Kraft Hockeyville 2012 kicks off with new search for Canada's hockey town

With a mission to inspire more communities to share their pride in Canada's favourite sport, the Kraft Hockeyville partners including Kraft Canada, CBC, The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) today unveiled an expanded search for the most hockey connected community in Canada. 

The new cross-country campaign includes five additional finalist community spots and an early-bird prize of $10,000 worth of hockey equipment from Kraft Canada for a local minor hockey association.  In addition, Kraft Hockeyville fans can now extend their involvement through a series of virtual trophies, generated by online activities, including uploading stories, photos and completing other community-based tasks on krafthockeyville.ca. There are five virtual trophies to collect in total.

Starting Friday, November 18, 2011, Canadians can nominate their community for Kraft Hockeyville 2012 with stories that showcase their hometown pride and passion for hockey. Communities that enter before December 16 and complete the early-bird entry submission also qualify for the early bird prize.

Designed to ignite and reflect local communities' passion for hockey, Kraft Hockeyville is immensely popular with Canadians. Since 2006, more than 2,000 communities have entered the competition producing more than 22,000 submissions and 30 million votes.

In response, the Kraft Hockeyville partners have expanded the number of finalist communities selected to compete for Kraft Hockeyville 2012 from 10 to 15. The Grand Prize is $100,000 in arena upgrades courtesy of Kraft Canada; a 2012/13 NHL® Pre-Season Game played in their local community arena; and a special CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast from their community.

Four runner-up communities will receive $25,000 each for arena upgrades from Kraft Canada. The nomination phase closes on January 31, 2012.

To enter Kraft Hockeyville 2012, Canadians must register at krafthockeyville.ca, complete a simple application form to nominate their community, and submit a story that focuses on originality, community spirit and passion for hockey (maximum 4,000 characters).

Canadians will also have the opportunity to show their support by sharing photos and videos. The Top 15 communities chosen to compete for the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 title will be revealed on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

Canadians then vote for the top five communities on March 4 and 5. The top 5 communities will be announced on March 17, 2012 before a final voting stage on March 18 and 19, and the winner reveal on March 31, 2012.