They've got the rink and now they've got the skates to use it.

The RCMP Shamattawa detachment reported March 2 that the skating and hockey equipment drive they started in February after creating an outdoor skating rink in the community has been a "total success."

The equipment drive collected 112 pairs of skates, 13 helmets, 50 hockey sticks (including two for goaltenders), 12 pairs of elbow pads, 13 pairs of gloves, 19 sets of shoulder pads, 25 pairs of hockey pants, four pairs of goalie pads and 21 pairs of shin pads, as well as several jerseys, hockey socks, pucks, laces and face guards.

"This overwhelming generosity has already provided the Shamattawa youth with an opportunity to engage in a healthy recreational activity that has the potential to provide many future positive benefits," said an RCMP press release on the equipment drive. "This drive would not have been successful without the participation of many partner agencies, the City of Thompson, co-workers, family and friends."

RCMP members spent Feb. 27 distributing equipment to Shamattawa youth, making sure it fit properly and giving some lessons to kids who had never been on skates before, while also holding their weekly barbecue.

Earlier, they teamed up with the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose and the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada to bring 55 children from Shamattawa First Nation to the 10th-annual Follow Your Dreams night at the MTS Centre Feb. 13, where their guests watched a game between the Moose and the Toronto Marlies.