Nakusp Hockeyville supporters gear up for March 8
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By Bruce Fuhr
The Nelson Daily
It’s so close residents and Hockeyville supporters from Nakusp can taste it.
On Tuesday, March 8 supporters from Nelson to Nakusp will be glued to their television sets or computers to watch the Kraft Hockeyville 2011 Top 10 show on CBC.
“Nakusp is still a buzz with excitement and with the announcement getting closer, you can feel the energy in town as well,” said Andrea Coates, spearheading the drive to for Nakusp to win the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville contest.
The show begins at 9 p.m. on CBC television and 8 p.m. EST at CBCSports.ca which time the top 10 finalists in the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville contest will be chosen.
The Kraft Hockeyville competition has been going for the past handful of years.
First the community needs to be nominated, which Coates successfully did in December 2010.
Residents and supporters then submit letters and pictures explaining experiences in the sport of hockey in Nakusp, which Nakusp leads in Western Canada.
Nakuspians did the city proud, submitting almost 500 stories.
The letters were looking for community spirit and heartfelt stories of hockey experiences in Nakusp, past and present.
Based on submissions a panel will choose the top 10 — two communities from each of the five regions. The regions are Pacific (B.C./Yukon), West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic.
Then online (at CBC.ca) and telephone voting begins from March 8-13.
“Since this round is based totally on voting, we need to get people voting as often as possible, if we want to make it to the top five,” Coates explained.
Five communities will be chosen on March 19.
Then online voting from March 19-21 determines the grand prize winner — $100,000 in arena upgrades and the right to host an NHL preseason game.
The winner is announced April 2 on Hockey Night in Canada.
The four runner-up communities receive $25,000.
Coates is asking the entire community to wear Nakusp Hockeyville T-shirts promoting the bid on March 8.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
