Kelly Nyce-Clifton remembers the game more than her age. She said she was seven, or maybe it was eight, when she first fell in love.
Hard to say what held her heart most, the game of hockey, or maybe it was Tampa Bay Lightning’s Captain David Andreychuk.
Either way, her experience with both set a lifelong romance with the game, and she’s hoping she can apply that passion to her new endevour, ensuring that Kitimat is Hockeyville.
Each year the Kraft Hockeyville promotion seeks stories and photos of communities and their ties to hockey, all for a chance for $100,000 in ice arena upgrades, and maybe more catching a pre-season NHL game.
“We are Hockeyville here, hockey’s in everyday culture,” said Nyce-Clifton.
She was there in 2009 in Terrace when that community earned the Hockeyville title, and knows what the run for it can do to a community.
“That’s what you can really expect, just a powerful amount of energy. That’s what hockey does,” she said. “It’s going to bring the whole community together and everybody is involved, it’s not just the committee or groups of volunteers, it’s everybody.”
She said she has a lot of support and is working to put a committee together but already has plans to hold events with the Kitimat Ice Demons after their regular season ends.
To help the cause, people are encouraged to write their hockey stories to the Kraft Hockeyville website at krafthockeyville.cbc.ca.
From their you are encouraged to post your stories on why Kitimat should be Hockeyville. Photos are also welcome.
Typing Kitimat is Hockeyville into Facebook will find the local organizers’ online home base. Nyce-Clifton said she and volunteers plan to go door-to-door too for people who don’t use social media.
“The spirit of hockey will live on here forever if we make that effort.”
