www.insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 30, 2017 | 38 Highlighting Oakville provides unique challenge for MacLean For one weekend, Church Street became a place of worship. Thousands of hockey fans flocked to the downtown Oakville street to celebrate the game of hockey, get autographs from NHL greats, challenge their friends to a game of road hockey and watch the Rogers Hometown Hockey broadcast in near-freezing temperatures. Among the familiar faces you might have recognized in the crowd Sunday was Sportsnet anchor Evanka Osmak. Osmak had attended Hometown Hockey events before, but having grown up in Oakville, this one piqued her interest a little more than the others. "It's a great way to showcase what the town has to offer. It has grown, but it still has that hometown feeling," said Osmak, who attended Appleby College from Grade 6 to 12. "I've been to several Hometown Hockeys, but it's nice when it comes to your hometown. You wonder where they're going to set up, what they're going to feature." The latter part proved to be a unique challenge for host Ron MacLean, who has called Oakville home for 32 years. "In this case, I almost knew too much," he said. "You're trying to showcase the town and its history, but you have to boil it down to 40 minutes." Of course, there were hockey stories. Co-host Tara Slone interviewed Harrison Browne about embracing his role as the first transgender athlete in North American team sports. Sam Gagner told the story of how the battles he and John Tavares waged on his backyard rink helped put them on the path to the NHL. And Oakville native Jamie Campbell, better known for his work in baseball, told of his family connection to the Oakville Blades and how much the team meant to him growing up. Hometown Hockey doesn't just limit itself to hockey in telling its host community's stories. Highlighting a few of his favourite places in town, MacLean relayed the town's history. MacLean rattled a dozen names off the top of his head with ease when discussing the athletes from other sports that could have been featured. For Sunday's show, Slone went head-to-head racing go-karts with IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe. Slone began preparing her segments with Browne and Hinchcliffe about a month ago. And though it's necessary to prepare in advance, she said there is no better way to learn about a town than talking to the people who live there. "On Saturday, I like to wander around the festival and meet people and get their stories," she said. "There's only so much you can read. It's the personal stories that really bring the town to life." For MacLean, no story was more personal than the feature on Dr. Mangesh Inamdar, who saved the life of his wife Cari, after she had a pulmonary embolism in 2012. Outside the mobile studio, Cari watched the feature surrounded by her hockey teammates. Balancing his role on Hometown Hockey and Hockey Night in Canada's Saturday broadcast can be tricky, particularly when it travels out of province, but MacLean said his travels across the country provide him with a wealth of information. "I learn a lot on the road that I can bring back to Hockey Night in Canada," he said. Hockey forms long-lasting bonds Continued from p.37 obvious way for young fans to get their hockey fix on the weekend, there were many hockey-themed games in which even a hockey novice could participate. Isabelle Hardy knows very well the game can take many forms. The Grade 11 Garth Webb student, who joined Perry on the Hometown Hockey set to announce the three stars, has already earned a scholarship to Providence College. But she has also found success during the summer months. She has represented Canada internationally playing inline hockey, which she took up at the age of six. Hardy said it was incredible to see hockey being celebrated locally. Playing the sport year-round has provided her with many opportunities, but has given her something that will last the rest of her life. Scotiabank donated $7,500 to each of Oakville's minor hockey organizations as part of the Rogers Hometown Hockey celebration on the weekend. On hand for the presentation were (from left) Hometown Hockey co-host Tara Slone, Oakville Hornets president Mike Turczyniak, Oakville Rangers president John Verdon and Scotiabank branch manager (Dundas/Neyagawa) Nicole Stevenson, representing all Oakville Scotiabanks. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver "It was amazing (Hometown Hockey) came to us," Hardy said. "It's great to see all the Oakville kids playing hockey. I love playing the sport. My teammates have become like a second family." Graves, who coached his daughters' teams with Kevin McAllister -- "Kevin was the head coach, I opened the doors," Graves said with a laugh -- says one of the best aspects of the game is seeing the players grow up together. "They all come back to town from school and play in the summer women's league," said McAllister. "It's just great to see these girls you coached when they were six or seven years old still love the game." "You run into these girls now and see the type of people they have become," added the world's most accomplished door opener, "and it's nice to know hockey had a small part in their development."