Wolseley vying for Kraft Hockeyville title
$250K prize needed to repair aging arena ice plant
A Saskatchewan town is looking to become the province's first winner of Kraft Hockeyville.
Earlier this month, Wolseley was announced as one of four finalists for the national contest, alongside Enderby, B.C., Cochrane, Alta., and Elliot Lake, Ont., which are now all vying for the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2024.
The winner will receive $250,000 in arena upgrades plus the chance to host an NHL pre-season game while the other three finalists will receive $25,000 in arena upgrades.
And for the town of 850 residents about 100 kilometres east of Regina, the money is desperately needed to upgrade the aging ice plant inside the Wolseley Sportsplex.
“We have the oldest style of this ice plant in our arena that is left in existence,” said Vance Weber, spokesperson for Wolseley's bid. “It was a 25-year design and through care, maintenance and due diligence, we've gotten it up to 44 years.
“Two or three years ago, we started struggling to keep it going and we recognize we're sitting on a time clock; don't know when the expiry is but we know it's coming.”
Before being announced as a
It's crazy because it's not only our community banding together but we've had reach-outs from Lumsden, Pense, Assiniboia (and) Ituna.
Kraft Hockeyville finalist, the community had already raised $100,000 for the project.
If Wolseley were to win the contest, the $250,000 would get the town that much closer to its goal of replacing the ice plant, which carries a price tag of around $600,000 to $800,000 according to Weber.
Beginning Friday at 7 a.m., people can vote as many times as they like atkrafthockeyville.ca until the contest closes Saturday at 3 p.m.
The winner will then be announced on Hockey Night in Canada that evening.
Since the contest opened in 2006, previous Saskatchewan finalists have included Wilcox (2008), Humboldt (2009), Ituna (2017), Lafleche (2018), Wilkie (2019), Pense (2020) and Lumsden (2021). No town in Saskatchewan has ever won the grand prize.
In the program's history, more than $4.8 million has been awarded to 97 communities over the past 18 years. All four finalists this year will also receive $10,000 in hockey equipment for youth in the community.
Wolseley is home to many minor hockey teams from under-7 to under-15 and also features a junior C team, but that wasn't the case several years ago, as the community was without a minor hockey program until a group of citizens stepped up in 2016 and brought the program back to life.
Since then, the hockey community has continued to grow, while also serving as a host for many other surrounding communities. Knowing that the ice plant needs to be replaced to keep their community rink going, local resident Natasha Perras put together a bid for the contest last year.
It didn't get the traction they
had hoped, so Perras and others tried again this year, before finding out they were officially a finalist March 9 on Hockey Night in Canada. Organizers didn't know they were going to be named in the top four, but dozens gathered for a watch party regardless.
“It was exciting,” said Weber. “I don't think anybody quit talking about it for the next 24 hours.”
While there will be another watch party this Saturday in hopes of hearing their town's name called, there's plenty of work to do during the voting period.
Weber said the town is setting up a voting “war-room” with a series of computers where people will vote around the clock until the contest closes. And it's not just the
town of Wolseley that is coming together to support this bid with dozens of volunteers stepping up, but the community has already received tremendous support from the entire province with previous Saskatchewan finalists in the event reaching out to offer their help.
He also hopes others from across the province will get behind the town and show their support through votes.
“It's crazy because it's not only our community banding together but we've had reach outs from Lumsden, Pense, Assiniboia (and) Ituna,” said Weber.
“The community of Wolseley is now the community of Saskatchewan.”