Canada has spoken.
With nearly six million votes cast across the country, Canadians have chosen the top five communities in the running to be named Kraft Hockeyville 2012.
As announced on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, the five communities are: Yarmouth, N.S., Amos, Que., Stirling-Rawdon, Ont., Duck Lake, Sask., and West Kelowna, B.C.
Stirling-Rawdon topped the list with 1,307,609 votes, followed by West Kelowna (1,022,762), Amos (657,752), Duck Lake (218,775) and Yarmouth (196,211).
The winning community will host a 2012-13 NHL pre-season game and receive $100,000 in arena upgrades, courtesy of Kraft Canada.
The four runner-up communities will each receive $25,000 for improvements to their local rinks from Kraft Canada.
“The battle for this year’s Kraft Hockeyville title has been a very spirited affair,” said Jack Hewitt, vice-president of marketing services at Kraft Canada. “We’re thrilled by the passion that Canadians have demonstrated so far and can’t wait to see how they respond in this stretch run.
“It’s important for members of each community to keep up their passionate effort to gain support until the very last vote is cast.”
The decision is now up to Canadians to pick which one of the five contenders will be named Kraft Hockeyville 2012 by voting online now at www.krafthockeyville.ca or by calling 1-866-533-8066.
Canadians can vote for their favourite community once per click or call. Voting via the web and phone is unlimited. Individuals below the age of 13 must receive parental consent before voting.
The voting opened Saturday night at 11 p.m. ET and Canadians have until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. ET to determine the winner of the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 title.
Hockey Night in Canada crews will visit and broadcast live from each of the top five communities on Saturday, March 31.
The winner will be announced live on Hockey Night in Canada that evening.
Kraft Hockeyville partners strongly encourage voters to familiarize themselves with the competition rules and regulations and updated voting times so they can adhere to the voting guidelines.
The Kraft Hockeyville team will keep fans up-to-date throughout the competition. To view videos and receive insider updates, fans should join the Kraft Hockeyville Facebook fan page, check out coverage on NHL.com and CBCSports.ca, follow @hockeyville on Twitter and visit the Kraft Hockeyville YouTube channel.
