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Wall of fame honours skaters

The City of St. Albert saluted those athletes who reached the pinnacle of their sport during Monday's unveiling of the Skating Wall of Fame. The inaugural 24 inductees were honoured for achieving national or professional accomplishments.
St. Albert speed skater Tamara Oudenaarden checks out the many names
St. Albert speed skater Tamara Oudenaarden checks out the many names

The City of St. Albert saluted those athletes who reached the pinnacle of their sport during Monday's unveiling of the Skating Wall of Fame.

The inaugural 24 inductees were honoured for achieving national or professional accomplishments.

"It's important we leave a legacy for those who have led their sports," Mayor Nolan Crouse said during the ceremony at Servus Credit Union Place. "Thank you to those of you who dedicate your lives so much to your sport. St. Albert is proud of you and that's why we're having the wall of fame."

Located inside Performance Arena, the wall of fame features plaques with pictures and bios of the 24 individuals.

"It's going to be a real focal point in the arena as a reminder of some of the great athletes that have come and gone through St. Albert. Some are still in the community and contributing with our young athletes coming up," said Bryan Thomas, chair of the wall of fame committee.

The majority are hockey players, ranging from Joe Benoit — St. Albert's first NHL player and Stanley Cup winner with the 1945/46 Montreal Canadians — to 24-year-old Nick Holden, who played his first NHL game in 2010 for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"It really spans decades," Crouse said. "We have so many people to be proud of."

Surreal feeling

Ringette player Michelle Brown (nee Chamberland) and speed skater Tamara Oudenaarden were also recognized on the wall of fame.

"It seems very surreal to be up there with those people," said Brown, who knows two of the honourees, Roy Mitchell and Troy Murray, through family and business connections. "This is actually quite an honour. I wasn't expecting it at all. I was very surprised when I found out."

Brown was impressed with the wall of fame display.

"It's beautiful. They did a nice job," said the three-time national gold medallist with Team Alberta in junior AA in 1999 and 2000 and belle AA in 2001.

Brown progressed through the ranks of the St. Albert Ringette Association before playing for Zone 5 club teams at the AA level.

"There was always a lot of support here from lots of different figures," said the high-scoring forward, twice a first-line all-star team selection in five straight trips to nationals. "Going to the rink and seeing the same people was a lot of fun."

Select company

Oudenaarden was also thrilled to be in select company.

"It's quite an honour actually to be put up there with these guys," said one of eight females named by Speed Skating Canada to the 2010 Olympic team. "It's really cool actually how far back the wall of fame goes."

Oudenaarden was active in a variety of sports while growing up in St. Albert.

"Sports have been super important in my life. I learned about myself and who I want to be," said the regular on the World Cup circuit. "St. Albert is a pretty active city so I was exposed to so many sports here. A lot of it was from the schools and the teachers and through them I was encouraged to continue on in sports. They helped me excel to the next level, as did of course my family and church and other people."

The 500-metre specialist is grateful to call St. Albert home.

"I've been living in Calgary for almost seven years now but this will always be my home," Oudenaarden said. "To have the community back me up through all the years that I've been speed skating, and just knowing that they're cheering me on for the next Olympics and whatever else comes through my career, is exciting."

Proud moment

Another inductee who was all smiles throughout the ceremony was Olympic gold medallist Meaghan Mikkelson.

"I'm really excited that I could be here for this today along with all the other inductees. There are some huge names up there, so to be a part of this group and to be celebrating here today is obviously a huge honour," said the member of the Canadian women's hockey team since 2007.

The first female to play on a St. Albert rep boys' team is proud of her hockey roots.

"For any athlete, no matter what sport you're in growing up, the community that you are part of plays a huge role in your success and in your journey to getting to where you are going," Mikkelson said. "There is no way I would've made it to where I did today without St. Albert minor hockey, the City of St. Albert and all the coaches I had along the way and just the community itself. There was so much support throughout my career as a hockey player as the only girl on a lot of all-boys teams."

The second home for the forward-turned-defenceman was the local rinks.

"Anytime you're back where you spent so much time as a young kid, it really brings back a lot of memories," said the former bantam AAA St. Albert Sabre. "It's funny being back in this facility because it was always just the Mark Messier and the Troy Murray rinks and I just think about all the games that I played there and all the days I spent in there, whether it was for my games or my brother's [Brendan] games. Even being back in this rink [Performance Arena], the Olympic year when we played the midget AAA boys [a 4-2 victory by Team Canada in front of 2,300 spectators on Jan. 10, 2010], it brings back memories of that game."

150th celebration

The idea of a skating wall of fame was hatched during a breakfast meeting between Crouse, hockey historian Larry Mitchell and Brian McConkey, who was president of St. minor hockey at the time.

"We talked about how we could honour those who reached the pinnacle of their sports. We had a vision beyond ice sports, but we thought we would start with ice sports and what you see tonight is the end point of that particular vision," Crouse said. "We also wanted to unveil it in 2011, the year of our city's 150th birthday."

The organizing committee consisted of Don Smythe, Larry Mitchell, Diane Enger, Monique St. Louis and Thomas.

Funding for the wall was made possible by the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association. The city also provided a contribution.

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