McBride Pulls Out All The Stops

Sunday, May 28, 2006 04:00 AM

They have set up a website, they’ve made a trophy out of K.D, boxes, they’ve painted their faces, and the sidewalks, blue. The folks in McBride are doing all they can to ensure their town is named “Hockeyville”.

Mayor Michael Frazier is ecstatic “We’re in the top 25, and June 6^th we are heading to Hamilton. We are sending a few representatives, two that are sponsored by the CBC and Kraft, to do the hot seat and proceed through the next four or five days where we get cut down to top ten, top five and then they’ll determine the winner.”

The official schedule runs like this:

-June 6 the 25 are reduced to 10

-June 9^th the top ten square off, at the end, the judges reduce the numbers to five finalists

-June 11^th, the winner is announced.

McBride has received the backing of lots of folks in the area, including the Regional District, and the Prince George Cougars but Frazier is hoping there will be some more support shown for the McBride Blue Grizzlies “We’re looking for support from the big city and all the other supporters we have across Canada and British Columbia to get us down so we can win the big one.”

McBride’s other B.C. competition includes Smithers, Lac La Hache, Trail and Port Alberni.

The town that wins will not only host an NHL exhibition game, but will get $10,000 for hockey gear, and $50,000 to repair or upgrade an existing hockey rink. Of course there’s the pride factor and Frazier is not at all surprised that his town has come this far “With our community spirit this is not a surprise, not one little bit, we’ve got a great community.”

Previous Story - Next Story