Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds

Nothing brings us home to the true roots of hockey as do the memories we have of the backyard rinks and the frozen ponds of our youth. In this collection of heart-warming and humorous essays, veteran sports journalist Jack Falla writes about how his own backyard rink has served as a bridge to family and friends, to the past, and to the game he loves.

Here are stories of all-night floodings and new ice, toddlers learning how to stand on a first pair of blades, romance on the rink, the joy of a brilliant winter’s day, and the sweet sadness of the last ice of the year. Falla also describes his visits with other builders of home rinks (including Walter Gretzky); laments the passing of the venerable Boston Garden, the inspiration for his own backyard ice palace; and lets us in on his secrets for building a home rink.

Home Ice is more than a hockey book. It is a book for readers as interested in the relationships and memories that bind us together, as they are in last night’s scores.

Jack Falla has written for Sports Illustrated and The Hockey News, and is the author of Sports Illustrated Hockey. His backyard rink, which he has built each winter for the last 18 years, has been featured in Sports Illustrated, and on the television programs Hockey Night in Canada and CBS News Sunday Morning. Jack Falla teaches Sports Journalism at Boston University’s College of Communication. He lives in Natick, Massachusetts.