Kraft Hockeyville 2012 communities down to 15 finalists

After going through thousands of submissions from passionate hockey fans across Canada, the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 judging panel has chosen its final Top 15 communities.

These finalists will now move on in the hope of being named Kraft Hockeyville 2012, with the opportunity of hosting a 2012-13 NHL pre-season game in their community and receiving $100,000 in arena upgrades courtesy of Kraft Canada.

As announced on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, these 15 communities include:

Campbell River, B.C.; Osoyoos, B.C.; West Kelowna, B.C.; Teulon, Man.; Duck Lake, Sask.; Rosthern, Sask.; Stirling-Rawdon, Ont.; Goderich, Ont.; Bancroft, Ont.; Saint-Éphrem-De-Beauce, Que.; Amos, Que.; Chicoutimi, Que.; Pownal, P.E.I.; Yarmouth, N.S.; St. Andrews, N.B.

"It’s truly inspiring to see so many hockey-loving Canadians rally together in creative ways to improve their communities," said Jack Hewitt, vice-president of marketing services for Kraft Canada.

"In the seven years that we’ve had Kraft Hockeyville, we’ve never seen such passion and creativity as demonstrated by these 15 finalists. We wish each community the best of luck in the next round."

Voting for the Top 5

Canadians will determine which of the Top 15 advance to the Top 5 by voting for their favourite community online now at www.krafthockeyville.ca or by calling 1-866-533-8066.

Canadians can vote for their favourite community once per click or call. Voting via the web and phone is unlimited.

Kraft Hockeyville partners strongly encourage voters to familiarize themselves with the competition rules and regulations and updated voting times so they can adhere to the voting guidelines.

The Kraft Hockeyville team will keep fans up-to-date throughout the competition. To view videos and receive insider updates, fans should join the Kraft Hockeyville Facebook Fan page, check out coverage on NHL.com and CBCSports.ca, follow @hockeyville on Twitter and visit the Kraft Hockeyville YouTube channel.

The voting will close Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. ET. Once the votes have been tallied, the Top 5 communities will be announced during Hockey Night in Canada on March 17.

Canadians will then return to the polls for a final vote to determine the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2012.

The Hockey Night in Canada crew will visit and broadcast live from each of the Top 5 communities on Saturday, March 31.

The winner will be announced live on Hockey Night in Canada that evening.

The four runner-up communities will each receive $25,000 for improvements to their local rinks from Kraft Canada.