'It has brought our entire community together:' Ituna, Sask. runner-up in Kraft Hockeyville contest

A disappointing ending to a campaign that brought the entire province together.

O’Leary, PEI was named the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2017, leaving Ituna – approximately 135 kilometres northeast of Regina – as the runner-up.

“We went into this fully knowing that whatever name was announced [Saturday] that Ituna was very much a winner,” said Adrienne Ivey, who lives on a ranch near Ituna.

The winner is awarded the rights to host an NHL pre-season game. However, before the winner was announced both communities were guaranteed $100,000 for arena upgrades.

“We need to build basically an entire new structure for our rink,” Ivey explained. “So it’s very very important that we had this as seed money because it just puts us that much farther ahead going forward.”

Ivey called this a once in a lifetime opportunity for everyone that was involved in the project.

“It has brought our entire community together in a way that none of us could’ve predicted.”