An explosion caused significant damages to Taber's Community Centre on Dec. 17, 2025. (Image Credit: Town of Taber)

By Jesse Gill

Kraft Hockeyville

Taber wins $50k for arena upgrades as Alberta’s Kraft Hockeyville Nominee

Mar 16, 2026 | 10:50 AM

Taber was named the Alberta nominee for Kraft Hockeyville on Saturday.

They will receive a $50,000 prize for rink upgrades, and the opportunity to advance to the top two communities, who will compete in a vote for the grand prize of $250,000 and the chance to host an NHL exhibition game.

There are 13 nominees total, one from each Canadian province and territory, each receiving $50,000, and now looking for the top prize. The two finalists for Kraft Hockeyville will be announced on March 21.

Taber’s communications manager Meghan Brennan said that people in the community have been smiling since the announcement.

“It’s obviously an incredible honor and our community worked really hard to rally for it,” Brennan said.

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“There’s no greater honor to that than to stand beside the 12 fellow nominees across Canada,” she added.

“We’d really like to thank everybody that rallied for us thus far. It was Taborites, but it was also our friends and neighbors beyond our borders. So we’re incredibly thankful for that.”

A media release from the Town of Taber on Saturday stated that it’s an incredible honour for the town, and one it doesn’t take lightly.

They also took a moment in the release to acknowledge the communities across Canada that have rallied around their arenas, adding that rinks are not just buildings but community anchors where people gather and create lifetime memories.

An explosion on Dec. 17, 2025, forced the closure of Taber’s Community Centre. The home rink was lost for the remainder of the season for 15 minor hockey teams and 250 young players, along with several other groups and clubs.

The Town stated that the loss was felt immediately across the town and region, but their spirit was not lost.

The full release from the Town of Taber is shown below.

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Town of Taber Media Release (Image Credit: Town of Taber)

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READ: Taber arena explosion not caused by human error (Jan. 7, 2026)

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Once the final two communities are revealed, voting will run from April 3 at 7:00 a.m. MST to April 4 at 3:00 p.m. MST. The winner will be announced shortly after the polls close.

You can register to vote on the Kraft Hockeyville website.

The undamaged portions of the Taber Community Centre were opened back up on March 1. However, the ice surfaces and the curling rink remained closed.

asbestos abatement is happening and Nobody’s allowed in or out, you know all the legalities involved with that So we are hopefully on track to get the large ice open by August 1st.

“Our next kind of goal post is Aug. 1 for the large ice arena. The wall got blown off on that one, but it didn’t sustain a great deal of damage beyond that,” Brennan said.

“Asbestos abatement is happening and nobody’s allowed in or out, all the legalities involved with that,” she added.

“But no ETA on the small ice or the curling club, that would sustain the most damage.”

The costs to rebuild the facility is estimated at about $11 million.

Taber’s chief administrative officer Derrin Thibault to The Canadian Press (CP) that council recently agreed to spend about $6.2 million to rebuild its large ice rink after the December blast shattered the walls around it.

The town still needs about $5 million to fix the second ice rink and remaining parts of the community centre.

Thibault also told CP that the town has requested $8 million from the federal government for upgrades.

The Town of Taber has said it was a leaky Zamboni that set off the blast.

The leak was ignited by a nearby electric heater, creating a fireball that shattered glass around the ice rinks, damaged the roof, toppled concrete walls and bricks, and hit gas lines.

A PlayOn! Street Hockey Tournament will also be hosted in Taber on March 27-28, with all proceeds supporting the rebuild of the Taber Arena.

It includes nine celebrity coaches, eight former NHL players and Rebecca Johnston, who played women’s hockey professionally with the Calgary Inferno and also earned three Olympic gold medals with Team Canada.

Former NHL players include:

• Brian Skrudland – A two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and Dallas Stars in 1999, and a 15-year NHL player.
• Kelly Buchberger – A two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Edmonton Oilers in 1987 and 1990, and long-time Oilers captain.
• Chris Joseph – The 13-season NHL defenceman also won a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in 1988. His son Jaxon tragically passed away in the Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash in 2018.
• Tim Hunter – A Stanley Cup Champion with the Calgary Flames in 1989, Hunter was twice the most penalized player in the NHL, in a career that spanned 16 seasons.
• Rich Sutter – One of the six Sutter brothers from Viking, Alta. to play in the NHL. Rich and his twin brother Ron also won a Memorial Cup with the WHL’s Lethbridge Broncos in 1983. He played 13 seasons in the NHL.
• Dana Murzyn – A Stanley Cup Champion with the Calgary Flames in 1989, Murzyn played 14 NHL seasons as a physical defensive defenceman.
• Chris Dingman – A two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He played eight seasons in the NHL.
• Zack Smith – A strong two-way player from Maple Creek, Sask., who played in 12 NHL seasons, mostly with the Ottawa Senators, before finishing with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The event will have a charity concert from the Road Hammers and special guests on March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Taber Agri-Plex.