Noodle Boy is the face of Pense’s Kraft Hockeyville bid

A small town near Regina is one of four finalists in the Kraft Hockeyville contest.

The charge to get Pense the $250,000 prize is being led by an unlikely mascot: Noodle Boy.

Graeme Crosbie, a member of the Pense Memorial Rink board, joined The Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday to discuss Noodle Boy’s wacky antics.

“He’s a bit of an enigma,” Crosbie said. “He comes out of the woodwork when he’s needed to rally support. He is a grown man with a bushy beard who is in a homemade Kraft Dinner noodle outfit with KD plastered on the front. He’s just an excellent, excellent ambassador for the town.

“Go on Facebook and check him out because a lot of people have been putting a lot of work into some video clips of him training and rallying around town and it’s just phenomenal. Hopefully he spreads like wildfire a little bit and people enjoy his stuff.”

That support will be needed soon, as online voting for the contest begins Friday.

Crosbie said the town will be holding a COVID-friendly rally that will be shown on Facebook Live starting at 7 a.m., when voting opens online.

People can go to krafthockeyville.ca, create an account and vote as often as they like for the following 33 hours. Voting closes Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner to be announced that night.

If Pense wins, it will get funding for rink repairs and the right to host an NHL game.

The other nominees are Twilingate, N.L, Saint-Félicien, Que., and Tyne Valley, P.E.I.

The rink in Pense was built in 1990 after the old rink burned down, but Crosbie said some of the infrastructure in the replacement facility has worn out.

The rink board already has raised about $100,000 through various fundraising activities, but more is needed.

“It’s tough to raise $300,000 with a town of 500 people,” he said, “so to win Kraft Hockeyville would be tremendous and we’ll be able to put our minds to rest a little bit.”