Blaine Lake out of Hockeyville competition, community awarded $60,000 as provincial winner

Despite the best efforts of the community, Blaine Lake has failed to make the final in this year’s Hockeyville competition.

The Saskatchewan town was one of 13 communities across the country named provincial winners in the competition, which comes with a $60,000 prize. But Blaine Lake wasn’t one of the finalists for this year’s grand prize of $250,000, which is to be used for upgrades to the winning community’s arena. The winner also gets the chance to host a pre-season NHL game.

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Adam Horner, a board member with the Blaine Lake Community Association, said the rink is a staple in the community, and he has a personal connection to the facility.

“The rink was built in 1955. My great-grandfather helped work on that building,” he said.

No Saskatchewan community has ever won the competition, which has been running annually since 2006. But despite not making the final this year, Horner said the competition was very memorable.

“The experience has been unreal. It’s been so amazing to see our community come together, from the older generations that helped build these facilities to the younger generations now that are in control of the rinks and taking care of them. It’s been so amazing to see the whole community rally and be together,” said Horner.

Despite not being selected as one of the final candidates, Horner expressed his amazement at the support Blaine Lake received.

“I think a lot of people really, truly believed we were going to win,” he said.

“We had a lot of exposure, we had a lot of people backing us, from Premier Scott Moe all the way down to the local residents of Blaine Lake. Everybody was pumped, but to see us not go on the big screen was tough. Moving forward, though, we’re still super excited and happy that we still got that $60,000.”

Horner said he’d like to see the money go towards upgrading the rink’s lobby or its bathrooms, but those decisions have not yet been made.

“There are a million things we can do with it, but as a committee, as a group that is working there religiously, we’re going to get together and make the right decision on where to put that money,” he said.

Horner said Blaine Lake is already getting prepared for next year’s competition, and he’s hoping they’ll be able to go all the way.

“It’s something we want to keep continuing to go with,” Horner said.

“We have a lot of momentum, and lots of people are excited about our rink and our town, so it’s definitely something we want to do again next year.”

This year’s finalists are Taber, Alta., and Tumbler Ridge, B.C.