Newton’s trough brings hockey to backyards across North America

He relies heavily on the culmination of home fields in the increased interest in outdoor activities during a pandemic, from cycling to surfing and ice skating. But EZ ICE also intensified its marketing.

Gastel, who has been playing hockey since childhood, used to build a temporary backyard skates with his father on plywood, drills and saws.

In 2016, he began selling the do-it-yourself track, which he advertises as one that users can assemble in less than an hour on any platform and without the typical construction tools.

Customers set the perimeter of their yard by putting together plastic boards, such as pieces of a puzzle, held in place by brackets and straps, and then lowering a cover-like liner that floods the water and freezes to slip depending on the weather. surface.

Demand for the product was so high in 2020 that Gastel tripled the size of its team. Now, he said, EZ ICE employs about 20 people and procures trough components from about ten manufacturers in New England and the Midwest.

The company supplies products to customers in the United States and Canada, primarily serving families with children. It also sells to cities and military bases as well as players and coaches from the National Hockey League.

Last year, Travis Sias, who lives in Florence, ordered the EZ ICE ice rink for his children while the commercial troughs were closed. His son plays on the team, he said, and has improved significantly since he has been able to practice at home. And while her daughter typically didn’t play, access to the trough aroused bullying his interest in hockey.

“We didn’t want to leave him in the house and leave him outside,” Sias said. “So when we go out, as if his friends would come to him, he’ll come out to play with us and he’ll love it.”

He built benches and lights to compensate for the early arrival of the night in the winter, and when his son’s teammates came to practice, they all headed to the yard for hours after Sias returned from work. At the peak of winter, the family used their troughs daily.

Still, it can be a hefty investment – each installation can cost $ 2,280 to $ 44,830 depending on size, wall height and other features. Sias has spent about $ 6,000 on the initial tray and subsequent upgrade.

For him, it was a sensible waste, because plastic walls don’t rot like wood over the years. And because his family uses it so often, it’s cheaper than renting ice time from a hockey rink that can cost hundreds of dollars an hour.

Gastel said word of mouth marketing has been an integral part of the company’s growth and has placed its trough in thousands of backyards since its inception, including nearly 2,000 in Massachusetts.

“[Customers] invite friends, neighbors, teammates, cousins, all to skate, “he said.” We sell one trough in one city, and then the next year there are five more troughs in that city or sometimes even in the same neighborhood. “

Angela Yang can be reached at [email protected].