Since no one else brought it up, I will. Congratulations to the little village of Salmon River, Nova Scotia for winning the Kraft Hockeyville Contest!
A little cheesy perhaps (and I can't say I watched the show - and even forgot to watch the final, despite knowing the local town was a finalist), but a win is a win.
Salmon River is so small even I've never heard of the place, even though it's only about an hour and a half from here. I was sort of hoping for Windsor, NS - the so-called Birthplace of Hockey - but now we can lay claim to the birthplace as well as Hockeyville!
It will be neat to see the NHL exhibition game in that little community rink. I'll have to try to snag a ticket.
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Not sure if this has been posted about already (sorry if it has). This is the first I've heard about it & thought I'd post it.
Habs heading to Hockeyville Montreal to face Ottawa in Salmon River, Nova Scotia (07/18/2006) Radek Bonk and the Canadiens will be facing off against the Senators in a Kraft Hockeyville preseason matchup on Sept. 25.
PRESS RELEASE
MONTREAL - Kraft Canada and CBC Television, along with the National Hockey League and the National Hockey Players’ Association, are pleased to announce that the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators will be playing a pre-season game as part of the Kraft Hockeyville 2006 grand prize. Salmon River, Nova Scotia, edged out more than 450 entries and proved that they deserved to be crowned Hockeyville by demonstrating how their community best fulfilled the Kraft Hockeyville equation: Community Spirit + Hockey = Hockeyville. The game will be played on Monday, September 25, 2006.
“The entire Montreal Canadiens organization is excited to be part of the Kraft Hockeyville experience. Many of our players grew up playing hockey in local community arenas, and have fond childhood memories of places just like this,” said Bob Gainey, the Canadiens' Executive Vice President and General Manager. “Big dreams start in small places and we’re overjoyed with the opportunity to be playing in a local arena in front of these fans.”
Salmon River was voted Kraft Hockeyville by viewers of the show’s season finale, which aired on CBC Television on June 11, 2006. In addition to being awarded an NHL pre-season game to be played in a local community arena, the grand prize also includes $10,000 in hockey equipment from CCM/Reebok and distributed through the NHLPA's Goals & Dreams fund, and a $50,000 gift card for arena upgrades from presenting sponsor The Home Depot. Due to the limited amount of seats in the Salmon River community rink, the NHL pre-season game will be played in nearby Truro, Nova Scotia, allowing the maximum amount of Salmon River residents to attend the game.
“It is a thrill to play in front of Canada’s most passionate hockey community. Salmon River demonstrated the spirit of what teamwork and the game of hockey is all about,” said Roy Mlakar, president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators and Scotiabank Place. “We are pleased to be part of Kraft Hockeyville and to bring some of the world’s top players to the fans in Salmon River.”
Throughout the competition, Salmon River displayed true spirit and energy as they defended their right to the title through a series of community-produced video submissions and face-to-face challenges with other finalists and celebrity judges. “The community of Salmon River really showed its spirit and passion while vying for the Kraft Hockeyville title,” said Ellery Deuville, team leader for the Salmon River Kraft Hockeyville committee. “We had a lot of fun during the competition, but nothing will compare to the experience of watching an NHL exhibition game with my neighbours.”
“Kraft Canada is delighted to bring the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators to Nova Scotia as part of the grand prize award for Salmon River winning the coveted title of Kraft Hockeyville,” said Dino Bianco, President of Kraft Canada. “We were absolutely blown away with the number of entries into the competition. The level of ingenuity and uniqueness of the admissions truly shows just how passionate Canadian communities are about the game of hockey.”
Teamwork, co-operation, and passion are traits possessed by all great teams and great Canadian communities. Every community, whether it’s a small town or situated within a big city, was invited to demonstrate its love of the game and share grassroots hockey stories to earn the title of Kraft Hockeyville. Over seven episodes, CBC Television chronicled the stories from Canada’s most enthusiastic regions as they vied for the Kraft Hockeyville title.
Actually the game will be played in the nearby town of Truro (home of the "I am Canadian" Molson guy), which has a larger rink (2,200 versus a few hundred). I will try to snag a ticket, but good luck to me.
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Nil d wrote: Congratulations to the little village of Salmon River, Nova Scotia for winning the Kraft Hockeyville Contest! And-o thought something seemed fishy about that!
Don't quit your day job.
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.