The road to Hockeyville is wide open. Let's get walking down it. Who knows where it will lead. Maybe to Cranbrook.

Why Hockeyville? Why should we strive for such national recognition?

Well, never mind the fact that the campaign has already been great play for our community. It is our philosophy that drawing attention of a positive nature to our little town can only be for our ultimate and long-term good. And here we are in the Top 12, with the cut to Top 5 due Saturday, March 27 (voting stops 9:59 p.m., Sunday, March 21).

Making the top five results in a $25,000 prize, a nice little cash injection for an arena upgrade. To take the top prize would result in a $100,000 prize, also for arena upgrade, and all the benefits, tangible and intangible, that that would bring. Not to mention hosting an NHL pre-season game to start next season. What fun.

Are you sold? Ready to vote for yourself? Vote early and vote often. Head on down to the Voting Centre at the Rec Plex. Or even easier, log on to www.dailytownsman.com, click on the Hockeyville banner at the top of our home page, and you are right at the Hockeyville Cranbrook voting page, ready to vote online.

Remember, you can vote as often as you like. So here's a nice little trick, to enable you to “speed vote” (all speed-voting tricks are perfectly legal):

From the top of the Hockeyville home page (www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeyville), press “tab” twice, hit “c” (to bring up Cranbrook Rec Plex), hit “tab,” and enter confirmation words shown. Hit “enter.” That will bring you to a new page, that tells you your vote has been received. Click on the link that starts “already subscribed,” and repeat the process (Tab twice, etc).

Vote early, vote often, as they say.