Enjoying a bit of ice time for the family of Dave Bartman and Tracey Bleuer is merely a matter of stepping out the front door. 

For the past several weeks, when they're not playing hockey in an arena, you'll find the couple's kids, Tanner and Torrie, playing in the front yard of their 30th Street NE home on an approximately 30- by 50-foot rink Dave put together just before Christmas. 

The rink has plastic-wrapped boards around the base, along with plywood sideboards that keep the action on the ice. Stretched between long posts at each end of the rink are nets to catch high-flying pucks, and on two of the posts are bright lights so play can continue after dusk. 

"It definitely helps with my dad teaching me stuff in hockey, it91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s really nice," said son Tanner Bartman, while playing hockey on the rink with friends including fellow U11 Development Silverbacks team member Brodyn Godber, and Charles O'Connor who is on a team in Kelowna.

"The only days when I91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™m not out here is when I have hockey."

Watching from the front window was Bartman's sister, Torrie, a U7 Salmon Arm Silverhawk, who wasn't feeling well but keeping an eye on things. 

Bleuer confirmed they're a hockey family, noting Dave plays on a rec team in town. 

"My husband is pretty passionate about hockey," said Bleuer. 

This is the second season for the front-yard rink. Bleuer said Dave built the first iteration last year, after local ice times had been cancelled.

"They missed a bunch of ice times and so we just decided to make our own rink," said Bleuer, explaining the first rink was assembled just before a -25 C cold snap. 

"It was just pure luck that it froze solid in one day and we were able to use it right away. It didn91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t have sideboards, it only had one back net. I know it was quite a bit smaller. It was our first attempt at it and we got really lucky."

To maintain the ice, Dave created his own "Zamboni" consisting of a hose attached to a PVC pipe filled with holes and wrapped in a towel. 

"It's my husband91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s labour of love 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ he comes out here between 9 and 10 every night and floods it."

Bleuer said a lot of preparation went into this year's rink design, with advanced surface levelling, the ordering of boards and silage plastic, to wrap the boards, acquired from Sila Grow in Salmon Arm's industrial park. She said they had to put the rink in the front yard as their backyard isn't level.  

"The kids can actually play and have a good game on it," said Bleuer, noting the rink can accommodate a good game of 2-on-2. "People honk as they drive by and the kids get a kick out of that."