Fort Frances, Atikokan pass on ‘Hockeyville’

With voting still more than a month away, it’s already known that Rainy River District will not produce the winner of the 2008 Kraft “Hockeyville” contest.
That’s because no communities in the district, including Fort Frances, submitted applications to the contest this year—despite eased rules that required just a short story and three photos to be submitted.
Also passing was Atikokan, which had participated in the first two years of the “Hockeyville” contest, reaching the top 10 in 2006.
Instead, Northwestern Ontario’s lone submissions came from Dryden, Thunder Bay, and Vermilion Bay—a drop in the bucket among the 140 communities entered, including 48 from Ontario alone.
Dryden’s submission, filed by Shannon Brennan a day before the entry deadline, lauds the town as a community with “spectacular history” that is “surrounded by the unsurpassed beauty of the boreal forest, freshwater lakes, and spectacular vistas.”
The submission also mentions the long history of the Dryden Memorial Arena, NHL great and Dryden native Chris Pronger, and the city’s collection of active hockey teams.
The Thunder Bay submission, filed by Stacy O’Neill, referred to the city as the “Home of the Staals,” playing on the four famed brothers, three of which are early in their promising NHL careers.
Meanwhile, Vermilion Bay is “a small northern town with a BIG heart for hockey!” according to Ashley Robinson’s submission, which features its Woodland Arena as the focus of its hockey story.
The submission called the arena “the heart of our community in the winter,” with minor hockey, pick-up games, and old-timers’ hockey played throughout the season.
Voting starts on the evening of Feb. 17 at www.cbc.ca/hockeyville.
The “Hockeyville” promotion, run by CBC and promoted by the NHL, asks for communities from across Canada to show their hockey tradition and pride.
The winner takes home funding for arena upgrades, the opportunity to host an NHL event, and the distinction of being named “Hockeyville” for the year.