The Western Kings arena in Kingston won’t be in the running for the 2013 Kraft Hockeyville title, afterall. But neither will any other community.
The annual competition, sponsored by CBC and Kraft Canada, was cancelled last week in response to the ongoing lock-out between the NHL and the union that represents the players.
“We are very upset that the 2013 competition has been cancelled. Our community has been working overtime to be involved this year and our arena needs the assistance,” wrote arena president Wayne Fowler.
After sharing the community’s disappointment with the sponsor, Fowler did hear back from a Kraft Canada representative, who said they were “saddened” to have to cancel the competition that for arena upgrades.
“They stated we had a great story and they had been following us for some time,” added Fowler.
Community support to keep the doors of the arena open in the face of ongoing financial and recent infrastructure problems prompted Fowler to challenge the community via Facebook to make a bid for the Hockeyville challenge. The on-line campaign garnered nearly 20,000 members before the competition was cancelled.
