The verdict fell on Saturday evening: the check for $250,000 given to the winner of the Kraft Hockeyville contest finally escaped the municipality of Saint-Anselme, despite a campaign of seduction smoothly conducted by the instigators of the project.
• Read also: Saint-Anselme finalist in the 2023 Kraft Hockeyville contest
National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement of the result during the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs game on Hockey Night in Canada.
The municipality of Chaudière-Appalaches was beaten to the post by the city of West Lorne, in Ontario. It is therefore the latter who will be able to use the large amount to renovate a sports facility of their choice.
“It’s heartbreaking, admits Guillaume Fortin, the instigator of the project. It is certain that with the energies and the time invested, we would have liked to win.
Demonstration
Even if Saint-Anselme’s candidacy came up short, Mr. Fortin and his acolytes were strongly impressed by the rallying observed throughout Bellechasse.
“Often in the sector, there is a small war of bell towers as in many other villages in Quebec. But there, people really rallied behind the project and we managed to get people talking regarding us for an excellent reason. Some told me they had never seen that in 40 years.
It is not finished
Far from being defeated, Guillaume Fortin is delighted to have, in part, enabled Saint-Anselme to get his hands on a check for $25,000 to make improvements to his arena built in 1978 and another for $10,000. for the purchase of equipment and materials for the practice of hockey.
“We will find the necessary funds to renovate our arena differently. We will look at subsidies. I think we’ve made enough noise lately that a lot of people know we want a new arena. We will see what we can do, but this is only the beginning, ”argues the one who spent 31 of the 32 hours preceding the unveiling of the results to vote for the candidacy of the municipality of 4,500 inhabitants.
Asked whether it would be possible for Saint-Anselme to try his luck in the next few years of the competition, Mr. Fortin affirms that he and his team were going to “think regarding this possibility”.
