Hockeyville nod excites Sask. First Nation

Residents of the Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation near Duck Lake, Sask., are celebrating after the community was named a finalist in the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 competition.

DuckLakeis one of five communities that are in the running for the Hockeyville title this year.

The other contenders are Yarmouth, N.S., Amos, Que., Stirling-Rawdon, Ont., and West Kelowna, B.C.

About 300 people on the Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation gathered in the local school gym on Saturday to hear the finalists being announced on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

As soon as Duck Lake was announced, people began to "rise to their feet and start screaming and cheering and yelling with excitement," recalled Kevin Seeseequasis, who is spearheading the community's Hockeyville campaign.

"I don't even know what went through my mind, to be honest," Seeseequasis told CBC News on Sunday.

"I was just so happy and so proud of our community for what they had done together."

Voting blitz

The five finalist communities were chosen from nearly six million votes that were cast by Canadians.

Stirling-Rawdon topped the list with 1,307,609 votes, followed by West Kelowna (1,022,762), Amos (657,752), Duck Lake (218,775) and Yarmouth (196,211).

Seeseequasis said there was a big last-minute voting blitz leading up to Saturday's announcement.

"I was watching Facebook throughout the evening and there had to be at least30 to 40 people up all night hosting internet parties, voting parties, at their own houses," he said.

Another Saskatchewan community, Rosthern, was in the top 15 in this year's Hockeyville competition, but it did not garner enough votes to make the top five.

People can now vote for the winning community, which will host a 2012-13 NHL pre-season game and receive $100,000 in arena upgrades, courtesy of Kraft Canada.

Proponents of Duck Lake's Hockeyville bid are hoping to upgrade Beardy's Memorial Arena.