Harbour Grace exults in Hockeyville finals

Residents in and near a town in eastern Newfoundland are thrilled they have made it to the finals of CBC's annual Hockeyville competition, and promise a keen battle for the top prize.

Harbour Grace was named this weekend as one of the finalists in Hockeyville, defeating Stanley, N.B., as the Atlantic candidate.

Joanne Barnes Taylor, who lives in neighbouring Bristol's Hope, organized a campaign on the social networking site Facebook to rally votes for the cause.

"It was great and to know that we ended up with almost a quarter of a million votes, it was great," she said. "We had 249,177 votes."

Harbour Grace will be featured on Hockey Night in Canada next Saturday, and the town will receive $25,000 for repairs to S.W. Moores Memorial Stadium.

Voting for the Hockeyville final round starts March 1. The overall winner will receive $100,000 for arena upgrades as well as a visit from Hockey Night in Canada and a one-hour broadcast showcasing the town on CBC Television.

Taylor said the town's stadium needs plenty of work.

"There's lots to be done," she said.

"Our boards are the big area of concern right now. They really need to be upgraded, repaired or replaced. Our bleachers are the original bleachers from 51 years ago."

Harbour Grace has shown its passion for hockey before. On Canada Day last summer, the town hosted tens of thousands of visitors who came to cheer native son and Detroit Red Wing Daniel Cleary when he brought the Stanley Cup to the town for the day.