West Lorne has won Kraft Hockeyville, which means it will play host to an NHL pre-season game and win $250,000.
As one of four finalists, the community located near London, Ont., hoped to win so it could expand its hockey arena.
The announcement was made during the first intermission of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.
Jessica Small, the co-organizer of the campaign, says it’s been “incredible and surreal.”
“We’re rebuilding. We’ve got record numbers and this gives us that foundation to do so many amazing things for this community,” Small said on Saturday.
The other finalists were Saint-Anselme, Que., Maple Ridge, B.C., and Ste. Anne, Man.
Kevin Summers, the president of the West Lorne Minor Hockey Association, spoke with Global News Monday after the win. He says the energy in the West Elgin Secondary School – where everyone had gathered to watch the announcement – was unbelievable when the win was announced.
“A lot of people put a lot of hard work into and pushed that button a lot of times, so it was nice to see everything come together,” said Summers.
With record numbers in the under-7 division and 11 minor hockey teams plus a men’s and women’s league, Summers says the prize money will be huge for the rink and community.
“It gives us the opportunity to grow with our organization, keep giving these kids a chance to come in and have a love for the game,” added Summers.
Summers says some of the $250,000 prize will go toward turning the existing skate-sharpening/office area into a dressing room.
With only four small dressing rooms, Summers says the rink can become very cramped when there is cross-ice hockey, which results in four teams on the ice at once and rooms still needing to be left open for teams using the ice before and after.
The money will also go towards expanding the warm area of the rink and installing a new entrance with larger doors. The rink’s main entrance leads directly into the cold part of the rink, something Summers says can cause problems for the ice conditions when the weather is warm.
The win was extra special for the communities in West Elgin following the death of Mayor Duncan McPhail, who died on March 11. McPhail’s widow, Norma McPhail, says Duncan had learned of West Lorne being nominated as a finalist for the prize just hours before he died. Further, Saturday would have been Duncan’s 70th birthday.
“It’s just such an honour for this to have happened, especially on his birthday,” said Norma McPhail to Global News on Monday. “He would have been so pleased with all the organizers for making this happen and so happy for all the kids in the community and surrounding communities.”
Following West Lorne’s win Saturday, the municipality of West Elgin announced they will be contributing $150,000 from reserves to help with the arena upgrades.
Both Norma and Summers said the win means so much to not just the hockey community, but the larger community of West Elgin.
“Seeing the three towns (West Lorne, Rodney and Dutton) come together and the comradery ad unity this brought us, that’s going to extend well beyond hockey,” said Summers. “That will go through to everything we do from here on out.”
— with files from 980 CFPL’s Devon Peacock
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