The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The City of Flin Flon is on a mission. That mission is to win the Kraft Hockeyville 2006 contest which will declare a community that has the best spirit of hockey. "Personally, I think our chances are very good with our well known and established hockey history," said, Brenda Russell, director of recreation for the City of Flin Flon. "Flin Flon and the Bombers are known worldwide." Russell, with the help of the Bombers Historical Society, the Bombers organization and minor hockey, have completed the first step in a five-step process. March 29 is when the announcement will be made on CBC for the 50 communities selected to advance to step two. If Flin Flon is chosen, the next deadline to make is April 9 with a two-minute video. Russell feels the key to their application is the hockey tradition, love of the game and the best hockey fans in the country. "Flin Flon is a great community and hockey is part of our community identity and spirit," she said. "Flin Flon is such a diversified community and hockey is a strong part of that." In the application, a MacLean's article entitled "The Town Where Everybody Plays" published roughly 50 years ago on the community is referenced. "It epitomized the community and how active it is and the impact of hockey on the community," Russell said. "We tried to show the community isn't just hockey," she added. "A cultural component was a big part-describing the musical production 'Bombertown' and it's enormous success as the community relived, with pride, the Memorial Cup victory in 1957." A valuable source of information used was the Wall of Fame. "We consider ourselves to be hockey-town Canada and it's just something we must now prove to the rest of the country, she added firmly. "There are a lot of great hockey towns in Canada. It will be fun trying to be more creative than other communities with our application." Knowledge of competing in the contest has caught on in the community with people telling Russell how great this is. The final step of the contest is done online and Russell feels it's a way of getting hockey fans involved. For the first step, applicants were required to come up with a creative team name (Flin Flon Dream Builders), answer questions in a form, photograph their arena, community, community sign and show the community's hockey spirit. The winner will receive an NHL exhibition game, $25,000 in arena upgrades, $10,000 in hockey equipment and a Kraft Hockeyville trophy.2/27/2006
