The Taber Community Centre is on the list of nominees to be the next Kraft Hockeyville, but the community must first get through the rally phase of the campaign and be named Alberta’s chosen arena.
Town of Taber communications manager Meghan Brennan said there had been discussion in the community about nominating the centre for Kraft Hockeyville.
Over the past year, town council has talked about the community centre, built in the 1970s, and the fact the end of its useful life is approaching, Brennan said.
“There’s still lots of life in it, but, you know, that’s something that council has to consider and unfortunately, when the explosion happened in December, it kind of ramped everything up,” Brennan said.
“We’d competed before, but had never really gotten very far because our community centre was old, but it was still functional. So we didn’t have quite the story that other communities had.”
Brennan said the explosion renewed the conversation and the timing lined up with the Kraft Hockeyville nomination period.
“We’ve been incredibly lucky since December 17, in that nobody was hurt, but also that within two weeks Kraft Hockeyville was opening. So nothing tried, nothing gained.”
She urged people to share the word, their stories and memories of the rink.
“It doesn’t have to be Taborites. If you’ve ever been in our rink or you’ve heard our story and it touched something in your heart, we would really appreciate anybody’s support,” she said.
Brennan explained how the Kraft Hockeyville process works.
“It could just be an arena that needs an upgrade or needs some work done on it. The community rallies and that gains points and then it goes to the judges to determine how many points were gathered, if all the rules were followed,” she said. “This year, each province and territory gets a community that represents it and then it goes into a top two announcement and then there’s a voting phase.”
Since the explosion, Brennan said there has been an outpouring of support from across southern Alberta that has now translated into momentum in the Hockeyville campaign.
“I don’t think there are adequate words enough to say how grateful Tabor is for that… What we’ve seen is they’re throwing their support behind us and our community and our hockey teams.”
“To see that, it really epitomizes the spirit of not only southern Alberta, but all of Alberta in how generous they are. When push comes to shove, we really support each other. Thank you could never be enough,” she said. “It’s a simple thing to say, but thank you to every community in Alberta, southern Alberta and across Canada that have really thrown their hats in the ring for us.”
Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen is one of those who has shared his support for the neighbouring community’s Hockeyville bid. In a post he said, “Hockey brings communities together — and right now, our neighbours in Taber could use our support.”
The grand prize for being named Kraft Hockeyville is $250,000 toward arena upgrades and the chance to host an NHL pre-season game. Provincial and territorial winners receive $50,000 and the runner-up receives $100,000.
The nomination and rally period is open until March 1, 2026. Judging takes place from March 2 to 14, provincial and territorial winners will be announced on March 14, and the top two communities will be named on March 21, with a nationwide vote in early April and the winner revealed on April 4.
