Canada is a country made up of millions of passionate hockey fans, many who love our national pastime with almost religious zeal.
Osoyoos’ own Cathy Martins is one of those kind of hockey fans and she deserves a great deal of credit for getting the proverbial ball rolling to try and have her hometown named Kraft Hockeyville.
Martins took the time and effort to submit an official entry to the wildly popular Kraft Hockeyville contest, featuring two detailed letters about why the Sun Bowl Arena needs upgrades, her passion for the game since she was a young child and the history of Junior B hockey in this community over the past 15 or 16 years.
Martins has done all the heavy pushing and now she needs hockey fans throughout this community to jump on board and show they share the same passion as she does.
The best news is small towns like Osoyoos have traditionally done extremely well in the Kraft Hockeyville contest over the past several years.
Martins is urging fellow hockey fans to write their own stories and send their own pictures to the Hockeyville website.
“I figured I might as well try,” said Martins, who grew up in a family where her father and brother both played hockey most of their lives. “It seem s like little towns do very well in the Kraft Hockeyville contest over the past few years, so I figured Osoyoos has as good a chance as any if the people here get on board and support me.
“I want people to write their stories and send them in to the Hockeyville website and you never know. The contest runs until January 31st, so we need everyone’s support by then.”
Not only would being named Hockeyville bring instant recognition and respect, but the winning community also receives a significant upgrade to the local hockey rink as well as the honour of hosting an NHL pre-season contest.
The only way for any community to do well in the Hockeyville contest is to have the entire community on board, so it’s now up to the citizens of Osoyoos to show just how much they love their community and the game of hockey.
Local hockey fans have shown they are knowledgeable and passionate about hockey as they have shown up in droves to support the different variations of the Osoyoos Jr. B hockey organization. This year’s Coyotes team is averaging close to 400 fans per home game, which places attendance figures near the top of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
When the Osoyoos Storm captured the western Canadian championship during the 2004-05 season, indelible memories were formed for Martins and hundreds of other local supporters.
The reality is the game of hockey is the one thing that brings communities together from coast to coast across Canada.
Osoyoos has proven on numerous occasions the fans here love the game as much as anyone in the country and here’s hoping hundreds and hundreds of citizens take the time and effort, like Martins did, to share their passion and let all of Canada know we deserve to be in the running to be named Hockeyville.
