By Katherine Svenkeson

Ituna beats out Wilkie in Kraft Hockeyville

Mar 20, 2017 | 12:00 PM

The Town of Wilkie learned late Saturday night that regardless of locals best efforts, they did not make the top two in the 2017 Kraft Hockeyville Competition.

The town was up against Ituna, Sask. for the top spot in the West. Mayor of Wilkie, David Ziegler, said despite the loss they’re happy for their Saskatchewan town brothers and sisters.

“Obviously my reaction was a little disappointed but it still was the other community in Saskatchewan that was in the top two so that made it feel pretty good as well,” Ziegler said. “In fact, I phoned his worship, Doug Scully, this morning at Ituna and congratulated them.”

Wilkie did make the top 10 in the competition, however, and with the $25,000 they received plan to make updates to their recreation centre. Ziegler said they have nothing specific in mind yet other than getting the arena up to code.

“We had to do a lot of upgrades as far as code upgrades,” he said. “Building codes today are a lot different than they were back in 1972 when the rink was built.”

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Overall, the experience brought the community closer together according to him, and showed him that both the town and the region can come together when they have a common goal in mind.

Ituna, Sask. is up against O’Leary, P.E.I. in the top two of the Kraft Hockeyville competition. Both communities received $100,000 for arena upgrades, and the top winner will host an NHL pre-season game in the fall.

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ksvenkeson