Mash That Button!

Today is a big day for Ste. Anne Manitoba as they look to pick up enough votes in the 2023 Kraft Hockeyville contest to win the grand prize of $250,000! Ste. Anne will be competing with three other communities for that money, but I'm throwing my votes behind Ste. Anne, Manitoba simply because their ice plant at Maurice Chaput Arena needs to be replaced. Desperately.

Chantal P., who submitted Ste. Anne's arena to Kraft Hockeyville, made the following plea,

"The plant is well through its prime and is at the point now where repairing it (as has been done multiple times throughout the last few years) is no longer an option due to its age, parts are obsolete and it just cannot keep up! Last season we could not hold ice past February and this season was delayed as we could not make ice until mid October due to the delicate state of the plant. Families travelled for over a month to surrounding communities arenas for pre-skates, try-outs and practices. The added expense was tremendous on families. It is at the point now where there is talk that we don’t know what the future holds for next season as the cost for a new plant is astronomical."

I know that ice plants cost a considerable amount of money because it's not just one component that is being upgraded. There's new piping, new technology, and new equipment that comes with the installation of a new ice plant, so every inch of the artifical ice surface is affected by the replacement of this new setup. Beyond that, the chemistry within the ice plant needs to be set properly to generate the freezing of the water laid down on the rink, so this is a highly-specialized piece of equipment that requires professionals to install and maintain.

I write this today because the communities of Saint-Anselme in Quebec, Maple Ridge in BC, and West Lorne in Ontario are all competing with Ste. Anne for this grand prize money. And while they all have great stories that highlight their needs for this money, Maurice Chaput Arena in Ste. Anne is, literally, the town square where families meet, kids and adults play, and neighbours reconnect in the stands while the action on the ice happens. This isn't just an ice plant to keep the ice in the rink, but it's a plea to help keep the arena open. If there's no ice, there's no reason to be at the arena.

Voting opened this morning at 8am CT/9am ET and will run until tomorrow, April 1 where the contest voting closes at 4pm CT/5pm ET. The community with the largest number of votes will win the $250,000 grand prize, and I'm hoping that announcement will feature the name "Ste. Anne, Manitoba". Register over on the Kraft Hockeyville website, and start voting as often as you can! There's no limit on votes, so tell your office co-workers, your friends, your family, anyone with an internet-connected device, and anyone else who can get onto to the internet to get registered and to mash that vote button until it's worn out!

Just as an aside, I've been voting through my phone as I write this article, so we're underway and amassing votes as you read this! Help out Ste. Anne by joining in!

There's no reason why we can't win this money for Ste. Anne, folks, and I encourage everyone across the prairies and into northwestern Ontario to band together and vote Ste. Anne in the Kraft Hockeyville contest. Let's do something awesome by helping Ste. Anne get their ice plant so they can keep Maurice Chaput Arena running for another 50 years! All you have to do is register and vote often!

I have to get back to voting, so I hope you'll join me in trying to help Ste. Anne win the 2023 Kraft Hockeyville contest. The town is a great hockey community with a rich history of local hockey heroes, and they can keep making those memories with your votes to help them win the $250,000 grand prize!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!