to tighten the small child's skates.

The Zamboni man sometimes gets out and plays, too. "Once I got on there, you couldn't get me off," said Guin.