OLIVER-PAIPOONGE, Ont. — The prospect of winning the title of Kraft Hockeyville Canada 2021 is generating excitement among users of the NorWest Arena, in particular the Kam River Fighting Walleye Junior A hockey organization.
The rink – located just east of Kakabeka Falls off Highway 17 – has been entered in the competition to host an NHL exhibition game and receive up to $250,000 in arena upgrades.
Abby Dzuba, sales and marketing coordinator for the hockey team, calls the contest "an amazing opportunity."
"We decided that NorWest Arena definitely would be a great contender for Kraft Hockeyville, just to increase community involvement and for local businesses, especially with lockdown right now. We kind of wanted to do something that could help the community out. So we applied for a nomination story last week and it's really gained some traction," Dzuba said in an interview.
The building is owned by the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge, but Dzuba said the hockey club has some ideas for how the grand prize money could be spent, including a video scoreboard.
"We're looking to increase seating for families, build a press box...and also get a screen, maybe...just to enhance the arena so we can do trade shows and other events for the community as well."
Dzuba said efforts are underway to gain traction for the nomination through social media, and there's already been a lot of support from local businesses and community partners.
The scoring system is set up so that nominees gain the most points when supporters submit stories about the rink. Additional points can be gained by sharing the story on Twitter, or adding photos or videos.
"Pretty much all we need from the community right now is to go onto the page, post pictures of Norwest Arena saying why it's such an important part of the Oliver Paipoonge community," Dzuba said.
"I think we could really take this home," she added, saying that with so many activities currently shut down by COVID-19, it would be an amazing opportunity to have an NHL pre-season game in the Thunder Bay area sometime in the future.
Nominations close on Feb. 14.
The four finalists will be announced in March, with the winner in subsequent voting getting the grand prize.
The three runners-up will each receive $25,000 for arena upgrades.
