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Hearst is campaigning to be recognized as Hockeyville 2009 on the CBC Hockey Night in Canada.

The town stands to gain financially and I think an NHL team will visit.

North Bay has won it in the past. What we need is for Hearst residents, past and present, to send in stories and submit at least one photo in support of the town's proposal. Check out this link to see the 16 stories already on the board.

We still have 22 days to promote our town to get it into the next level of the completion.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeyville/communities/CentreClaudeLarose.html

Scroll to the bottom of the stories and click on the Submit a story link.

We all have some good old memories from the past that we can revive.

If you have any other promo ideas contact Claude Laflamme, CAO of Hearst and he can direct you to the people who are spear heading this effort.

For a small town Hearst has produced several professional, hockey players, Bill Woodward played some semi pro in the 30s. Garry Sharp had a long semi pro career in the 50s. Claude Larose played 17 years in the NHL. Rumun Ndur came through the Hearst Minor Hockey system and played several years in the NHL. Claude Giroux has played at least one league game, several exhibition games and is poised to be a star with the Philadelphia Flyers. Christian Boucher is playing pro in the States this year.

We all remember Bummer Doran, though he wasn't originally from Hearst. He came as a playing coach and led them to the N.O.H.A. Intermediate B title in 1950-51. He had a long semi pro career in the 40s.

Write up stories about your own hockey experiences in Hearst, the teeth you lost, the toes you froze, the back yard rinks, the hand me down equipment you had to use, meeting Rocket Richard when he opened the new arena back in 1959, sneaking into the arena to see our beloved Lumber Kings, gladly jumping over the boards and grabbing a scraper to clean the ice between periods, waiting all year for the game between the public and separate school that often ended in a brawl.

Times were tough but we'd give our eye teeth to go back and relive some of those experiences.

If they get to the next level we need you to watch their progress and vote as many times as you can for their submission at each further stage.

Ernie