Rally set to kick off Cochrane Hockeyville voting

Cochrane residents are being encouraged to come out and get behind the 'Old Barn' on the eve of Kraft Hockeyville voting day. 

Cochrane has a shot at winning $250,000 for some much needed upgrades at the 50-year-old arena as well as bringing a pre-season NHL game to our community if it can secure enough votes to win the Kraft Hockeyville title. 

Brooke Sabourin, programs manager at Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) Centre says it's about bringing the community together and building momentum before voting begins on Friday. 

"A public skate is happening from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., so bring your helmet, your skates, feel free to get out there and have some fun, we'll have music and dancing. But if you're not a skater, that's okay because we'll have lots of other things going on throughout the arena."

There will also be a hair-colouring station, glitter tattoos and a hockey mascot dance-off.

"We'll have a bunch of big poster board and we want everyone to make their own posters and then they can walk around with those throughout the weekend. Tape them to your hockey stick, whatever you think is going to get the most attention. So we're excited to provide that opportunity for everyone."

Event goers are encouraged to wear a jersey or dress up in a Kraft themed costume says Sabourin. 

Food trucks will also be on site at the rally. 

The Yelnats U-18 Hockey Tournament will take place on the weekend and residents have the opportunity to watch one of the games at the Cochrane Arena beginning at 6:15 p.m. 

Helping Hands will also be on-site collecting food donations to help fill the Free Food Sheds.

Voting begins at 7 a.m. on Friday, March 29th. 

"It's not just one vote, it's multiple votes that we need everyone to do. So for the 32 hours voting as many times as you can, and really just spreading the word. We're hoping to get lots of media attention out that night not just in Cochrane but province wide and even Canada wide. There's so many other areas out there that may not know which community to vote for and we're hoping to get their attention. All four communities have great stories and everyone deserves this extra money to go towards their arena and we're just hoping that we're lucky enough to be that one."

You can pre-register to vote HERE.