Tumbler Ridge is amongst a number of communities in Canada awarded funding by the 2026 Kraft Hockeyville program simply weeks after a mass capturing assault within the city the place eight folks have been killed and dozens extra damage.
13 provincial and territorial winners have been introduced within the annual competitors the place Canadian cities exhibit their dedication to hockey for a money prize, which additionally contains Taber, Alta., Haines Junction, Yukon, Blackstock, Ont., and Scott, Que.
The communities will get $50,000 to improve their enviornment and at the moment are eligible to advance to the finals, the place the runner-up will get $100,000, whereas the winner receives $250,000 and the prospect to host an NHL pre-season recreation.
The finalists will probably be introduced Saturday, and the winner will probably be chosen by a web based vote.
Maya Gebala performed hockey in Tumbler Ridge earlier than she was severely injured within the capturing and her mom Cia Edmonds posted on social media Sunday that her household was invited to a current Vancouver Canucks recreation and was handled with assembly workforce members.
Edmonds referred to as the sport “a bittersweet expertise” however they actually having fun with themselves, particularly Gebala’s sister.
“All the time the considered ‘Maya would have cherished this’ and the disgrace of all of it would subtly drift in, like a nasty odor,” Edmonds wrote in her put up.
“So, (then) interval three, they performed ‘Dwelling on a prayer,” the tune Maya practised day by day all final summer time relentlessly, so she might sing on stage on the city competition,” she stated. “It performed loud, everybody sang alongside. and I felt like she was there for a second.”
Gebala stays in hospital with accidents that embody a gunshot wound to the pinnacle and her mom has stated final week that the woman’s situation is deteriorating.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 16, 2026.
The Canadian Press