Tumbler Ridge, B.C., is among several communities in Canada awarded funding through the 2026 Kraft Hockeyville program just weeks after a mass shooting attack in the town where eight people were killed and dozens more hurt.
Thirteen provincial and territorial winners were announced in the annual competition where Canadian towns demonstrate their dedication to hockey for a cash prize, which also includes Taber, Alta., Haines Junction, Yukon, Blackstock, Ont., and Scott, Que.
The communities will get $50,000 to upgrade their arena and are now eligible to advance to the finals, where the runner-up gets $100,000, while the winner receives $250,000 and the chance to host an NHL pre-season game.
The finalists will be announced Saturday, and the winner will be chosen through an online vote.
Maya Gebala played hockey in Tumbler Ridge before she was severely injured in the shooting and her mother Cia Edmonds posted on social media Sunday that her family was invited to a recent Vancouver Canucks game and was treated with meeting team members.
Edmonds called the game "a bittersweet experience" but they really enjoying themselves, especially Gebala's sister.
"The entire time the thought of 'Maya would have loved this' and the shame of it all would subtly drift in, like a bad smell," Edmonds wrote in her post.
"So, (then) period three, they played 'Living on a prayer," the song Maya practised every day all last summer relentlessly, so she could sing on stage at the town festival," she said. "It played loud, everyone sang along. and I felt like she was there for a moment."
Gebala remains in hospital with injuries that include a gunshot wound to the head and her mother has said last week that the girl's condition is deteriorating.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
