Four Sask. players named to Canada world junior hockey championship team
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Berkly Catton, Brayden Yager, Caden Price and Tanner Howe were all named.
Lumsden has come up short in its bid to be Kraft Hockeyville.
The Saskatchewan community was one of four finalists in the contest, but lost to Elsipogtog First Nation, N.B., in online voting that was conducted Friday and Saturday.
The announcement was made during the first intermission of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.
No Saskatchewan town has won the title of Kraft Hockeyville since the contest began in 2006. Pense was a finalist in 2020, but lost in the balloting.
Last Mountain Distillery in Lumsden showed its support for the town’s Kraft Hockeyville campaign. (980 CJME file photo)
Lumsden, Bobcaygeon, Ont., and Saint Adolphe, Man., were the other finalists this year.
Lumsden still receives $25,000 for arena upgrades. Elsipogtog First Nation wins $250,000 to pay for work at its rink and the right to play host to an NHL pre-season game.
Jamie Lees was the organizer for Lumsden’s bid this year. Even with the loss, she said it was an unforgettable experience.
“It was so cool to unite a whole, entire province in these times of COVID when people can’t actually get together. It’s just amazing to see everybody come together and rally in the way that they could … It’s neat to see everybody come together,” she said in an interview with 980 CJME.
“It was powerful to watch it grow from such a small idea into being something that was on national TV. It was more than I ever anticipated, that’s for sure.”
Had it won, Lumsden would have put the prize towards building facilities for its girls hockey program. The $25,000 consolation prize will still go towards that goal, and Lees hopes to be able to hold more fundraisers in the future, depending on COVID rules.
“I think the biggest thing is just to remind people that we are growing and developing that program and that that’s really important for our community,” she said.
She expressed just how grateful she is to the people of Saskatchewan for rallying behind the town.
“Everybody talks about how small (our) province is and it truly is,” she said. “The way that people were able to come together when we couldn’t actually physically be together … it’s something that I’ll never forget.”