Alberta town wins $50K toward arena rebuild, holds street hockey fundraiser

A southern Alberta town that lost the use of its aging hockey arena after an explosion has won thousands of dollars to use in its recovery efforts.

Taber was revealed Saturday as one of the Kraft Hockeyville contest’s provincial winners after a two-week judging process.

The town, located east of Lethbridge, will receive $50,000 as it moves on to a second phase of the national competition with the potential for more prize money.

"It's totally awesome, it's perfect," Derrin Thibault, the town's chief administrator, told CBC News moments after hearing Taber won during the Hockey Night in Canada program.

Thibault said the town's entry this year was stronger because of the situation the community is in now compared to a failed attempt in 2020.

"It makes a huge difference when you're in a spot of a want versus in the spot of a need. And this community right now is in the spot of a need," he said.

"And that's one of the things that have made it so much more vibrant this time."

A blast on the afternoon of Dec. 17 turned several interior walls of the Taber Community Centre to rubble and rendered its rinks unusable.

A third-party investigation later placed the cause of the explosion on a Zamboni ice resurfacer's mechanical failure.

A community shaken up by the incident regrouped weeks later to support Taber's entry into Kraft Hockeyville, sharing photos, videos and memories of their time in the arena.

Taber will now have to wait until March 21 to hear if it's among two finalists subject to a period of voting by Canadians coast-to-coast to determine who wins a $250,000 first place prize.

Delia Kinniburgh is one of some 250 young hockey players who have been forced to travel for practice and games since the explosion.

"It was really sad when we couldn’t play there anymore," the eight-year-old told CBC News in a recent interview.

"We had to go to other towns for hockey and it just wasn’t the same as playing at home."