The Town of Sylvan Lake has lent the Kraft Hockeyville promotional cup made by Fiber-Werx International Inc. to the Town of Cochrane.
Kraft Hockeyville is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Heinz, the National Hockey League, and the NHL Player’s Association. Communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of hockey.
The winning community receives a grand prize of $250,000, which will go towards arena upgrades and an NHL game.
This year, Cochrane is the only Alberta community among the top four in the running to win the grand prize.
The promotional cup being lent to Cochrane was originally created thanks to Kris Lindburg, who served on the Kraft Hockeyville committee in Sylvan Lake ten years ago.
“When we won the real cup, it was in bad shape,” councillor Graham Parsons said. “It was broken and when (then player, but now Calgary Flames General Manager) Craig Conroy handed it to me on national TV, he quietly whispered for me to hold it together.”
The committee took the time and initiative to fix the cup and it became an iconic piece of the committee’s summer promotions. But the cup was small, he added.
“Kris thought we should get a big replica for any parades we went to in the summer, to promote the victory and the NHL game taking place that September. We approached ‘Fiber-Werx’ and they came up with a true work of art.”
Since the cup was made, it has been loaned to the last two Western Canadian community winners, North Saanich (2015) and Lumby (2016), for their summer promotions.
It was also lent to High River when they made the final four, Parsons said.
For Sylvan Lake, this year marks the 10th anniversary of when Sylvan Lake was the Kraft Hockeyville recipient.
Entering the contest in the first place was a significant uniting force for the community.
“The event seemed to bring the newer 10,000 people into the fold of the existing 4,000. We were now a complete community of 14,000 all pushing towards a common goal,” Parsons said.
Sylvan entered the campaign late but luckily had a great social media expert, Dianne Womacks, who helped form a makeshift committee and get the ball rolling.
The format of the competition in 2014 was gruelling, he added.
“There were eight weeks of online testimonials regarding what the arena meant to the town. Then, after that, there were three separate voting weekends; the top 16 down to the final four and then finally being announced the winner on April 5, 2014,” Parsons said.
Even with all the work, community spirit, and neighbouring community support that went into the campaign, the win was unexpected.
“Each round built up momentum and if you go back and watch the reveal videos, you can truly feel the real impact of what winning Hockeyville did for Sylvan Lake,” Parsons said.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the historic community moment, a celebration will be held at the NexSouce Centre View Point Lounge on April 5 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Alberta hasn’t managed to win Kraft Hockeyville since Sylvan Lake did it, but the community is firmly behind Cochrane’s bid to bring the title back to the province.
The best way Sylvan Lakers can help Cochrane is to try and show them what Hockeyville did for Sylvan Lake’s community spirit.
“We will always feel our campaign was the best but every community, especially the winners, feel that way,” Parsons added.
“Bringing awareness to their bid and encouraging folks to vote for them will certainly go a long way to bringing the title home to Alberta.”