FEATURE: First Edmonton summer

Cam Talbot might need navigation systems to help him find his destination sometimes, but that hasn't deterred the Oilers goaltender and his family from calling Edmonton home this off-season.

Rather than uproot and move at the end of the Oilers playoff run in May, the Talbot clan settled in Alberta's capital city to continue growing their family foundation. It was a decision suggested by Cam's wife, Kelly, and has left the Talbots with a feel for their first Edmonton summer.
"Believe it or not, it was her (Kelly's) idea," Cam said at Oilers Hockey School in St. Albert on Wednesday. "It was just one of those things where you got two kids and you don't want four of everything in two different houses."
That's not the only reason the Goalbuster and his kin decided to make Edmonton their home base. The community they live in is full of young professionals with budding families. Kelly and Cam have been forming relationships with their neighbours away from the rink and Cam, specifically, loves the area's dynamic.
"We planted our roots here and live in a nice little community where we got some friends outside of hockey on the block," Cam said. "It's been a nice little summer just getting away from hockey and spending time with the kids and friends in the neighbourhood."
Originally from Caledonia, ON, a town with a population of less than 10,000, Cam says he finds some similarities between his hometown and Edmonton.

"Here, it's a beautiful summer," he said. "A lot drier and not nearly as humid as it is back home."
The city landscape, though, is the main comparable.
"It kind of gives me the same feel," Cam said. "I'm close enough to Hamilton where I can get in the big city and Edmonton has little communities throughout the city.
"It's kind of a small town feel for a big city which is nice for a guy like me who came from a small town."
The community is also very reminiscent of the one he grew up in himself, and Cam believes it will be the one his children form their first friendships in.
"The little ones are a little small to make friends yet but I'm sure they will once they're able to," he said. "There are so many kids on our block and when they're all just running house to house, it kind of reminds me of how I grew up.
"It's a cool dynamic in our neighbourhood so I think that's one of the things we liked most and made us want to live here."
Above all, though, Cam is just happy to find time with his wife and children, in the city they are beginning to get familiar with - both on the road and in the community - and that they now identify as home.
"It's been nice to be on 'daddy duty' I guess you could say," Cam said, "and just spend some time with them and be at home and really just watch them grow."