SYLVAN LAKE – The NHL laced up their skates in small town Alberta Wednesday.
Sylvan Lake beat out 500 other communities to win the opportunity as “Kraft Hockeyville” last spring.
Several people camped out for hours securing their spot to witness the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes pre-season game.
The town of 13,000 suffered a tremendous loss in January when their decades-old arena collapsed under heavy snow.
“We’re a community that bleeds hockey and comes together when it counts,” says Sean McIntyre, Mayor of Sylvan Lake.
Fortunately, there’s a $100,000 prize that comes along with the “Hockeyville” title and pre-season game.
The money will go towards rebuilding the arena.
“Shortly after the Hockeyville celebrations here, both our old arena and our curling rink are set for demolition as we’ve been planning for a new complex which we’re going to call the ‘Next Source Centre’” says McIntyre.
Construction is expected to finish in late 2016.
Wednesday’s game is just the first of four days of “Hockeyville” festivities.
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