“This place is the heart of the community and if it were to go away it would leave a massive void.”
That’s how Trevor Madge describes the drive in Powassan to ensure the Trout Creek Community Centre (TCCC) remains open.
Madge and his friend Travis Tennant have entered the TCCC in the Kraft Hockeyville 2025 competition.
See: Trout Creek hoping Hockeyville can help save its aging rink
North Bay was named Hockeyville in the second season of the competition back in 2007. North Bay won $50,000 in arena upgrades which were put into the construction of a digital sign in front of Memorial Gardens which has since been torn down. The city also hosted an NHL game on September 17, 2007, when the New York Islanders and Atlanta Thrashers clashed on Memorial Gardens ice.
Both Madge and Tennant and many residents hope Trout Creek is the grand prize winner of $250,000 so those funds can be applied to badly needed work at the arena.
Last October Tatham Engineering of Bracebridge told the municipality the 50-year-old arena was at the end of its useful life and replacing it was a more economical long-term solution.
However, Powassan doesn’t have the millions of dollars it will take to replace the aging structure and instead is opting to spend $2.5 million to carry out renovations to keep the arena open for a period of years.
Tatham’s report found the arena will continue to decay which will increase both the maintenance costs and risk to the building users. A critical factor Tatham identified was the amount of snow the arena roof could support over the winter.
Since the municipality intends to keep using the arena, Tatham recommended the municipality install additional support beams inside the building to support the roof and to help the existing columns that have deteriorated with time.
The municipality is also taking ongoing steps to clear the roof of built-up snow.
Although the additional beams are in place, Tennant says it’s not an ideal way to watch hockey or other events on the ice. “It’s a Band-Aid solution,” he said.
“The beams add challenges for the players on the bench when they go over the boards or come off the ice. The beams are several feet apart and they create visibility issues for the players on the bench. And the fans have to cram close to each other so they can see around the beams.”
Tennant said the arena has sentimental value for him because his grandfather was not only the arena manager, he also helped to build it.
In nominating the TCCC, Tennant explained at length on the Hockeyville website why it would be a worthy candidate for the top prize cash award.
Madge saw Tennant’s work and created a Facebook page to get as many residents from the region involved in the effort to capture the Kraft Hockeyville top prize.
Madge is a hockey coach and has seven and nine-year-olds who both learned how to skate at the TCCC. “It means a lot to me to keep this place open,” he said.
Madge notes that the arena is heavily used by not only residents of Trout Creek but numerous non-residents.
For example, North Bay’s Nipissing University Lakers hockey team uses the TCCC as a regular practice rink because it can’t get regular ice time in its hometown.
Madge also said the arena supports old-timers’ hockey, a men’s hockey league, and public skating.
Tennant said the interior of the arena is used for the Trout Creek annual fall fair in addition to the fairgrounds. The August fall fair draws big crowds from Burk’s Falls to North Bay and provides an economic boost in late summer.
Tennant noted residents of East Ferris and Powassan also use the ice, while the second floor of the building is utilized to host weddings, receptions, luncheons, and other events. The next big event is the winter carnival during the Family Day Weekend.
Tennant said if the TCCC was to disappear there is no way Trout Creek events could transfer to Powassan.
And Madge adds, “It absolutely fulfills a quality of life.”
While the Hockeyville first prize doesn’t come close to providing the amount of money the TCCC needs, “It’s a good start,” Tennant said. “If we win, then we can look at other things like fundraising and donations.”
The Trout Creek nomination is among more than 300 entries in the Kraft Hockeyville competition. Those entries get knocked down to the final four on March 2. From March 3-15, national voting takes place to declare the overall winner.
Tennant says it’s important that people keep contributing stories to the Hockeyville website explaining why the TCCC is relevant and important to the community. A recent local entry to the Hockeyville website came from former NHL player Gerry Odrowski.
Odrowski lives in Trout Creek and his career spanned 17 years, including stints with the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, St Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets.
In a video, he describes what the TCCC means to the people and the value it provides.
Northern Ontario is no stranger to winning Hockeyville.
In 2024, Elliot Lake won the $250,000 grand prize and in 2007 North Bay was the winner.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.