Slick, frozen, and surrounded by snow and fencing is a homemade ice skating rink on Wendover Road where two young children and their father play. Hockey, specifically, is in their Canadian father’s blood, and both brother and sister have taken up the sport. 

Shaun Hannah loves hockey, he said, and has been doing it his whole life. He played at Cornell University, and spent two seasons in a professional league, then coached at Sacred Heart University from 1996 to 2009.

Several years ago he built the rink in his front yard where he lives with his children Owen, 4, and Emma, 8 and, his wife, Amy. The ice sits on a spot that is leveled off on the sloping lawn and boarded with a shallow frame; its corners are fitted with outdoor lighting. Beside it is a fire pit.

He and his son and daughter often practice well past dark. Their father admits that they tend to get to bed later than any 4- or 8-year old should, considering the time they spend daily on the ice.

He said, “My kids love it. Especially Emma.” Since his daughter is a bit older, she handles the cold a little bit better. “They are out there as much as time allows. Delayed school openings are fun,” Mr Hannah said, giving them time to skate. Snow storms are work, “but it’s worth it.”

The Hannahs will invite others and have some play dates, he said, but both weather conditions and busy schedules make it difficult, although they “like to share our ice. We skate before dinner or maybe after. It’s lit, so we skate at night. It’s hit or miss.”

At roughly 4:30 pm on a recent afternoon as he built up wood in the fire pit, Mr Hannah urged Owen and Emma toward the rink. Early February’s temperatures hovered below 20 degrees, and although sunlight faded and evening’s darkness tinted the sky, the young skaters perched on a wooden seat and traded snow boots for skates.

Owen, laces tightened, placed a sure-footed skate on the rink’s smooth surface. Despite his age, Owen moved with confidence, his feet maneuvering the blades with speed, slicing nimble turns, and stopping with ease. His sister, four years older, chased a puck and swung her stick with familiar ease. Following a swift slap shot, her stick followed through while her puck sailed into the net.

Mr Hannah built the rink three years ago, around Thanksgiving. Since then, he said he packs it up in the spring and hauls it out again the next Thanksgiving.

Hockey was part of his childhood, which he is now giving to his children. “I grew up in Western Canada and had a rink within walking distance and wanted one in walking distance [of his Newtown home], so I put one in the yard.”

The Hannahs moved to town roughly six years ago, the rink emerged once Owen and Emma were old enough to play. Currently, Emma plays with Yale Youth Hockey and Owen plays at Yale’s learn to play hockey program. Mr Hannah coaches both children’s groups, he said. As a coach, he enjoys watching the kids “grow and learn the game and enjoy the experience and enjoy it as much as when I was a kid.”

Why hockey? “It’s a team sport,” Mr Hannah said. “You’re with other people, it’s a fast and complex, skilled game.” Unlike other sports, he said, you have to learn how to skate. “And you’re using your hands and you need skills and the pace, and being with others is my allure to it.”

His children have gone beyond his expectations. “They enjoy it so much.” With their help he also enjoys maintaining its smooth surface. As the kids help him, he said, “It’s time well spent with your child and they learn to shovel and clean. It’s great.”

See programming information about Yale Youth Hockey at yaleyouthhockey.com. According to that website, Mr Hannah directs Yale’s Youth Hockey Clinic, and was named MAAC Coach of the Year in 2000. He is the director of Power Skills Hockey Academy.