The farming community of Huntingdon finished in the top four for Kraft Hockeyville 2018 after a vote to benefit select arenas across Canada was held at the end of March.
The town’s arena, the Centre Sportif Promutuel, is the lifeblood of the community. It serves 11 nearby municipalities and holds precious memories for its residents.
Érick Faubert, president of Huntingdon minor hockey, hopes that the momentum from that final four finish will help heat up a campaign to replace the arena’s aging refrigeration system.
The fundraiser’s goal is $250,000 — the same amount as a first-place finish in the Hockeyville contest — and so far the fundraiser has hit 10 per cent of the total target within one-week of the campaign’s launch.
The Centre Sportif Promutuel sits on the outskirts of Huntingdon, by the fairgrounds.
The arena is renowned for its coldness. It’s not uncommon that the rink’s indoor temperature is colder than outdoor weather during southern Quebec’s frigid cold spells.
“The humidity in our arena makes it colder than the outdoors during the winter,” Faubert said.
However, the benefits of having a cold rink mean the quality of ice is among the hardest in the Hockey Lac-St-Louis region and makes for speedy Huntingdon Huskies minor hockey teams.
Townspeople normally gather in an upstairs viewing area to watch minor hockey, figure-skating, ringuette, broomball and the town’s beloved recreational adult hockey league games.
Even with high-intensity thermal lights buzzing above the arena’s grandstands, it is often too cold for most spectators to cheer from rink-side.
The refrigeration system began faltering over the past few years. Community officials plan for a new system at an estimated cost of $860,000.
“The arena’s cooling system is on its last legs,” said Huntingdon MNA Stéphane Billette.
“We will need to replace the system as it is the beating heart of the arena.”
Leading up to the Kraft Hockeyville vote, Billette made an announcement that the province would invest $433,500 toward the total sum to replace the refrigeration system.
Kraft Hockeyville awarded the community $25,000 toward arena upgrades as a finalist, but the sum added to the province’s promise came well short of the estimated total.
The Huntingdon community rallied together at the arena the night the Kraft Hockeyville 2018 ballots closed.
When news broke that the town of Lucan, Ont., won the 2018 title, members of the community approached Faubert with pleas to keep the Hockeyville Huntingdon dream alive.
The very next day, Faubert and his team started their own Hockeyville Huntingdon GoFundMe fundraising page.
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Faubert hopes that the momentum from the final four finish will translate in replacing the arena’s refrigeration system.
“We hope to hit our goal by October 2018,” said Faubert.
“If this is attained, we can start repairs by May 2019. Ideally, the arena would be ready for the 2019-2020 season.”
There is talk about honouring community sponsors with a “Hall of Fame” within the arena, details were being worked on at the time of the report.
“We’re thinking levels of sponsorships for business sponsors and definitely the names of individuals,” Faubert said.
“We’ll even have event photos from the contest. It’s like going to Game Seven of the Stanley cup, but not just forgetting about it cause you didn’t win.”
For those interested in donating, Faubert says that any amount is appreciated, the Huntingdon gofundme page can be found here.
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