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It’s just hours before voting opens in the Kraft Hockeyville USA contest and supporters of the Calumet Colosseum are poised to try and claim the title.
The Colosseum in home to the Calumet Wolverines of the Great Lakes Hockey League and 14-year veteran Michael Babcock says the Colosseum is more than just a hockey rink.
“It’s a cultural center. There are so many things that go on in that rink. Aside from just the hockey, it’s all these different events,” said Babcock. “I was talking with Todd (Van Dyke) this morning and he mentioned the fact that even when the flooding happened, that was one of the centers that people went to for emergency supplies. It’s this building that’s really at the core of our community.”
Fans can start voting at 7am Saturday by going to www.krafthockeyville.com and registering, which is quick and easy to do. Participants can vote up to 40 times per email account.
The rink with the most votes when voting closes at 11am on Sunday wins…so the Colosseum will need everyone’s help to beat out the other three Midwestern rinks.
Babcock said, “Every year, I do some kind of nomination—and a lot of us do to get to this—and this is the 5th year and we’ve never actually made it to the final four and every year, we’re like ‘how did we not make it?’ And I think that it’s always been that we’ve always been fearful that we’re too small of a community. It’s hard when you’re a small community like ours to get the national attention but this year, they gave us a shot and it’s up to us to take advantage of that.”
The winner will be named Hockeyville USA for 2019 and receive $150,000 for rink upgrades and get to host an NHL preseason game in the fall.
