Kraft Hockeyville win, NHL experience 'going to do a lot' for Saint-Boniface

Arena de Saint-Boniface was filled to overflow the night of April 5, 2025, awaiting word on if Saint-Boniface, Quebec, would be announced the winner of Kraft Hockeyville Canada. Not present was Jean-Sebastien Descoteaux, a member of the local organizing committee put in charge of communications for their bid to win voting throughout Canada.

Descoteaux's absence was preplanned. Every year, he and five friends travel to attend sporting events, especially hockey, and their goal is to visit all 32 NHL arenas. This excursion was to the New York metropolitan area, and it was the eve of the New York Islanders' game against the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena, with Alex Ovechkin on the precipice of breaking an NHL record deemed untouchable.

The six were in their Times Square hotel, watching and waiting, when Descoteaux took an incoming call via Face Time from his wife, Caroline Bouchard. On her end was bedlam, people crying and hugging one another.

Saint-Boniface was Hockeyville. Less than 24 hours later, Descoteaux watched Ovechkin pass Wayne Gretzky with goal No. 895.

"I'm pretty sure people could hear us cheering all across the hotel," Descoteaux said. "I've never seen that before. For the whole town, for the community, it was the biggest moment I've seen for the last 20 years here."

Coming to a small community (estimated population: 5,459) in the Mauricie region of Quebec, equal distances between Quebec City and Montreal, is Hockeyville celebrations.

Among them will be an NHL preseason game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens about 20 minutes away at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1).

It's Hockeyville's return to Quebec for the first time since the Canadiens' 3-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at Benoit-Levesque Arena in Roberval on Sept. 23, 2008, and close to 20 years after the inaugural event, when Montreal defeated Ottawa 7-3 at Colchester Legion Stadium in Truro, Nova Scotia, on Sept. 25, 2006.

Arena de Saint-Boniface received $250,000 for rink upgrades and the community got $10,000 in new hockey equipment courtesy of NHL Players' Association Goals & Dreams and the NHL/NHLPA Industry Growth Fund. The Senators will arrive two seasons after they played the last Hockeyville game, a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Sudbury Community Arena to celebrate Elliot Lake, Ontario.

The Canadiens return after losing twice to the Senators in 2022, the last 3-2 in overtime at J.K. Irving Centre in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, honoring Elsipogtog First Nation. 

The $250,000 grand prize has helped restore an arena built using parts of a disassembled facility and afforded the town credibility needed to seek other provincial and private funding. The victory created a moment felt throughout and beyond the borders of the region.

"The arena was full, the stands were full," said Arena de Saint-Boniface general manager Natacha Pilotte, translated by Descoteaux. "And when (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman named our arena, the roof just exploded, so it was really historical. There are no words to express how people felt here."

Calgary Flames player development coach Martin Gelinas felt it. He was born 10 minutes northeast in Shawinigan and became "The Eliminator" during a stretch when he scored the series-winning goal in three Stanley Cup Playoff series -- two in overtime -- for the Calgary Flames on their run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, a seven-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gelinas drove through Saint-Boniface with his father, Rene, in mid-August. He felt it again, affirming hockey is religion throughout Quebec and more so in a small town.

"Every kid, when I grew up, played the game," Gelinas said. "And to have the game there and share it with not only everybody there, but more importantly young kids that are going to be playing the game and be passionate about the game and seeing their superstar hockey players playing in front of them, I think it's wonderful and it's going do a lot for the for the city of Saint-Boniface."

Saint-Boniface is working-class people who do hard work with pride. Their road to Hockeyville began a little more than 27 years ago, when they learned that Radisson, Quebec, was getting rid of their arena and it could be had for $1. The building was dismantled and shipped about 14 hours south for a group of volunteers to rebuild.

Reconstruction was completed in 2000 under the direction of Mayor Gilles Bellemare, also the project's chairman of the board. Rejean Gervais was one of 10 original builders, and his son, Mario, also volunteered his time. Another son, Sylvain, was an English spokesperson after Saint-Boniface won Hockeyville.

Bellemare served from 1996 to 2009 and died Aug. 26, 2018, at the age of 75. Rejean died May 3, 2019, on his 80th birthday.

"Like many others, (Rejean) was really involved in the development of sports in the communities," Sylvain said in an email. "He would be so proud of what Natacha, the team and the village accomplished."

Their crown jewel had aged through the years, so Descoteaux's colleague, Alexandre Gadoury, thought it was a fun idea to bid for Hockeyville and an application letter written by Caroline on Jan. 31, 2025, helped Saint-Boniface qualify for the first round of the nomination phase. Laptops were installed inside the arena during the final push. There was guidance for older people to vote, a disco organized in the evening to attract teenagers and contributions from sponsors providing more visibility outside of town.

"We tried to keep it alive 24 hours," Descoteaux said. "This could give you a general idea of what's the mindset here in the city and how people are really attached to the arena. We needed that contest a lot to keep it alive and allow our community to continue to use it."

The city council adopted a Memorandum of Understanding on May 21 for a total budget of $7.2 million toward renovations: the Hockeyville grand prize plus $2.45 million from donations, sponsorships, loans, local grants, etc., and a $4.5 million grant from the Quebec government. The building will be operational for the Saint-Boniface Minor Hockey Association and the Figure Skating Club, among others, with restorations progressing toward a projected completion date of Sept. 1, 2027.

The reward wasn't only the grand prize. The reward was the hustle, it was the work.

"When there's something that people have in their heart, they will be tight, and they will get it done," Pilotte said. "This is what describes Saint-Boniface the most."

And like 19 other communities in Canada before them, they will see the NHL up close and personal for perhaps the first and only time. Even with Montreal and Bell Centre less than a two-hour drive northeast, there are those who lack the financial means to make the trip.

That was Gelinas growing up. Rene could only afford a visit to the old Montreal Forum once or twice.

"For a lot of families, one it's far, and two, it's costly," Gelinas said. "To have the NHL share the game close to them, hopefully a lot of those kids will take advantage to go and see their favorite players and superstars and so on. It's just a good thing the NHL is doing for small communities and the kids in Quebec."

Descoteaux will be home this time. He and his brethren had to wait one year so the NHL and Kraft could plan and do it that much better. They took it as a blessing.

"The fact that we're waiting for so long increased the excitement in the city," Descoteaux said. "It's a big thing to receive the NHL in our little town."