Staff
It’s all over but the waiting.
Fort Frances’ bid to make it to the next round of Kraft “Hockeyville” 2014 now lies in the hands of the contest’s selection committee after yesterday’s midnight deadline for communities to register for the competition passed.
The local effort wound up getting 264 members signed up on the “Hockeyville” website, as well as 365 video and story uploads.
That put Fort Frances fourth in the West bracket in both members and uploads.
The final jump in the local numbers was bolstered by a two-night sign-up table set up in the Memorial Sports Centre lobby on Friday and Saturday.
Sylvan Lake, Alta. had a huge last couple of days of support to move it into first place by a sizable margin with 1,939 members and 2,158 uploads.
Salmon Arm, B.C. slipped to second in both categories (889/754), while Castlegar, B.C. was third in both areas (461/589).
The selection committee now will debate which 16 communities—eight from the West and eight from the East—will advance to the next round of the competition.
The top 16 will be announced March 8 during “Hockey Night in Canada,” with each community guaranteed $25,000 in arena upgrades.
The eventual winner of Kraft “Hockeyville” 2014 will receive $100,000 in arena upgrades, along with the chance to host an NHL pre-season game and have a CBC crew capture the moment.
In related news, a meeting is set for this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. upstairs at the Memorial Sports Centre to discuss preparations for the next stage of the contest should Fort Frances move on.
