Innisfail has thrown its puck into the shinny ring to be known coast to coast as the most hockey connected community in Canada.
But much more work needs to be done to ensure its entry makes it past a crucial Jan. 31 deadline.
To date, the town is one of more than 270 communities that have entered the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 contest, which has been held across Canada since 2006. The contest is a partnership between Kraft Canada, CBC, the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA).
The cross-country search to find Canada’s most hockey connected community comes with big benefits. The winning community wins $100,000 in arena upgrades, with an additional opportunity to win $10,000 worth of hockey equipment to help the local minor hockey association. As well, a 2012/13 NHL pre-season game will be played in the local arena, and a special CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcast from the community. If Innisfail gets chosen to the final round of five communities it will come away with at least a runner-up prize of $25,000 in arena upgrades.
“Arenas are the social hubs of communities that bring family and friends together to celebrate their love of hockey,” said Dino Bianco, president of Kraft Canada. “This year we’re excited to provide more opportunities for Canadians to showcase these important recreation facilities and the people whose passion and hard work make sure hockey remains Canada’s favourite game.”
Officials with the Kraft Hockeyville contest said although the Innisfail Arena’s nomination has been received it is not yet complete. It is not known at this time who or what group submitted the nomination.
A spokesperson said in order to complete the nomination and to fully qualify for the national contest anyone in the community can submit a story and a photo about the Innisfail Arena before the Jan. 31 deadline.
The top 15 communities chosen to compete for the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 title will be revealed on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, March 3. Canadians then vote for the top five communities on March 4 and 5. The top five communities will be announced on March 17, before a final voting stage on March 18 and 19. The winner will be announced on March 31.
Tracey Walker, executive director of the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association, said she was both shocked and delighted to learn that the town and arena were entered in the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 national contest. She said she would pursue it with vigour and bring as much information as possible to the next local association board meeting.
“The board doesn’t know about it yet,” said Walker. “My plan is to pursue this more, get more information. The opportunity would be amazing for our association and for our community.
“The next step is to bring it to the board for approval. We just need to know what it (process) entails,” said Walker. “This would bring awareness of the community. We literally have thousands of people working for the betterment of Innisfail.”
Since 2006, more than 2,000 communities have entered the competition producing more than 22,000 submissions and 30 million votes. In response, the Kraft Hockeyville partners have expanded the number of finalist communities selected to compete for Kraft Hockeyville 2012 from 10 to 15.
Last year the Central Alberta town of Bentley was a finalist.
"CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is proud to begin a new search for Canada's most passionate hockey community with Kraft Hockeyville," says Julie Bristow, CBC’s executive director of studio and unscripted programming. "We're excited to watch how communities rally around their entries this year, with more engagement online for hockey fans in communities big and small, from coast to coast to coast."
For more information on Kraft Hockeyville 2012, visit the website krafthockeyville.ca
