The puck is about to drop for Hockeyville 2014.
The contest to find the community that best exemplifies Canada's passion for hockey starts Jan. 1 when contest organizers begin accepting entries in the forms of stories and essays, songs and music, photos and videos and social media comments.
At stake is $1 million in prizes, with the winning community receiving a $100,000 upgrade to its arena and an NHL pre-season game played in the same rink.
Second prize is $100,000 in arena upgrades, followed by two prizes of $50,000 each in arena upgrades for third and fourth place and then a dozen further prizes of $25,000 each in arena upgrades.
Northern B.C. has had some success in the past. In 2009, Terrace took top prize and in 2011, Mackenzie finished second.
A kickoff event was held Thursday in Montreal at a parking lot where the Victoria Skating Rink, recognized in 2002 as the birthplace of organized hockey, once stood. The site was flooded for a free day of skating.
Submissions will be accepted until Feb. 9.
For contest rules and complete program details, visit KraftHockeyville.ca. Hockeyville can also be found on Facebook (Facebook.com/KraftHockeyville) and Twitter (@hockeyville).
