Gimli needs people to overflow with love and cast votes by Dec. 12 at 11:59 p.m. CT
Gimli scored a win last week when it found out it’s a finalist in the annual Jets Town Takeover contest.
Lenni Finnbogason, the RM of Gimli’s recreation programmer, decided on a whim to enter the contest to see if she could get Gimli Minor Hockey and town youth in the running for the grand prize.
The Gimli Vikings Borkowsky U11 team waits patiently to get on the ice at the Gimli Recreation Centre. Gimli’s recreation programmer Lenni Finnbogason, with some help from RM of Gimli resident Britanny Isfeld, scored big time with her successful submission to the Jets Town Takeover contest
And she did! Gimli made the Top 3 and is competing against Niverville and Oakbank for glory.
Finnbogason had to make a video explaining why Gimli deserved to become a finalist and write a submission.
“This is my first time ever doing anything like this. I’ve only been in my role as recreation programmer for about nine months, and this was a shot in the dark I took. My boss and I were talking about it and I thought, ‘I’ll just do it.’” said Finnbogason. “I honestly didn’t have a lot of high hopes as I’m not that good on the video-making side of things. But I went ahead and on Wednesday morning I got a call from the Jets’ manager.”
The Jets Town Takeover contest makes Winnipeg Jets hockey and programming accessible to rural Manitoba communities. The winning town will receive Project 11 mental wellness programming for local students, a pizza lunch, an on-ice game between Jets’ alumni and a local hockey team, a free viewing party of the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins game for the whole community, and prizes.
In her heart-warming winning submission to the contest, Finnbogason wrote that Gimli is “overflowing with love” and that the true heart of Gimli lives at the arena, which brings everyone together.
“It’s more than a building. It’s where people feel at home. It’s where kids learn loyalty, resilience and pride. It’s where parents find community, friendship and their own place to belong,” she wrote. “When I talk to parents about why hockey matters, their answers are powerful – it builds confidence, keeps kids grounded, and gives them something meaningful to work toward. It shapes who they are and who they’ll become.”
Finnbogason went on to say that Gimli deserves to win the Jets Town Takeover as it would not only generate excitement, but it would also give the town a “chance to share the heart of our community with the world – the love, the spirt and the pride than come with being a Gimli Viking.”
Finnbogason enlisted the help of video visionary Brittany Isfeld, who lives in the municipality. Isfeld took some shots for Finnbogason to put together and edit for the town’s submission.
“I took some shots of the Gimli Vikings Under 11 teams on the weekend of their tournament while they were chanting, ‘Go Vikings’” said Isfeld, who is fresh off a partial win on the CBC game show Family Feud Canada. “I also asked some of the teammates right after their bronze metal winning game what hockey meant to them, and they [said] being able to be with their friends and play and score.”
Finnbogason said that should Gimli find itself hoisting the winning cup next March, the town would appreciate having the Project 11 mental wellbeing educational presentation, a game with professional hockey players and the social.
“Project 11 would happen in all of our schools in Gimli. It’s a presentation from the Jets’ crew for kids that focuses on mental health. It’s helpful for hockey players and other people in sports to make them aware of mental health issues and how to get help. It’s important for our town to have and for everyone to know because a lot of people struggle with mental health,” said Finnbogason. “And all of our Gimli Minor Hockey teams would be having a practice with Winnipeg Jets and NHL alumni. That would happen at our arena. They’d we’d have a family-friendly social to watch the Jets play on a huge screen, and have food, prizes and Mick. E. Moose. It’s big pop-up Jets party.”
The winner of the three finalists will be decided by a public vote.
Unlike in political elections, Jets Town Takeover voters are allowed to cast an online vote once per day until voting closes on Friday, Dec. 12 at 11:59 p.m. central time.
And Finnbogason is encouraging everyone to support Gimli. They can live in or beyond Gimli to vote.
Previous winners of the Jets Town Takeover are Morris in 2019, Stonewall in 2022 and Oakville in 2023.
Visit www.nhl.com/jets/community/jetstowntakeover and click on Gimli’s entry to cast your vote by Dec. 12. Note: the website, viewed on Nov. 28, shows March 19, 2025, as the day of the Jets Town Takeover event. It should say 2026.
