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The community of Tyne Valley, P.E.I., has hopes of becoming the next Kraft Hockeyville after a fire destroyed their only arena, and other Maritime municipalities are pitching in to help to make that happen.
Several of them have pulled their bids to become the next Kraft Hockeyville and are asking that everyone to throw their weight behind Tyne Valley instead.
That includes Grand Bay-Westfield and Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Tyne Valley Mayor Jeff Noye is overwhelmed by the support.
“The support we have gathered, not just here locally, but regionally, all across the Maritimes has been unbelievable. People deciding that we need this more than they do. But that’s just who we are as Maritimers, that’s just who we are. We’re very thankful,” he said.
Tyne Valley is a small community of around 1500 households, Noye explains.
“The arena and community centre was where everything happened all year round. It’s not just a place where you play hockey and figure skate, it’s also the home of our Oyster festival which is a big thing for us culturally. It’s a place where everyone would meet up. “It is one of the busiest rinks in rural Prince Edward Island the arena was a regular meeting place for everyone,” he said.
“When something like this happens and see everybody pulling behind you, it’s almost tearjerking you know.”
The winner of Kraft Hockeyville receives an NHL game and $250,000 for arena upgrades, something Noye says they need now more than ever.
“This is a huge hockey place, and the game means so much to us. This year we thought this is our year for sure. We need it most right now,” he said.
There’s no word on what caused the fire on December 29th, but Noye says nothing is really salvageable.
“Pretty much all of the jerseys, the banners and any memorabilia, old photos were lost. We are also the home of the Canadian Oyster Shucking Championship and we lost a lot of history there as well, old photos and former Canadian champs. We’re hoping we can find some digital copies. So many memories gone for sure,” he said.
Once the top four communities are chosen, and the voting gets underway online.
The top four communities will be named on March 14th and votes are needed on March 27th and 28th.
