Should the NHL award the Winter Classic to Boston in the near future and Dan Craig, the League ice guru, need a hand building a rink at Fenway Park or historic Nickerson Field or even at Faneuil Hall, he already has a willing and able volunteer ready to become his chief assistant.

"Would he need my help?" Roger Cook laughed at the notion. "If the game ever came up here I would go for the old-time sake of watching a hockey game played outside. That would be amazing to watch."

Cook is now in his 20th season as the landscape contractor for the Boston-based Emmy Award-winning PBS television series "This Old House." He also appears on its seven-year-old sister show "Ask This Old House."

When not planting delicate flowers, he takes on challenging outdoor projects submitted to the show from viewers -- anything from putting down sod to planting large trees and building stone walls and patios. A self-confessed Bruins fan and general sports fan, Cook is no stranger to rink building. One of the House calls from a previous season had Cook constructing a backyard ice skating rink for a homeowner in suburban Duxbury, Mass.

"I remember that (episode)," he says. "That was maybe the second or third rink I ever built," Cook said one afternoon during a break from filming the latest episode of "Ask This Old House." "It was basically building a square out of timbers.

"A lot of the tips I used for that I picked up from Tom Silva, who is the general contractor on the show. From him I picked up the construction skills I needed."

Since the first NHL outdoor game -- the 2005 Heritage Classic played in Edmonton -- the hoopla of the Winter Classic game has become much more than the simple act of playing a game outdoors.

The building of a rink from scratch in a venue not meant for hockey has become almost as big as the game itself. For the New Year's Day game at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago, the world’s largest mobile rink refrigeration unit was specially built, measuring 53 feet in length.

If anyone at the Winter Classic, or viewing on television (1 p.m. CBC, NBC, RDS) as part of what is expected to be a record audience for the NHL, gets the urge to build a backyard rink of their own, Cook calls the project a "middle-of-the-road" endeavor for a typical homeowner who dabbles with home renovation and weekend chores.

"You've got to do some rough figuring, then it's a matter of cutting and screwing the wood together, so I'd say it's pretty simple," Cook said.

The basic materials list for a backyard rink includes timbers, metal stakes, plastic, and sand.

The timbers form the rink and should be stacked a few inches higher than ankle height. For this format, the timbers basically keep the puck in the rink, one that is not meant for checking because it doesn’t have waist-high boards. Holes should be screwed through the top of the timbers to insert the metal stakes, known as rebar, through the timbers and into the ground.

"I've seen wooden stakes used, but I like to use a metal rod, the same stuff we would use for building forms in the ground that are filled with concrete, for foundations," Cook said. "When I build things, I want them to be salvageable and able to be used again. I figured if you use wooden stakes, they'll split when you drive them into the ground with the mallet. The rebar works much better and can be reused.

"I gained a lot of knowledge on building rinks. Here in the Northeast, I might know three to four people in my neighborhood who build rinks, so I talked to them."

After the timbers form the rink, the sand can be spread and raked out to level the surface and fill in any voids between the wood and the ground. Cook then lays a monolithic sheet of heavy-duty shrink wrap over the surface and up the sides of the timbers.

"It's the same stuff we use to protect boats in storage," Cook said. "It's relatively inexpensive, and you can get a large sheet with no seams so you won't have any leaks. Its heavy-duty stuff, and you can recycle it."

After the shrink wrap is pulled tight, Cook screws boards around the entire inside of the rink, low to the ground, to act as a kickboard. This keeps the skates from gouging the timbers and holds the plastic in place.

Once all these components in place, it's time to fill the rink with water and wait for Mother Nature to freeze it solid. Repeat the process of adding water and freezing until the desired thickness is achieved, and you have your backyard rink.

"Since that show, I've probably built two more rinks for clients," Cook said. "My hope is that they keep the materials and do it themselves year after year."

But of all the backyard rinks Cook has seen, the most impressive belongs to "This Old House" master electrician Allen Gallant.

"He has almost a full-size rink set up with boards and lights and I even think he bought a mini Zamboni," Cook said. "I didn't help him whatsoever, he built it all by himself.

"Allen likes to tell a story about a state trooper pulling up to his house one night. This guy was on Highway 128 and saw this massive light coming through the woods, and it led him to the house. It was the lights from the rink. (Gallant) is extreme. I believe his kids play on a team that is coached by (former Boston Bruin) Cam Neely."

So with all this rink-building experience, the question begged to be asked to Cook: can you skate?

"All I would do is break the ice," he said while laughing. "I really never learned how to skate. I played basketball in high school.

"I did play a little hockey. They stuck me in goal because I blocked the whole net. Good thing I didn't have to move around too much."

Raised near Boston, Cook grew up a Bruins fan.

"Absolutely I'm a fan. I grew up with Bobby Orr, Derek Sanderson and Johnny Bucyk," he said. "Phil Esposito was my personal favorite. He was built like I was, and I remember him standing in front of the goal and people bouncing off him and tipping in shots."

From the current Bruins, Cook admires goaltender Tim Thomas.

"He's so gritty. He's taken so much grief, especially last year," Cook said. "This year he's been standing on his head every game. He's amazing. I do like Zdeno Chara a lot. What is he, 6-foot-9? He's unbelievable on skates. I would run the other way if I saw him on the ice. It's amazing to see him move around. I enjoy his athleticism."

Contact Rocky Bonanno at rbonanno@nhl.com.