Greater Victoria lacks the outdoor rinks and frozen fingers that mean hockey in much of sa国际传媒, but true hockey hearts beat just as strongly here as anywhere else in the country.
The proof is in North Saanich, which won the title of Kraft Hockeyville in an online vote that finished on Saturday. Panorama Recreation Centre soundly thumped Chatham-Kent, Ont., 1.1 million to 670,000 in the final round of the contest.
It was a long way from the 鈥渙ne person, one vote鈥� system we see at election time, as supporters voted by computer and mobile device. Victoria Royals fan Lesley Davies estimated she voted 14,000 times over the two days. It鈥檚 hard to argue with that kind of dedication.
Each rink will get $100,000 for improvements to their facilities, and Panorama鈥檚 Arena B will get to host a pre-season NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks this fall.
For Jason Fletcher, the volunteer and coach who entered the bid, it was a triumph of community spirit 鈥� celebrated on his 44th birthday. He was there on Saturday when more than 500 people in the arena exploded in cheers as the announcement was made on Hockey Night in sa国际传媒.
Winning the title is something to shout about, and deciding how to spend that $100,000 will be the icing on the cake.
We won the honour with mouse clicks rather than slapshots, but we won it fair and square. The next big contest will be getting the hottest tickets in town 鈥� the ones to that Canucks-Sharks game.
