What Is Kraft Hockeyville, Anyways?

I'm pretty sure a lot of New York Islanders fans were scratching their heads when they looked at their team's pre-season schedule"

Sept. 14th - Islanders @ Canucks at Terrace, BC

Where? Terrace, BC? A quick look at the map tells us Terrace is much closer to Sarah Palin's Alaska than it is the Olympic city of Vancouver. Why on earth are the Islanders travelling all the way up there?

The answer lies in the city's one day name change. On September 14th all eyes of the hockey world will be on Hockeyville.

Terrace, BC won the Kraft Hockeyville 2009 competition. It is a Canadian reality television show on the CBC, and sponsored by Kraft, in conjunction with the NHL and NHLPA. Small communities across Canada compete to be declared the most spirited hockey community in Canada. The winner, as voted by the fans, gets $100,000 for rink improvements. More importantly, they get a NHL exhibition game in their small town.

The Canucks and the Islanders were selected to play in this year's Hockeyville game. For the Islanders it is the second time they will compete in the annual Hockeyville game. They lost 4-3 in overtime to the Atlanta Thrashers in North Bay, Ontario in 2007.

"It is an honour to be selected to play in Terrace, the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2009," said Garth Snow, New York Islanders General Manager. "The Terrace community embodies the passion that all hockey fans feel about NHL hockey."

Approximately 1200 people will squeeze into Terrace's Main Arena to watch the game. Although Terrace recently built a NHL-sized sheet of ice, the original arena was chosen to host the game because it has a significantly higher seating capacity.

Terrace is a city of approximately 12,000 people, with a regional population of about 20,000. That means almost the entire population of the region could fit into either Nassau Coliseum or GM Place!

Related: Earlier this year I wrote a piece explaining what Hockeyville really means. It's more about our community and our kids than it is about hockey.

GHL Hockeyville coverage sponsored by Skeena River Fishing Lodge:

TERRACE IS HOCKEYVILLE!

Unbelievable! Terrace Is Hockeyville 2009!

I don't know if I ever truly believed Terrace would actually win this thing. A huge thank you must go out to the amazing Hockeyville Committe - Carol Fielding, RJ Miyagawa, Steve Smyth, Bob Park and Bruce Martindale. There are many more thank yous and more committee members, more than I can remember. But thank you, nonetheless!

This town has been on hard times for a long time now. The recent joke is that the global recession means everyone else is just catching up to us. Hockeyville has been an amazing experience, bringing life and hope to our hard hit community. Regardless of the NHL coming to town, and the cash prize for arena improvements, we have already won in so many ways, especially the youth of this town.

As Cassie Campbell noted when she was in Terrace: "I truly believe that win or lose, the people of the community of Terrace can honestly come out of this competition with the satisfaction that this project brought them closer together. People of different backgrounds all coming together for one common goal — each other."

To the Terrace is Hockeyville committee - thank you.

Final voting results from Kraft Hockeyville 2009 exceeded all previous records totaling 6,390,999 votes.

Terrace, BC - 1,923,456
Humboldt, Saskatchewan - 1,810,100
Woolwich Township, Ontario - 1,163,142
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland - 754,936
Thetford Mines, Quebec - 739,365

The Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders will come to Terrace to play a NHL pre-season game on Sept. 14th, 2009.

P.S. - Congratulations goes out to the Williams Lake Stampeders. The Stamps defeated the Powell River Regals 5-4 in over time to capture the Coy Cup. The Stamps are the AA Senior mens champions of British Columbia. The Coy Cup Tournament was held right here in Hockeyville.

Kraft Hockeyville 2009: Vote For Terrace And Win

From Saturday, February 28th at 9pm PST, through Wednesday March 4th at 9pm PST, the Kraft Hockeyville voting process re-opens, this time with just five choices to determine the ultimate winner:

Terrace, British Columbia
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland
Woolwich, Ontario
Humboldt, Saskatchewan
Thetford Mines, Quebec

My loyalties are no secret. Terrace is my hometown. I have seen firsthand the amazing effect Kraft Hockeyville has had on our community. I suspect all of the five final communities will agree that regardless of who wins the final vote, we are all winners already.

But I figure we've already come this far, why don't we go out and win this thing already!

Because I find it hard to believe Terrace has the population base to pull this thing out, I am once again soliciting out of town support.

What I want each and every of my readers to do is to go to the Kraft Hockeyville 2009 website, review each of the five campaigns, and then vote. Vote as many times as you wish, for whoever you wish.

If you do not have any particular affiliation to any of the other communities, I will encourage you to vote for my hometown, Terrace, BC as Hockeyville 2009!

Last go-around I offered Kraft hockey cards from the 1980s in a random drawing. Well we all need to upgrade our efforts if we are going to win, so I am going to upgrade the prizes.

I want you to email me your name and hometown, and how many times you voted for Terrace as Hockeyville. If you vote a minimum of 200 times, I will put you in the drawing for our randomly drawn grand prize - an authentic Team Canada hockey jersey!

If you voted a minimum of 100 times, I will put you in the drawing for one of six autographed copies of my own books. There will be three copies of The World Cup Of Hockey and three copies of Legends Of Team Canada up for grabs!

So come back next weekend, vote early and vote often, and get your name in for a chance to win some pretty cool prizes.

TERRACE, BC is HOCKEYVILLE!!

What Hockeyville Really Means

Hockeyville is in Terrace. Hockey Night In Canada will be broadcasting from the Terrace Sportsplex, keeping tabs on the senior Terrace River Kings playoff match against the Hazelton Wolverines. Be sure to tune in to Hockey Night In Canada Saturday night and see why Terrace is Hockeyville!

Kirk McLean and Cassie Campbell are in town. Businesses and schools are all busy decorating, and main street is closing to vehicle traffic so that we can play street hockey games. Hopefully the chilling rains subside, because this is one the biggest weekends the town of Terrace has ever seen.

What Hockeyville Really Means

I have noticed some people are a bit critical about Hockeyville. "Not everyone likes hockey," mumble these piddling grumps who can not see past their own stuck-up-in-the-air noses.

But Hockeyville is not really about hockey. It's about town spirit. It's about promoting our town. And it's about the youth of Terrace, the future of community.

When was the last time we saw Terrace get so involved in a community event? This dwarfs Riverboat Days or the Farmer's Market or celebrating that three day stretch of hot weather we occasionally get in the summer time.

And how is it a bad thing to have Terrace promoted before an audience of at least 1 million people, likely much more? If 1%, or 10,000, of these people say hey let's go check out that Terrace place some time in the next couple of years, that is amazing free advertising. 10,000 people staying at hotels, lodges or campgrounds, eating at local restaurants, buying fishing licenses and gear. . . spending money in our community. How can you not support that?

Achieving Dreams and Giving Hope

And then there is the youth. Kirk McLean and especially Cassie Campbell were amazing, holding seminars on and off ice, sharing with kids the stories and moments of glory days, and telling them how it is possible for every kid in town to achieve similar dreams. Not necessarily hockey dreams, but any dreams. With their inspiration and guidance, maybe years from Terrace will boast a Prime Minister, an astronaut or a NHL star. Or maybe some will stay home, and become doctors or teachers, entrepreneurs and coaches right here in Terrace.

It is important for the youth to have dreams and just as important to know that yes they can achieve them. That's what Hockeyville is really about.

Free Kraft Cards If You Vote Terrace Is Hockeyville

In the 1986-87 hockey season, Kraft gave away some of the most beautiful hockey cards you will ever see inside packages of Kraft Dinner. I believe they were only available in Canada, with 10 cards from the 7 Canadian teams of the time, including Winnipeg and Quebec.

Here's a look at four of the cards from the Edmonton Oilers set:

I am going to give these four cards away. Here's how you can win them.

My small northern BC town is one of the finalists for Hockeyville. Terrace is Hockeyville needs your votes. We do not have the population to ensure our own bid, so I am asking for out of town support.

I need you to go to www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeyville and vote for Terrace many, many times! Once you do, email me at teamcanada72@gmail.com, and tell me how many times you voted for Terrace is Hockeyville! We will have to on the honor system here, but the person who I believe actually voted the most times for Terrace Is Hockeyville will get these four cards pictured above.

We only have until 9PM EST on Sunday, January 18th to get Terrace into the top five. I will announce the winners of the cards on Monday, January 19th.

Further, I found three other Kraft cards I found. I will give them away randomly to those who do email me with their a minimum 10 votes. The three additional cards depict Sergio Momesso (Montreal), Jim Peplinksi (Calgary) and Russ Courtnall (Toronto).

It's time to vote Terrace for Hockeyville!

Welcome to Hockeyville

This is Hockeyville. Terrace, British Columbia. My hometown.

We live along the mighty Skeena river, one of many notable tributaries in the area. We are one of the most famous sport fishing spots on the globe, luring anglers from all over North America and Europe.

As you can see we are nestled in amongst the many mighty mountains, with the Kitimat, Coastal and Hazelton ranges towering nearby. The mountains make for unforgettable scenery, unparalleled heli-skiing and world-class hiking, camping and mountain biking.

There's a pretty good chance you'll see some bears around our neck of the woods. If you are really lucky you will catch a rare peek at the Kermode Bear, a black bear with a white coat. Northwest BC is the only spot in the world where this endangered bear still survives.

If you are real lucky maybe you will even catch a glimpse of those amazing Northern Lights.

Native culture reigns supreme here. The rest of the world is enthralled with the art and culture and of course the totem poles. Museums around the world are constructing displays to recreate it. This is the real thing.

Terrace is the service center of northwestern BC. We have an approximate official population 12,000 people, with that number inflating to about 20,000 including the nearby smaller and native villages. Pretty much the entire region could fit inside GM Place or Nassau Coliseum.

Those numbers are down pretty significantly from a decade ago or more now. Logging was easily the number one industry in town, but in the past decade one mill has been dismantled while the other is used periodically at best. Not surprisingly, many people have had to leave town.

Losing the number one industry in town has meant the rest of town has suffered, too. There have not been too many industries to thrive in the decade-long down turn. These have been very lean years, indeed.

What keeps this community going is an undeterred spirit. It is that spirit that has brought the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders to town this Monday.

Against long odds Terrace banded together like never before to embrace the Hockeyville contest for the first time. Hockey is very much a big part of our lives. The arena is our community hall.

We rallied together in a love for hockey and a bigger love for Terrace. We successfully brought the NHL and the hockey world home.

Home. . . to the game's grassroots.

Home . . . to Hockeyville.



GHL Hockeyville coverage sponsored by Skeena River Fishing Lodge:

A Word About Hockeyville Tickets

I have been inundated with requests for ticket information. The best part is most of these people are from out of town, and want to come to Terrace for Hockeyville!

The bad news is I have no inside information on tickets. In fact, the Hockeyville Committee does not really know who I am.

Here is what the committee's Steve Smyth had to say about Hockeyville tickets via the Facebook group:

From what we have been told, and its very early to know for sure, the "Committee" has no say in who will get tickets. Only that they will distributed (and NOT sold) in a fair and equitable manner. The emphasis, we are told, is on getting as many kids in the game as possible. Not just hockey players, not just organizers.

About the possibility of the game being held down the road in Kitimat.

As far as Kitimat? well, our preference since the beginning has been to play the game here in Terrace but it is not our decision. The rink must pass inspection by the NHLPA. If it doesn't, there isnt anything we can do other than go to Tamatik. We are hoping not. Lets just enjoy the ride for now. We are Hockeyville, and we've worked so hard to get here. Lets have fun.

Terrace Is Hockeyville!

CBC presents the top ten communities for Kraft Hockeyville 2009 Wednesday night on television.

Terrace, my small hometown in Northern British Columbia, is one of the final ten communities.

You can learn more about the Terrace bid here, here, here and here. You can also learn about my hometown and surrounding areas in this old blog project I never kept up with.

I am really impressed with how the community has come together in our first real bid at Hockeyville. People braved one of the worst snowstorms in years to get out to Lakelse Lake and play in a big game of shinny while CBC was up here. The whole town is decorated in hockey jerseys and such. Even the rare Kermodei Bears (not Spirit Bears, damn it!) are wearing Hockeyville jerseys.

It really is amazing to witness. Terrace has hit hard times long before the world even hinted at economic recessions. The mill shutdown. Mining projects have disappeared over night, as now have nearby aluminum smelter expansion plans. Many people have moved away.

Hockeyville has brought together community spirit like I have not seen in years. It has helped to reinstill pride in Terrace, and hope for the future. A big thank you must go out to the organizers of this impressive bid.

If you are a regular reader of mine, and have no particular affiliation to any of the other cities, you might want to drop a vote or ten for my hometown, Terrace BC - where the bears are white and the fish are red, and everyone loves hockey! Go to www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeyville and vote for Terrace many, many times! Hurry, we only have until Sunday evening to get the votes in.

I will be offering a contest rewarding those who vote for Terrace. More soon.

Hockeyville Prizes

So the Hockeyville voting period has ended. On Saturday night Hockey Night In Canada will announce the winner of the Hockeyville contest!

As you may know I ran a contest to give away a jersey and copies of my own books in exchange for Hockeyville votes. Here are the winners, randomly drawn from the 489 entrants. Interestingly, no one from Terrace entered the contest.

Team Canada Jersey: Sarah Pollack of Courtenay, British Columbia.
World Cup Books: Chris McDonnell of Edmonton, Richard Adams of Langley and Andrew Peck of Prince George.
Legends of Team Canada Books: Jim Sheridan of Penticton, Erin Hodgson of Victoria and Marcel Robinson of Saskatoon.

Thanks again for all those who supported Terrace is Hockeyville!

Smithers is Hockeyville

Being from a small town in remote northwestern British Columbia myself, I feel I must throw my Hockeyville support to the community of Smithers. From the Watson family to current stars Dan Hamhuis and Sarah Campbell, hockey has a rich tradition in this cozy Bulkley Valley town.

It is amazing to see how such an event has brought this great community together. You can feel the beaming pride all the way down the road here in Terrace. So to everyone in Smithers, especially Sean Zanberg from Waiting For Stanley and the folks at Smithers is Hockeyville, best of luck. You're already winners.

Vote For Smithers is Hockeyville at CBC.ca

Deadline Passed - Still Time To Vote For Terrace Is Hockeyville

There is another deadline tonight, and I am going to be busy with that. Midnight is the closing of the Hockeyville contest, with internet voting extended until 1:30 EST. As you may know my hometown is one of the five finalists. I have a lot of regular readers, so I'm asking you to support Terrace is Hockeyville! Vote at least a few times for Terrace is Hockeyville!

Hockeyville Slap Shots: No Tavares

Just a few random Hockeyville Slap Shots for the evening.

• Brian Compton's live blog at NHL.com has been fun to watch. On the Friday he mentioned how the weather was no cooperating. Yes it was raining, but Brian, for Terrace that was not even close to what we call rain!
• Speaking of the media, here's who I know is coming to town: Gord McIntyre (Vancouver Province), Perry Solkowski (CTV), Elliot Pap (Vancouver Sun), Kristin Reid and Derek Jory (Canucks.com), as well as a boatload of CBC people, both on the radio and tv side. I assume John Shorthouse and Tom Larscheid will be here to call the game for Team 1040/Sportsnet, with NHL Network likely to pick up that feed as well.
• Katie Strang of Newsday tells me it appears that John Tavares WILL NOT be in Terrace. So much for those ad campaigns selling Luongo vs Tavares in his first game as an Islander.

UPDATE: Brian Compton had a chance to interview Ken Morrow, who arrived early for Hockeyville. The Olympic gold medalist and 4 time Stanley Cup champion is happy to be in Hockeyville.

Join The Cheer

One of the great memories I will always have of Hockeyville was the final 30 seconds of the game. With the world watching on televisions and computers everywhere, the Canucks are trying to hang on to their 2-1 lead while the whole crowd erupts into one final send off:

"Terrace is Hockeyville! Terrace is Hockeyville!" Over and over, "Terrace is Hockeyville!"

It reminded me a lot of 2002 in the final minute of play of the Olympic gold medal game. With Canada mere seconds away from the gold medal, the large contingent of Canadian fans burst into a spontaneous (and never better) rendition of "O' Canada."

We have anthems. Many teams have a definitive song they play at certain times. Montreal fans like to sing Ole. But there is no definitive cheer in hockey, certainly not at the national level.

Which leads me to mentioning Pepsi's new Join The Cheer contest. They want to come up with the definitive cheer to urge on our men's, women's and sledge hockey teams at international tournaments such as the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and beyond. They want the fans to be as prepared as our athletes will be.

How about - "We want gold! We want gold!" Or maybe - "It's Our Game! It's Our Game!"

I'm sure you can do better than me. If you agree, be sure to enter your cheer at http://pepsi.ca/jointhecheer. If you win, you can lead the cheers at the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatoon and the 2010 Men's World Championships in Germany.

That's right. Pepsi's paying the bills. I'll drink to that!

Hockeyville Central

With Kraft Hockeyville 2009 approaching, the focus on this website will change somewhat. I am covering the event for The Hockey News and the New York Islanders. I will also being using GHL for a platform for the event. I do have some very special historical pieces coming out in the next couple of days, pieces that I have worked quite hard at. I hope you enjoy them as much as I plan on enjoying Hockeyville!

Catching Up With The Past

Catching Up With The Past is a weekly round up of all the news involving former NHL players and hockey legends in general. As always, click on the link for the original news stories.

The big news this week is the passing of Ned Harkness, legendary coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell and former general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He died on Friday, suffering a stroke at the age of 89.

Believe it or not, Claude Lemieux is interested in making a comeback to the NHL.

Cornwall, the supposed hockeyville champion of 2007 even though Smithers was clearly the better choice, has committed great injustice in not recognizing two hometown hockey hall of famers. While Cornwall celebrates it's great hockey history, there is next to no mention of Newsy Lalonde or Cy Denneny.

Speaking of Hockeyville, I really enjoyed the NHL Network coverage of the Montreal-Buffalo pre-season game at Roberval, Hockeyville 2008. I think it was the different camera angles that made it so interesting to watch.

Celebrating their 100th season of hockey, the Montreal Canadiens will be honored with commemorative stamps and even a loonie.

Former NHL defenseman and coach Joel Quenneville was arrested for suspicion of driving while impaired this week.

Ryan Walter is happy to be home in Vancouver.

Red Berenson is a NCAA coaching legend enjoying his time as a guest coach at the Detroit Red Wings training camp.

This will be the last NHL season for referee Rob Schick.

Maureen McMorrow remembers Vladislav Tretiak.

Former NHL goalie Pat Jablonski is making a full recovery after breaking his back in a surfing accident.

Check in every Thursday for Catching Up With The Past.

Hockeyville: My THN Article

I was lucky enough to have media credentials for Hockeyville, thanks to Edward Fraser, Jason Kay and The Hockey News. My article has just gone live - I hope you enjoy it and give me some feedback.

It was a surreal experience. We all had assigned seats at tables. The local papers and tv/radio people were all in the back and given their game program. Because I was with The Hockey News, I got a prime table complete with all the computer hook ups and telephone lines you could imagine. I was right beside NHL.com and Getty Images, with the Vancouver papers at the table next to me.

I really have to thank The Hockey News. The NHL did not approve new media-extraordinaire Sean Zandberg from Nucks Misconduct. Why? Almost certainly because he is "a blogger." I suspect that without THN's rubber stamp, I would not have gotten in with press credential either, despite authoring two books and writing freelance for major magazines and news outlets. The bias against the new media continues.

By the way, I gave permission to NHLpro out of Czech Republic to translate my articles and promote Hockeyville all the way over there. Here's an example.

Shoebox Memories: Wade Flaherty

This is Wade Flaherty, Terrace's best known NHL export. Flaherty played 18 years of professional hockey, playing everywhere from Kansas City to China. He also participated in parts of 11 NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators, mostly backing up and making relief appearances.

He also briefly appeared in a Vancouver Canucks jersey, although never playing in a game. He did back up for a few games for the team he grew up cheering on.

Unfortunately "Flats" will not be part of the Hockeyville festivities. He is the new goaltending consultant for the Chicago Blackhawks, and since this is training camp time, he is busy working with the Hawks young goaltenders.

Brian Compton of NHL.com has a nice piece profiling Flaherty and his thoughts on Hockeyville.

Related NHL.com articles:

• Excitement Builds For Hockeyville
• Referee Kozari Has Fond Memories Of Terrace
  

Don Cherry Is Coming To Hockeyville

From the Terrace Standard.com:

Add Don Cherry to the list of dignitaries and celebrities visiting Terrace this weekend in celebration of the Kraft Hockeyville pre-season game between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders Sept. 14.

The controversial, colourful and always entertaining CBC Hockey Night in Canada commentator is scheduled to be in Terrace to take part in the hoop-la surrounding the game on the Monday evening.

Here's the full story.

I'm not sure who will be the bigger draw - Cherry or the Stanley Cup? Maybe neither if Roberto Luongo makes the trip north.

Cassie Campbell, Bryan Trottier, Dave Babych and Cliff Ronning are also coming to Hockeyville.

Espositos Say Terrace Is Hockeyville!

C'mon everybody! Get out there and vote Terrace is Hockeyville!

Even the Esposito brothers are voting for Terrace. Yep, that's Phil and Tony with a Terrace is Hockeyville jersey!

Last Day To Vote For Hockeyville

Don't forget people, today is the last day to vote for Hockeyville. My hometown of Terrace, BC is in the final ten, and I'm trying to drum up enough out of town votes to get us into the final five! So if you like my site, and don't have any vested interest in any of the other communities, go to CBC's website and vote Terrace Is Hockeyville!

An update on the Kraft Hockey Cards I'm giving away. I never expected so many emails. Although I am not completely certain, I think I'm pushing 2000 entries. I will never be able to get through all of the emails to thank everyone for voting personally, so thank you!