Kraft Hockeyville cash prize more than doubles

The amount of money a rink could win for upgrades from the Kraft Hockeyville competition has more than doubled.

O'Leary, P.E.I., was the winning rink last year, and received $100,000 for repairs and renovations to its arena.

This year the winner will get $250,000.

Linda Ferrandini, senior marketing manager at Kraft Heinz Canada, said more than $2.8 million has been awarded to 73 communities over the last 11 years.

"In that time we've seen and we know that arena upgrades and maintenance are really costly and many arenas need significant funding to keep them alive and these arenas are critical parts of their community," Ferrandini said.

"This being important to use, we wanted to find a way to look at our current structure and make that bigger funding component of the grand prize possible. We're really proud to announce that new $250,000 grand prize and we think it'll allow our winners to create that lasting positive change for their arenas and everybody who uses them in the community."

Applications for the competition are being accepted until Feb. 11. The four finalists — two in the east and two in the west — will be announced March 17.

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