February | 2023 | thecurler.com

Ryan Hyde and his Portage team ( Kenneth Keeler, Hartley Vanstone, Ryan Brooks) have won the Access Credit Union Super League playoffs, completing a three game sweep through the playoff round with a 6-4 victory over David Hamblin’s Morris team.

Access Credit Union League Champions: (l-r) Ryan Hyde, Kenneth Keeler, Hartley Vanstone, Ryan Brooks)

Traditionally, the league’s playoff round is scheduled in the period ahead of the Viterra Championship to provide ‘tune-up’ competition for teams which may be competing.

Saturday’s playoff round in Morris provided three competitive games for the Hamblin team and two for the Hyde team who will both be in Neepawa next week.

To reach the final game, Hamblin defeated Dean North (Carman) and Randy Neufeld (LaSalle), who is looking forward to both Senior and Masters provincials. Neufeld had earned the first place bye after round-robin play.

Hyde’s team had earned the second place bye so only had to win one game to reach the final game.

The champion’s cheque of $2,500 and the finalist cheque of $1,500 will help pay expenses for the teams as they compete in Neepawa.

Hyde starts the Viterra Championship at 8:30AM Wednesday against Sean Grassie while Hamblin has a 12:15 draw against Steen Sigurdson.

A total of nine teams, seven from Winnipeg along with teams from the Morden and Plum Coulee Fire Departments, contested the Manitoba Firefighters Championship this weekend at Fort Rouge.

Winnipeg firefighter Dan Michalchuk became a three time winner of the Manitoba Firefighters Championship when his team won the final game tonight. Michalchuk , the 2014 and 2017 champion skip, was accompanied by Kris Rosolowich (2015 Manitoba and Canadian Champion), Jeff Phillips, and Ryan Smithson.

2023 Champions: Dan Michalchuk, Kris Rosolowich, Jeff Phillips Ryan Smithson, Director Shayne Cormier (Bob Poole Photo)

They went undefeated through the championship, winning three round-robin games, the Page 1-1 game and the final over the Ken Dusablon team. The Dusablon team was skipped by retired Winnipeg firefighter Gord Cole, with Dusablon absent due to covid.

In the Page 1-1 game, the Michalchuk foursome defeated Mike Mikulik’s team. The Mikulik foursome had also been unbeaten in their three round-robin games. They lost the semi-final to the Dusablon/Cole team who had advanced from the Page 2-2 game. In that game, they had defeated Len Krisko, the defending champion who had also won the title in 2016.

For a complete history of the Manitoba Firefighters Championship, visit mffca.ca

For a complete history of the Canadian Firefighters Championship, visit cffca.ca

Since the Canadian Championship began in 1960, Manitoba has won five times. With thanks to the CFFCA and the association’s website, those winners are: