Kraft Hockeyville™ USA is officially back and nominations are open to find America’s most spirited and enthusiastic hockey communities. Towns across the U.S. can now contend for the coveted title of "Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017" and enter for a chance to host an NHL® Pre-Season game televised live on NBCSN and $150,000 in arena upgrades. All the program partners are back – USA Hockey, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), National Hockey League (NHL®), and NBC Sports Group -- to support the search to find the ten communities across the U.S. that exhibit the most pride, passion and love for the game of hockey.

 “Like the rest of the country, we were inspired by the pride and brilliant enthusiasm Marquette demonstrated to become Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2016,” said Nina Barton, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Kraft Heinz. “We can’t wait to see what this year’s contest brings, and we look forward to helping more hockey communities thrive across America in 2017.”

Jeremy Roenick, former NHL® great and current NHL® analyst for NBC, is back as program ambassador. “I’m thrilled to be back as part of Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017 to help inspire community rinks and youth hockey players across the U.S.,” said Roenick. “This great program helps share the hockey spirit and allows me to work with the next generation of players to bring communities together.”

How Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017 Works

Like a hockey game, Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017 has three periods. In the first period, communities across the country are encouraged to enter by sharing unique stories about their local rink, teams, hockey spirit and passion and submitting their nominations now through March 10, 2017, at www.KraftHockeyville.com, where complete contest rules and nomination applications are available.

The competition heats up in the second period when 10 community finalists will be chosen, which includes three rounds of public voting:

Round 1 (April 11-13, 2017) – Top four communities chosen to move on to the next round; remaining six each receive $10,000 toward arena upgrades.

Round 2 (April 18-19, 2017) – Top two finalists selected; remaining two each receive $25,000 toward arena upgrades.

Round 3 (April 24-25, 2017) – One community will emerge as Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017; runner-up will receive $75,000 toward arena upgrades.

In the final period, the winning community will be announced April 29, 2017 and receive the grand prize of the chance to host an NHL® Pre-Season game televised on NBCSN, as well as $150,000 in arena upgrades from Kraft Heinz.

For contest rules, information on nominating a community and complete program details, visit www.KraftHockeyville.com. Kraft Hockeyville™ USA 2017 can also be found at Facebook.com/KraftHockeyvilleUSA and on Twitter (@HockeyvilleUSA). Fans can join the conversation using #HockeyvilleUSA