THE Collingwood Blues Junior Hockey team has held an exciting rink competition which received 118 rink entries and over 12,000 votes.

The contest was split up into several different categories: best pond rink, most creative, small rink, family, and professional rinks. With the help of several local sponsors, the Blues were able to give away prizes to the winners.

Chris Potts, a Board Member at the Collingwood Blues, told Georgian Sports News that the rink contest was great and thought the competition brought the local community closer.

“Because of the pandemic, there hasn’t been a lot to do for minor sports or the Blues. So I came up with the idea to try and bring the community together and be one.

“With everyone being at home and struggling to get outside, I came up with the idea of a backyard rink contest.

“We used the Collingwood Blues as the platform because they are one of the only elite junior teams in Simcoe County. It was pretty cool to get all of the kids’ minor hockey associations to work towards something and work with the junior team.”

Mr. Potts added that the contest took off and surpassed the club’s initial expectations: “We never even imagine that it would go as far as it did. We ended up having 12,500 votes and 118 rink submissions. Our goal was 20 rink submissions, as that is the response we thought we would get. 

“We ended up getting 15 sponsors that contacted us to be a part of the program, which was really good and pretty overwhelming. It exceeded our expectations by far.”

There were several outstanding submissions, but Mr. Potts singled out the Holmes Ice Advantage as his favourite, which claimed top spot in the Family Rink contest.

The Blues have also started a silent auction called ‘Stickit2COVID’, aiming to raise youth hockey funds.

Mr. Potts said about the auction: “Obviously, we can’t do a lot of things in person because of COVID, so we are trying to support the hockey team keep the players on the ice and in training. 

“Stickit2COVID is more of a slogan to say we’re going to beat this pandemic. By doing that, we can all come together, raise money and win some cool prizes.”

For more information on the Collingwood Blues, visit their website: collingwoodblues.pointstreaksites.com or to donate to Stickit2COVID, visit StickIt2Covid.com