Nominations are now open for Kraft Hockeyville 2025, where the winning community will have the opportunity to host an NHL pre-season game and win $250,000 for arena upgrades.
The competition has been running for 19 years, sponsored by the NHL, the NHL Players' Association and Kraft Heinz. The contest was originally aired on CBC as a reality television series but is now aired as segments on the broadcaster's Hockey Night in Canada program.
Community members can nominate Campbell River by finding the local arena on the contest's website. They will then have to answer three questions. This submission will be shared on the arena's rally page, where other community members can add their own submissions, photos, encouraging notes or react to submissions and photos with emojis. Each submission or video story is worth 10 points, while photos are worth three points. Notes and reactions are worth one point.
The three questions asked are:
1. Tell us about your community’s spirit and passion for hockey. Can you describe or explain examples of how this comes to life?
2. Tell us about your arena. Why is it important to you, your family, and your community?
3. Explain how your community will use the $250,000 (CAD) to upgrade and improve your arena.
People can nominate and rally until March 2. From March 3 to 15, judges will review the nominations, calculate the total scores and select the top four. The top four arenas will compete head-to-head in a round of voting on April 4 and 5. The judges will announce the winner on April 5. Arenas that have won the competition within the last 10 years are not eligible to win a prize.
Centennial Arena in Elliot Lake, Ont was last year's winner. Elliot Lake hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Ottawa Senators during a pre-season game.
Campbell River has never made the top 10 in nominations. British Columbia has had three winners: Terrace (2009), North Saanich (2015), and Lumby (2016).
