On cold Sundays, the Detroit Ice Boiz are keeping a beloved Belle Isle tradition alive—lacing up their skates, cracking their sticks and carving out memories on the ice before the season slips away.

Dozens of weekend warriors gathered Sunday on a makeshift rink maintained on one of the island’s many interior lakes, embracing crisp air, good ice and hot dogs. The all-day, informal event is loosely organized on social media and open to all, regardless of skill level. Despite an informal start three weeks ago by a group of friends who like to dangle the biscuit, the casual drop-in games have attracted a growing crowd of hockey enthusiasts. 

Before anyone can celly, there is a lot of work that goes into making pond hockey possible. Much of it happens in the dark, the night before. Dima Iavorskyi, 34, and others pump water onto the ice to ensure a smooth surface and check for fractures in the sheet to ensure its sturdiness. 

It’s all documented on the Detroit Ice Boiz Instagram account, which updates followers on the latest plans and shares photos of local grinders at work – No hosers to be found. Some posts include historic photos that harken back to a different era when hundreds would enjoy gliding on the ice. 

Iavorskyi, a Ukrainian American immigrant, knew his friends would be down to chirp and slap the puck around. Still, he was surprised a wider audience found his social media page and came out for the friendly competition. 

“I didn’t expect anybody to come,” Iavorskyi said of the first gathering. “Close to 100 people showed up. Everybody was super happy. I didn’t even play much. I was just sitting enjoying watching people just being happy and outside during the winter.”  

This year, reliable freezing weather unlocked a new dimension to enjoy Detroit’s unique island park. Detroiters have long carved the ice on Belle Isle’s frozen waterways, but warmer temperatures caused by climate change have made the certainty of a barnburner all too fragile, and gatherings that much more special. Last year, they could skate and play for just one week.

There is a long tradition of ice skating through frozen lakes and canals on Belle Isle, dating back over a hundred years. Residents from the greater metro area have long flocked to the island in winter months to find fun in harsh weather.

Visitors used to be able to rent skates and buy refreshments from a Victorian pavilion off Lake Tacoma, which was demolished in 1950. It was replaced by Flynn Memorial Pavilion, built jointly by the city of Detroit and the estate of William H. Flynn. The building was reopened in 2024 after undergoing significant repairs overseen by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 

It’s unclear whether skate rentals will return, though Detroit has public rinks at Campus Martius, Clark Park and the Adams Butzel Complex. Belle Isle officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Bill Ackerman, 54, connected with the Detroit Ice Boiz when he ran into them while checking to see if the ice was good enough to skate on. For Ackerman, it’s a family tradition. His grandfather used to play ice hockey at Belle Isle, and he has pictures from before World War II to prove it.

 “It’s wonderful,” Ackerman said, to see everyone out on the ice again, fighting for the puck. “There’s that vibe, an ancestry vibe,” he said. 

Fleeting fun

The night before events, the Detroit Ice Boiz go to Belle Isle and work for around five hours to create a smooth ice rink. Using equipment they drill into the ice and resurface water to flood the rink. Blow torches help to melt rough spots of ice. To fix cracks, they pack the ice crack with snow, melt the snow, and repeat the process until it creates a smooth surface. 

“We were here all night fixing cracks. Because of the cold temperatures last week, ice cracked everywhere. You have to keep maintaining it to be able to continue skating on it,” said Iavorskyi. “If we didn’t clear these rinks – there are a couple of them around the island, one in the yacht basin and a couple at Flynn Pavilion- this would be over pretty much.” 

When people ski on top of the ice it compacts the snow and makes it impossible to skate on, Iavorskyi said, meaning the ice has to be prepared to use. 

“Maintaining these rinks is pretty important for the duration of winter.” 

The first event was held on Lake Tacoma, outside the traditional site where skate rentals and speed competitions were held. The group moved to Micheal Beckett Lake for weeks two and three. They plan to keep coming out so long as the water stays frozen. 

Always lingering is the threat of warmer temperatures. 

“Climate change has its toll on winter. Because this winter is so good, we’re trying to be here as much as possible,” Iavorskyi said. 

Across the Midwest, winter is disappearing and with it traditions like ice skating, pond hockey, and ice fishing. Michigan has lost ninedays of freezing temperatures a year due to climate change, or 10% fewer winter days, a recent study from the climate communication nonprofit Climate Central found. It takes extended periods of freezing weather to create ice that’s safe to step on. Ice needs to be at least 2 inches thick to support skating, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

Aware of the fleeting experience, Iavorskyi said the players make the most of the ice hockey season by coming out on weekdays too, and at night with the use of lights. Belle Isle officials even turned the lights on at the Flynn Pavilion for them, Iavorsky said. 

Iavorskyi said he loves the community aspect of it, seeing so many people gathered to have a good time who otherwise wouldn’t be out together. 

Everyone welcome

The event draws a mix of young and old people and varying levels of ice hockey or skating experience. 

Most forgo full padding and opt for just skates and gloves. Teams are determined by throwing sticks in the center, and then randomly assigning each stick to a side. Contact is minimal, and players are encouraged not to put the puck in the air to prevent accidents. Sometimes a body check is unavoidable, but tempers don’t flare – everybody is just happy to be there.  

“These events, usually we have multiple rinks so people don’t feel intimidated,” he said. “
“We have a smaller place where you can just try your skills or skate around a little bit. It’s mostly like by the community, for the community, and our group comes here and maintains the ice.” 

“We’re hoping to get this a little further so we can actually, maybe find some funds and buy equipment, and maybe pay people for maintaining the ice,” Iavorskyi said. “But that’s for the future. This really wasn’t any like a planned dream, it just came together naturally.” 

The inclusive intentions of event organizers battle against long-held issues in the hockey industry with a lack of diversity and overt racism towards hockey players of color. 

The National Hockey League is the least diverse compared to the National Basketball Association, National Football Association, Major League Baseball, and the Women’s National Basketball Association. Less than 5% are players in the NHL are people of color and there have only been a few Black head coaches in its 108-year history. 

For Detroiter Stathis Pauls, 30, who has been playing ice hockey for years, the tension between his love of the sport and lack of diversity was present on Sunday’s ice. There were just a few people of color and women playing. 

Shinny, or pond hockey, increases the accessibility to people of color like himself, Pauls said.  

“Ice hockey is an institution. Shinny is a way of life,” he said. “This is how the sport started right? It’s a great equalizer. I see guys out here who clearly have just been playing cul-de-sac hockey their whole lives and there’s some guys here, like me, who have just played organized hockey their whole life. And like, this is the best.” 

“I’m always playing the person of color game, though and that’s hockey in general,” Pauls said. 

“The beautiful thing about pond hockey – it equalizes the playing field. This is free. You don’t have to pay for the ice, you don’t have to know people, you don’t need full equipment, because, ice hockey is expensive and it’s only gotten worse.” 

Ice hockey is the most expensive youth sport, The Aspen Institute estimated in 2019 that it costs more than $2,500 annually for one child to play ice hockey. The median household income for Detroiters is $39,575 a year. 

Pauls has played ice hockey for years at Belle Isle and remembers an organized effort a few years back. 

“But it was nothing like this, it was like 15 dudes max, there was no grill. We didn’t even have nets. It was like, two garbage cans.” 

Chris Chiaravalli, one of the core Detroit Ice Boiz who helps maintain the ice, had the idea to bring the grill. Chiaravalli was slinging hot dogs in between line shifts last week. 

“In the winter, stuff slows down and it’s easy to just get depressed. But if you’re tailgating on the ice with the grill and a hundred hot dogs, you can’t really go wrong,” he said. “This is just something I do every winter anyway, since I’ve been a young kid, it’s very important because it teaches people, or it helps people appreciate the beauty of Michigan during the winter.”

The Ice Boiz are lacing up for one last Sunday on the rink, but after that, the clock’s ticking — how much longer the ice will hold is anyone’s guess.