One upside of the sudden burst of cold weather is that outdoor rinks around Estevan are likely not far away from being ready for use. In fact, the ice surfaces at the Kinsmen rink could be ready to go by the time the weekend rolls around. 

Between now and then, however, the Kinsmen are asking people to stay off the ice while it is still in the early stages of being put down. Although the flooding is not finished, several people have been skating on the ice already, which could damage it. 

"The early stages of making the ice, we want to be able to get a nice, solid base," said Kinsmen president Preston Majeran. "We want the ice to freeze properly, and if it's not completely frozen and the ice isn't ready, it's just going to chip and crack and break, and it's going to result in us having to fix it."

When temperatures get consistently below minus ten, which they have been for much of the last few days and will be heading into the weekend at the overnight lows at least, that's the time rink crews can start on flooding. That doesn't mean the ice is ready after the first flood, however, and being on the surface at that point can damage more than just the ice. 

"It actually becomes pretty dangerous for people to be out there," Majeran said. "Getting the edges caught in the cracks, potentially breaking ankles."

The good news is, the ice-making process is going well so far for the Kinsmen. They began on Friday night as temperatures started to drop to more ideal levels for it, and on Saturday and Sunday they did two floods, followed by two more yesterday. 

"Mother nature is cooperating with us," said Majeran. "We just need the public's cooperation. Stay off the ice and just let it harden and freeze properly. By Friday, we'll be skating on it."

Majeran added they will be putting the nets down once the ice is ready and they've not had any indication people won't be allowed to shoot pucks, though they will need to follow social distancing guidelines and all provincial health orders. He asked people to consider coming back another time if the rink appears to be full and reminded people that the warm-up shack is not allowed to be open at the moment.