Kraft Hockeyville

Kraft Hockeyville is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Foods, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association in which communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey. The winning community gets a cash prize dedicated to upgrading their local home arena, as well as the opportunity to host an NHL pre-season game. Runners-up also get smaller cash prizes to upgrade their ice rinks. The contest is normally held in the winter and spring during the latter half of the NHL regular season, with the pre-season game usually held in September before the following regular season.

The competition was first held across Canada in 2006 as a reality television series aired by CBC Television, but since 2007, it has been relegated to segments aired during CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. In 2015, Kraft Hockeyville was expanded into the United States, with a separate competition for communities in America; segments of the US contest are aired on the NHL on NBC.

The Kraft Hockeyville games are televised nationally. From 2006 to 2014, the game was broadcast across Canada on CBC, while Sportsnet took over airing it in 2015. The Hockeyville USA game is televised nationally in the U.S. on NBCSN.

History

2006 season

The inaugural 2006 season of Hockeyville was won by the community of Salmon River, Nova Scotia on June 11. Salmon River's entry, the "Deuvilles Rink", beat 450 other entries from across Canada. Episodes for the 2006 season were shot in arenas in different cities throughout Ontario, with the final episode shot in Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena & Skating Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.

The NHL exhibition game was held September 25 at the Colchester Legion Stadium in the neighbouring town of Truro (the Deuville Rink being too small); the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators 7-3.

2007 season

The 2007 season of Hockeyville began on March 4 and was changed significantly from the previous season's format. Organizers made the application process more accessible. Communities could now enter by logging on to the website, creating a team name, filling out an application form, submitting a short essay and including three photographs which depict hometown pride and passion for the game of hockey. A video, which was a requirement in previous contests, is no longer part of the process.

In 2007 the series was no longer given its own time slot, but rather shown during broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada.

The Top 10 communities resulting from the first round were Cornwall, Ontario; Nanaimo, British Columbia; Noëlville, Ontario; North Bay, Ontario; Plaster Rock, New Brunswick; Rockyford, Alberta; Saint-Hubert, Quebec; Smithers, British Columbia; Vernon, British Columbia and Warner, Alberta.

The Top 5 communities resulting from the second round were Cornwall, Noëlville, North Bay, Smithers and Warner.

North Bay was the winner. The Atlanta Thrashers beat the New York Islanders 4-3 in overtime.

2008 season

The 2008 season of Kraft Hockeyville began February 23.

The top 10 communities that were in the running for Kraft Hockeyville 2008 were:

The top 5 communities were:

On April 8, 2008, Roberval won the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2008. Roberval won:

The pre-season game has been taped and shown on a Hockeyville special Saturday, September 27.[1]

The 4 remaining communities from the Top 5 won:

2009 season

The 2009 edition had these cities as the five regional finalists:

The winner, announced on March 7 during the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, was Terrace, British Columbia. Terrace played host to the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders on Monday, September 14, in which the Canucks defeated the Islanders by a score of 2-1. The game was broadcast live on NHL Network in the USA, and highlights were televised during a one-hour Kraft Hockeyville broadcast showcasing their community on CBC Television. Terrace also received CDN $100,000 towards arena upgrades from Kraft Canada.

2010 season

The five finalists for the 2010 edition of Hockeyville

Dundas, Ontario was announced as the winner by Gary Bettman on April 3, 2010, during the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast with 1,066,855 votes.[2] The game featured division rivals Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators playing in Dundas's J. L. Grightmire Arena on September 28, 2010, with Buffalo winning 2-1.[3] (Incidentally, Dundas has been, since 2001, within the boundaries of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a frequent target of efforts regarding potential National Hockey League expansion.)

2011 season

In 2011, the wildcard was eliminated and the West and Pacific divisions were split from each other.

The top 5 communities were:

Conception Bay, NL, was declared the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2011 on April 2, 2011. The town's arena received $100,000 worth of renovations, and also was to host a pre-season game between the Ottawa Senators and the Atlanta Thrashers on September 26, 2011. However, with the purchase of the Thrashers and their re-location to Winnipeg as a revival of the Winnipeg Jets, the game was instead played between the Senators and Jets. Additionally, the game was re-located to the Mile One Centre in St. John's, 30 km north of Conception Bay South, which was the home arena of their newly relocated American Hockey League affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps (formerly the Manitoba Moose). The Jets defeated the Senators, 3–1.[4]

Each of the other 4 finalists will receive $25,000 in arena upgrades from Kraft.

2012 season

Stirling-Rawdon, Ontario was the winner of the 2012 Kraft Hockeyville contest. The planned game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 3[5][6] was eventually cancelled due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout, but other festivities continued as scheduled. An NHL alumni charity game was held in the town instead, with one of the participants being Stirling native Rob Ray.

2013 season

Although the 2013 version of the contest was initially cancelled outright due to the lockout,[7] the league later awarded a game between the Washington Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets to an arena in Belleville, Ontario under the Hockeyville brand.[8]

2014 season

The Top 16 towns for the Kraft Hockeyville contest were announced on Saturday, March 8. This year's contest has a theme much like the NHL itself: East VS West. This means there are 8 towns chosen from Eastern Canada and 8 towns from Western Canada.[9]

From Eastern Canada:

From Western Canada:

This year, the top 16 towns are guaranteed $25,000 in upgrades to their arenas instead of the top 5. Then the top 4 (two from the East and two from the West) received at least $50,000. The winner receives the usual prize of $100,000, an NHL pre-season game hosted in their community, and a visit from CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Voting for the top 16 ended on Monday, March 10.[10] Sylvan Lake won the competition on April 7, and hosted a pre-season game between the Arizona Coyotes and the Calgary Flames on September 24.

2015 season

For the 2015 season, Kraft Hockeyville USA, for the first time, drew candidates from the United States. The US finalist in the east was the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, while the finalist in the west was the Decatur Civic Center in Decatur, Illinois. Johnstown was named the winner on May 2, received US$150,000 for arena upgrades, and hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins.[11] The game was televised in the United States on NBCSN.

The Canadian Kraft Hockeyville finalist in the east was the Chatham Memorial Arena in Chatham, Ontario, and the finalist in the west was the Panorama Recreation Center Hockey Arena in North Saanich, British Columbia. North Saanich was named the winner on April 5, and received C$100,000 in upgrades.[12] Because the Panorama Recreation Center Hockey Arena had a limited capacity of only 500, the pre-season game featuring the San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks was instead played at The Q Centre in nearby Colwood.[13] For the first time, the Hockeyville game was broadcast in Canada on Sportsnet instead of CBC.

2016 season

The Canadian Kraft Hockeyville finalist in the east was the Aréna St-Isidore in Saint-Isidore, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, and the finalist in the west was the Pat Duke Memorial Arena in Lumby, British Columbia. Lumby was named the winner on April 2, and received C$100,000 in upgrades.[14] Because the Pat Duke Memorial Arena had a limited seating capacity, the pre-season game featuring the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers on October 2 was instead played at Kal Tire Place in nearby Vernon.[15]

The Kraft Hockeyville USA finalist in the east was the Lakeview Arena in Marquette, Michigan, and the finalist in the west was the Rushmore Thunderdome in Rapid City, South Dakota. Marquette was named the winner on April 30, received US$150,000 in upgrades, and hosted the Carolina Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabres on October 4.[16]

List of winners/pre-season games

Bolded teams denote winners

Date Winning site[17] Away Team Home Team Score Recap
September 25, 2006 Deuvilles Rink, Salmon River, Nova Scotia
(Colchester Legion Stadium, Truro, Nova Scotia)[upper-alpha 1]		 Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators 7–3 Recap
September 17, 2007 North Bay Memorial Gardens, North Bay, Ontario Atlanta Thrashers New York Islanders 4–3 (OT) Recap
September 23, 2008 Benoit-Levesque Arena, Roberval, Quebec Buffalo Sabres Montreal Canadiens 2–3 Recap
September 14, 2009 Terrace Sportsplex, Terrace, British Columbia New York Islanders Vancouver Canucks 1–2 Recap
September 28, 2010 J. L. Grightmire Arena, Dundas, Ontario Buffalo Sabres Ottawa Senators 2–1 Recap
September 26, 2011 Robert French Memorial Stadium, Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador
(Mile One Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador)[upper-alpha 2]		 Winnipeg Jets Ottawa Senators 3–1 Recap
October 3, 2012 Stirling Arena, Stirling-Rawdon, Ontario[5][6] Columbus Blue Jackets Toronto Maple Leafs Cancelled[upper-alpha 3]
September 14, 2013 Yardmen Arena, Belleville, Ontario[upper-alpha 4] Washington Capitals Winnipeg Jets 4–3 (SO) Recap
September 24, 2014 Sylvan Lake Arena, Sylvan Lake, Alberta Arizona Coyotes Calgary Flames 3–4 (OT) Recap
September 21, 2015 Panorama Recreation Center Hockey Arena, North Saanich, British Columbia
(The Q Centre, Colwood, British Columbia)[upper-alpha 5]		 San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks 0–1 (OT) Recap
September 29, 2015 Cambria County War Memorial Arena, Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tampa Bay Lightning Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 Recap
October 2, 2016 Pat Duke Memorial Arena, Lumby, British Columbia
(Kal Tire Place, Vernon, British Columbia)[upper-alpha 6]		 Los Angeles Kings Edmonton Oilers 2–3 Recap
October 4, 2016 Lakeview Arena, Marquette, Michigan Carolina Hurricanes Buffalo Sabres 0–2 Recap
  1. ↑ Deuvilles Rink was too small to host an NHL game. The pre-season match was instead played in Truro.
  2. ↑ The game was moved to St. John's in recognition of the Winnipeg Jets' then-new affiliated minor league team, the St. John's IceCaps.
  3. ↑ Game was cancelled due to 2012–13 NHL lockout.
  4. ↑ Because of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, there was no Kraft Hockeyville contest during that season. The league then awarded a game to Belleville under the Kraft Hockeyville banner.
  5. ↑ Panorama Recreation Center was too small to host an NHL game. The pre-season match was moved to Colwood.
  6. ↑ Pat Duke Memorial Arena was too small to host an NHL game. The pre-season match was moved to Vernon.

References

  1. ↑ CNW Group | NEWS - MEDIA | Roberval, Quebec wins KRAFT HOCKEYVILLE 2008
  2. ↑ "Dundas: Canada's Hockeyville". TheSpec.com. 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. ↑ http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=538905
  4. ↑ NHL set to play preseason games all over world. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Stirling-Rawdon crowned Kraft Hockeyville". NHL.com. March 31, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Leafs announce 2012-13 schedule". Toronto Sun. June 21, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/calgary-flames/Kraft+cancels+Hockeyville+program+lockout/7583826/story.html
  8. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/capitals-watch/2013/jun/27/capitals-face-blackhawks-bruins-twice-each-preseas/
  9. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/hockeyville-top-16-communites-announced-1.2565151
  10. ↑ http://krafthockeyville.cbc.ca/
  11. ↑ "Johnstown, PA wins title of first-ever "Kraft Hockeyville USA"". NHL.com. May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ "North Saanich, B.C. named Kraft Hockeyville 2015". NHL.com. April 5, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ "North Saanich's Kraft Hockeyville game headed to The Q Centre". Times Colonist. June 25, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Kraft Hockeyville chooses Lumby, British Columbia". NHL.com. April 3, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Kal Tire Place will host Kraft Hockeyville NHL pre-season game Oct. 2". Vernon Morning Star. July 26, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Marquette, Mich., wins Kraft Hockeyville USA 2016". NHL.com. April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Kraft Hockeyville Past Winners". Kraft Hockeyville 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.

External links

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