Crossfield rallying to end Alberta's Hockeyville title drought

As voting wraps up on Saturday to crown the next Kraft Hockeyville, Crossfield is bidding to claim Alberta's first grand prize in more than a decade. 

The town, which is roughly 50 km north of Calgary, is one of four finalists left in the annual competition, alongside Honeywood, Ontario, Saint-Boniface, Quebec, and Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.

Online voting started Friday morning. Whichever community has the highest tally by 3 p.m. MT on Saturday will claim $250,000 for arena upgrades and the chance to host an NHL pre-season game.

"Right now, the community is buzzing," said Jennifer Watson, president of the Crossfield Skating Club and an organizer of the Hockeyville bid.

"People are walking around with their Hockeyville T-shirts on. The school has the kids wearing Hockeyville T-shirts or wearing hockey jerseys ... It's pretty cool."

The community has temporarily changed the name of its Railway Street to Kraftville Street for the competition, said Crossfield Minor Hockey Association President Matt Chomistek.

"It's really hard to drive anywhere in Crossfield and not see some sign of our campaign," Chomistek said. "It's been really inspiring to see an entire town and our neighbouring towns get behind this."

Sylvan Lake is Alberta's only Kraft Hockeyville champion to date, capturing the title back in 2014 when the grand prize for arena upgrades was $100,000.

If the crown returns to Alberta this year, the prize money will go toward fixing up Crossfield's only indoor rink, the Pete Knight Memorial Arena. 

The arena is used for hockey, figure skating, lacrosse, high school graduation and other community events.

"The Pete Knight Arena is truly the hub of the community. Being such a small town, we don't have a lot of large places where people can get together," said Chomistek.

"Many of us, especially if you have multiple kids in hockey, we end up there six days a week and love every minute of it. That's sort of where we get to see our kids grow up and develop as people."

The community plans to use the prize money to make the rink more accessible for wheelchair users, by adding automatic doors and a safe seating area.

"There's been skaters whose family members are in wheelchairs that haven't been able to come to the arena to watch their grandchildren skate or access the stands," said Watson. "Even for able-bodied people, they're very difficult to step up into and not safe for kids."

Mayor feeling confident

Even though a Western Canadian community has not won the competition since Lumby, B.C. in 2016, Crossfield Mayor Kim Harris is confident her community can drum up the necessary votes. 

Harris has had some high-profile help from Canadian hockey icon Hayley Wickenheiser, and Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald, both of whom posted videos to social media urging support for Crossfield.

The community gathered at the arena for a rally on Friday night to encourage voting. Another rally is happening Saturday from 1 p.m., as people wait for the final results.

"Watching our residents rally behind one thing, and that one common goal is incredible," said Harris.

"This really shows how much our residents love our town, and that they will do almost anything to make sure our town gets what we need.

"It almost brings me to tears every day lately knowing that everybody is rooting for us."

The three communities that fall short of the grand prize will receive $25,000 for arena upgrades. All four will get $10,000 worth of kids hockey equipment, according to the NHL.

The grand prize winner will be announced live on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.