Carleton Place, Ont. hoping to be the next Kraft Hockeyville

The town of Carleton Place is hoping to be this year's next Kraft Hockeyville. 

The annual contest celebrates hockey-crazed communities across Canada. The winning community will receive $250,000 to go towards their local arena and will host an NHL preseason game. Three runner-up communities will receive $25,000 for arena upgrades.

Coun. Linda Seccaspina submitted Carleton Place's bid into the competition, saying the town's arena is the heart of the community.

"Hockey is everything, hockey made everybody," Seccaspina tells CTV News Ottawa.

"I had kids that played hockey, everybody does. You come to skate here, play ping-pong here, you do everything here. Hockey is everything."

With recent upgrades already made to the arena in Carleton Place, the town says there is a unique plan for the money should they become a finalist.

"We're going to use it to put it towards a hockey equipment loaning program," says community programmer Jessica Hansen.

"So the thought is that we want to be able to have sets of equipment for up to 300 players, so that hockey can be played by anyone who wants to and the financial implications aren't the barrier that keeps someone from playing or not playing."

To become a finalist in the Kraft Hockeyville competition, communities are asked to submit hockey stories and pictures of their local arenas online. 

Submissions can be liked and shared for additional points. The top four communities with the most submissions and engagement will then be selected as finalists. The deadline for nominations is Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

"Put up photos, stories, like pictures, share it on Facebook," Seccaspina says. "They like Twitter, so share it on Twitter."

"It would be really good to get some recognition in this town," says Brent Sullivan, owner and head coach of the Carleton Place Canadians junior A hockey team.

Sullivan's Canadians currently lead their division in the CCHL and are the main ticket for the community on Sunday afternoons.

"It's a town that has grown incredibly fast. Minor hockey is pretty prominent in this rink and it would be quite cool to see Carleton Place on the map in that sense."

Bob White has worked at the arena in Carleton Place for over 40 years and has seen countless families come through the doors.

"We had kids on the ice on both rinks at 7 o'clock this morning and this is before school time," White tells CTV News.

"So when you see the kids coming in the door like that and they're all fired up ready to play, you can tell that it's a real hockey community here."

Seccaspina says Carleton Place last entered the competition in 2012 and were heartbroken to not advance.

The councillor says the town's attitude has changed and will continue submitting until they are successful.

"Even if we don't win, it's for the community, it's for the kids," says Seccaspina. "It's important and our arena is so important."