Rostraver Ice Garden earns national Hockeyville USA title

Fans have known it for a long time and on Saturday, Kraft Heinz made it official: the Rostraver Ice Garden, near Belle Vernon, is Hockeyville USA 2017.

The designation, the culmination of weeks of online voting, led Kraft Heinz, the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association, to bestow the title on the local arena for hosting the most passionate hockey community in America.

The award carries $150,000 in arena upgrades for the Rostraver Ice Garden.

It also qualifies the local arena to host a televised NHL pre-season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues on NBCSN.

Contest officials announced the winner Saturday in Chicago.

Ice Garden owner Jim Murphy could not immediately be reached for comment.

Murphy previously said winning the contest would allow the Ice Garden, which first opened in 1965 and suffered a partial roof collapse during a heavy snowstorm in 2010, to make a series of capital improvements.

Nina Barton, senior vice president of marketing for Kraft Heinz, said the company wants to help improve local rinks and recognize the pride and commitment in local hockey communities across the country.

“Johnstown and Marquette (prior award winners) have been excellent stewards of that purpose, and we can't wait to see how Belle Vernon brings their new title to life,” she said in a statement announcing the award.

Contest officials said the Rostraver Ice Garden was one of the more than 1,300 communities across the country — accounting for nearly 73 percent of rinks nationwide — that submitted stories demonstrating their community's passion for hockey.

The runner-up, Bloomington Ice Garden, Bloomington, Minn. will receive $75,000 to use toward arena upgrades.

The Ice Garden, which has been a fixture in Western Pennsylvania's hockey community for more than 50 years, was a practice facility for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1970s and hosted hockey camps for Mario Lemieux in the 1980s.

Debra Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer.She can be reached at 412-320-7996 or derdley@tribweb.com or via Twitter @deberdley_trib