Feb 20, 2015 By Suzanne Elliott 2 min read

The management of the Donaldson’s Crossroads Giant Eagle on Washington Road is hoping for a hockey night in Peters Township or Canonsburg.

The McMurray store is one of numerous grocery stores across the country that is participating in Kraft Hockeyville, an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Foods, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association.

The store that sells the most Kraft Select products in the next six weeks will be eligible for a $4,000 prize from Kraft that would then be donated to a local high school hockey program, 150 of which are in Pennsylvania. The winner will be announced March 19. The national winner is eligible for $150,000, which would go toward the renovation of a local high school hockey facility. In addition, that facility would also host an NHL exhibition game. There are also cash prizes for runners up.

Kraft Hockeyville has been held since 2006 in Canada. This will be the first year that the winner will come from the United States. Last year’s winner was Sylvan Lake, Alberta. That community, which beat out 530 entrants, hosted a preseason NHL game between the Arizona Coyotes and the Calgary Flames, and used the money to upgrade its 42-year-old arena.

In recent decades, several area arenas have been constructed to accommodate the growing number of hockey clubs. The latest facility to be constructed in Greater Pittsburgh is the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township. It is scheduled to open summer 2015 and will include two full-size ice rinks.

To draw attention to the promotion, the managers of the Donaldson’s Crossroads Giant Eagle asked the coaches of the Peters Township High School and Canon McMillan High School hockey teams to have two of its players, Jake Raymore of Peters, who plays defense, and Zach Mansmann of Canon Mac, a center, come to the store in their hockey uniforms to pose for pictures in front of Kraft food items. Both Peters and Canon-Mac play most of their home games at Iceoplex in Southpointe, Cecil Township.

Ben Price, the store’s center leader, knows the chances of winning this contest are slim. But, if it wins, then two local hockey clubs would be helped.

“They are the two schools in our area that would benefit the most,” Price said.