Author Archives: Resby Coutts

PLAYOFFS SET IN CANADA GAMES MIXED DOUBLES TRIALS; ARBUCKLE-MACDONELL #1 SEED

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The playoffs are set in CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Mixed Doubles Trials at the Heather Curling Club. As the only undefeated (4W-0L) team in round robin play, the St. Vital duo of Mackenzie Arbuckle and Aaron Macdonell have been seeded #1 in the playoff round and have earned a bye to the semifinals.

Lauren Rajala & Ryan Ostrowsky (Granite) finished second in their pool, behind Arbuckle-Macdonell, with a 3W-1L record.

Three other teams, two pools, Mikaylah Lyburn – Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge), Samantha Eagles – Logan Strand (Granite) and Katie Lukowich – Thomas McGillivary (Granite), also all had 3W-1L records. Based on their pre-game last stone draws, Lyburn – McDonald were made #2 seed and also earn a bye to the semi-final.

Four teams finished with 2W-2L records but only one could advance to the six team playoff round, again based on their pre-game last stone draws. The nod went to Lauren Evason – Rylan Campbell (East St. Paul).

The quarterfinal games at 9AM Sunday will feature Eagles – Strand VS Lukowich – McGillivary AND Rajala -Ostrowsky (Granite) VS Evason – Campbell (East St. Paul).

The winners advance to the semifinals at 12:30PM with medal games scheduled for 4PM.

(CurlManitoba Release) CANADA GAMES MIXED DOUBLES TRIALS THIS WEEKEND Thirty of Manitoba’s most accomplished U20 curlers will compete in CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Trials this weekend at the Heather Curling Club.

The 2-person teams competing at Heather will play in three pools of five. Two teams in each pool will advance to a straight knockout playoff with the top two teams earning a bye to the semi-finals.

While very few of the team combinations have competed often in Mixed Doubles competition, many of the individuals playing this weekend have had the opportunity to play Mixed Doubles Tour and other events in the past two years.

The field features several players with proven track records and national competition experience with their four-person teams. These include:

** Zoey Terrick and Cassidy Dundas, who were teammates on the 2022 Manitoba U18 Women’s Champion team. Terrick will partner with Tanner Graham on a Heather team. Dundas will partner with her brother Hunter Dundas, playing out of Neepawa.

** Jordon McDonald and Cameron Olafson, who were teammates on the 2022 Manitoba U18 Men’s Champion team. McDonald also won the 2019 and 2022 U18 Championship and the 2022 U21 Men’s Championship. McDonald will partner with Mikaylah Lyburn on a Deer Lodge team.

** Luke Robins, who was a member of Ryan Ostrowsky’s Manitoba #2 team at the 2022 U18 national championship. He will partner with Rylie Buchalter on a West St. Paul team.

** Katy Lukowich, who skippd Northern Ontario to an overall 7-3 record at the 2022 U21 nationals, including a first place round robin record in her pool. She will partner with Thomas McGillivary on a Granite team.

CurlManitoba’s Canada Games Trials at the Heather will feature draws at 2PM and 6PM, Friday; 10AM, 2PM, and 6PM, Saturday and playoffs on Sunday.

For the first time, Mixed Doubles curling has been included in the Canada Games and this weekend event is designed to identify the final members of Manitoba’s curling contingent. Earlier this month,

Team Dayna Wahl (Altona) and Team Jace Freeman (Virden) earned the opportunity to represent Manitoba in the Women’s and Men’s competitions respectively at the Canada Games in Prince Edward Island in February.

SILVER AND BRONZE FOR MANITOBA AT THE 2022 CANADIAN MASTERS

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Manitoba’s two teams both earned medals at the 2022 Canadian Masters Championship at Pembina – not the colour they wanted but still a reward for a great week of curling.

The Brandon-Melita team of Murray Warren (Brian Barker, Terry Warren, Reg Warren, Gary Barker)…with Gary Barker pinch-hitting for Reg Warren AND East St. Paul’s Judy Colwell (Wendy Nykoluk, Donna Smiley, Leslie Brown, Debbie Palson) won the Bronze and Silver medals respectively at the Canadian Masters Championships at Pembina Curling Club.

Warren won the Bronze Medal with a 7-4 winner over BC’s Wes Craig (Ron Schmidt, Tony Anslow, Victor Gamble). Warren was in control much of the way after giving up two on the opening end. Warren had a delicate split for a four on the second end but neither rock counted so the game was just tied after two. From there however, the Manitobans controlled play ad led by three coming home.

On the next sheet over, BC’s Penny Shantz defeated Colwell 8-4 in a game closer than the score suggests. It was a three on the first that was the difference. The three and a two matched with four singles to give BC a 5-4 lead after six ends. Facing three, Shantz drew for one, which she won on a measure on the seventh end, to lead by two coming home. Colwell’s last shot attempted double kill failed and gave up a steal of two more.

Shantz and her BC team (Cindy Curtain, Shirley Wong, Janet Suter) won the Gold Medal.

Al Hackner’s Northern Ontario team (Eric Harnden, Frank Morissette, Bruce Munro, Coach Arnold Asham) defeated God Bell’s Saskatchewan champions (Maurel Elrick, Rod Slatnik, Gord Fritzler) to win the men’s Gold Medal.

Masters Sportsmanship Awards to Derick, Jack

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Congratulations to the recipient of the 2022 Canadian Masters Championships Sportsmanship awards – as selected by the competitors in the event.

The Men’s Martin Bailey Award, honouring the two time Canadian Masters champion from Manitoba, went to Yukon lead Clarence Jack (originally from Strathclair, MB) while the Curl Regina Women’s Sportsmanship Award went to Quebec skip Catherine Derick.

The awards were presented by John Helston, who had won the Canadian Masters curling with Martin Bailey, and by Heather Helston.

In addition to a ‘keeper’, the award recipients each received one of Asham’s new UltraForce brushes.

COLWELL TEAM TO PLAY FOR GOLD; WARREN TEAM FOR BRONZE

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(Saturday, November 19, 5pm) The two Team Manitobas will play for different colour medals Sunday afternoon at Pembina Curling Club. East St. Paul’s Judy Colwell (Wendy Nykoluk, Donna Smiley, Leslie Brown) defeated Nova Scotia Saturday afternoon to advance to the gold medal game while Brandon’s Murray Warren (Brian Barker, Terry Warren, Reg Warren) lost an extra end on a last stone draw to the edge of the button by Saskatchewan skip Gord Bell.

Colwell will play BC’s Penny Shantz team while the men’s gold medal game will have Saskatchewan against Northern Ontario (Al Hackner).

Nova Scotia and the Manitoba men were both the #2 seeds in the semi-finals. The BC Women and Northern Ontario Men were the top seeds.

Colwell’s victory was decisive, winning in six ends while Warren led by two after six ends but gave up a three to trail by one coming home. Warren made a draw facing three to force the extra end.

The key in the Colwell game was the sixth end when a seemingly likely four or five ender for Nova Scotia (throwing yellow) turned into a steal of two by Manitoba for an 8-2 lead. Nova Scotia had no shot to score with the last stone which went unthrown on the seventh as the team conceded.

(Saturday, November 19, 1pm) WARREN’S MANITOBANS FINISH SECOND, ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS………..Manitoba’s Murray Warren team has finished second in the championship pool and advanced to the semi-finals of the Canadian Masters Championship at Pembina. A 5-4 win over New Brunswick on Saturday morning’s last draw set the team from Brandon (Deloraine/Medora/Melita) up for a semi-final game against Gord Bell and Team Saskatchewan.

In the other semi-final, Wes Craig and Team BC (who eliminated the Mark Franklin host team) will play Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner. Hackner had already advanced but defeated Ontario to finish in first place at 9W-1L and eliminate Ontario.

Warren’s win was another tester as they once again let slip a four point lead to sit tied 4-4 coming home with last rock. The end was going New Brunswick’s way until third Brian Barker made a light weight hit past a centre guard to bounce a frozen stone on the button. The NB stone did not leave the four foot, but was re-positioned. With his first stone a Murray Warren triple kill left Manitoba shot stone and the New Brunswick skip slid deep with his final draw.

On this occasion, Warren may have been relieved not to have to throw his final stone.

In the Women’s division, Manitoba’s Judy Colwell will play Jocelyn Nix (Nova Scotia) and Penny Shantz (BC) will play Onatrio (Jan Carwardine).

The semi finals go at 2pm with the gold and bronze medal games at 10AM Sunday.

COLWELL’S TEAM MANITOBA PLACES THIRD, PLAYS NOVA SCOTIA IN THE SEMIFINAL

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Judy Colwell’s Team Manitoba needed an extra end Friday evening but they came away with an 8-7 victory to earn a 7W-2L record and the third place berth in the Saturday 2pm semifinals. Their opponent will be Nova Scotia who won their final game to finish at 8W-1L

The other semifinal will feature BC against Ontario. BC also finished 8W-1L but earned the first place nod thanks to a preliminary round win over Nova Scotia. Ontario finished at 6W-3L, tied with Alberta but advanced to the playoff due to an earlier win over Alberta.

The Manitoba-Ontario game appeared to be in control for Manitoba, up 3 coming home. A pair of Ontario draws behind a corner guard set up a score of three and a tie. Facing two, Manitoba’s last shot on the extra end contacted the shot stone and rolled away but the moving Ontario stone rubbed the second shot stone just enough to move it and leave a Manitoba stone biting the button for the single point and victory.

WARREN BEATS HACKNER, AT 7W-2L STILL NOT ASSURED OF PLAYOFFS

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It looked like Murray Warren’s Team Manitoba was cruising to a victory over unbeaten Al Hacker (Northern Ontario) when they hit a speed bump sixth end Friday afternoon. Up four at the time, Warren and his team saw the Hackner foursome build a four ender to tie and then steal two on the seventh to lead by two coming home.

The last end looked like the Hackner win streak would continue until second Terry Warren buried in the 12 foot circle behind a corner guard (picture 1). The peel attempt was flashed and play moved to the centre where Hackner was laying two. A series of draws and taps turned the two red stones into two yellow Warren stones. With his first stone, skip Murray Warren put his stone exactly where he wanted it in the eight foot in front of the tee line.

Hackner had nothing but a double and roll (picture 2) to some kind of protected position but he rolled out and left Warren a draw to the rings for 3 and an 11-10 win.

Despite the loss, Northern Ontario will advance to the playoff round. The win gave Team Manitoba a 7W-2L record but no guarantee yet of being in the playoffs. They will advance with a Saturday morning win over New Brunswick. However, BC, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Mark Franklin’s Manitoba Host team are all at 6W-3L so the three teams to join Hackner in the playoffs will all be determined on Saturday’s final draw.

All four games on the final draw will have a bearing on the final standings.

In the women’s championship, Manitoba’s Judy Colwell team will advance to the playoff round. With a game to play Friday evening, British Columbia and Nova Scotia had 7W-1L records while Manitoba

FRANKLIN TEAM WINS TWO THURSDAY, IN CONTENTION AT MASTERS

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A pair of wins Thursday moved Mark Franklin’s Manitoba Host team into the heart of the championship race at the Canadian Masters Men’s Championship at Pembina CC.

Franklin, now 5W-3L, opened the day with a 4-3 extra end win over Murray Warren’s Team Manitoba and then, on the late draw, posted a 7-6 win over Ontario.

The Warren team rebounded with a late 9-3 win over Saskatchewan to improve their record to 6W-2L, tied with British Columbia who gave up a steal of two on the last end to lose 6-5 to still undefeated Al Hackner, Northern Ontario.

In all, six of the eight teams in the championship round are still very much in contention.

MEN STANDINGS AFTER 2 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS:
8-0 Northern Ontario
6-2 British Columbia
6-2 Manitoba
5-3 Saskatchewan
5-3 Ontario
5-3 Manitoba Host
3-5 New Brunswick
3-5 Nova Scotia

With two games in the championship round yet to play, six of the eight teams can still qualify for the final four semifinals. Northern Ontario and British Columbia must still play two teams who are in the top six. The other four contenders have only one game remaining against a team in the top six.

** Northern Ontario will play Manitoba (6W-2L) and Ontario (5W-3L)
** Manitoba will play Northern Ontario (8W-0L) and New Brunswick (5W-3L)
** British Columbia will play Saskatchewan (5W-3L) and Manitoba Host team (5W-3L)
** Manitoba Host team will play Nova Scotia (3W-5L) and British Columbia (6W-2L)
** Saskatchewan will play British Columbia (6W-2L) and Nova Scotia (3W-5L)
** Ontario will play New Brunswick (5W-3L) and Northern Ontario (8W-0L)

MANITOBA’S COLWELL TEAM WINS TWO TO JUMP UP MASTERS STANDINGS

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Manitoba’s Judy Colwell team and Nova Scotia’s Jocelyn Nix team both won a pair of games Thursday to move up the standings board in the championship round of the Canadian Masters Women’s Championship at the Pembina Curling Club.

The Team Manitoba wins came over Alberta (7-4) and Saskatchewan (10-2) while Nova Scotia beat the Manitoba Host team (6-3) and Ontario (6-4).

A win and a loss on the day by British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta creates a three-way first place tie with BC, Ontario, and Nova Scotia all holding 6W-1L records. Right behind at 5W-2L are Manitoba and Alberta.

With two games to play Friday, the final four to advance to the Saturday semifinals are still very much in question with Ontario having the toughest draw featuring two games against teams in contention. Alberta, BC, Nova Scotia and Manitoba have only one game Friday against teams in the top five.

** Ontario will play BC (6W-1L) & Manitoba (5W-2L)
** BC will play Ontario (6W-1L) & the Manitoba Host team (2W-5L)
** Manitoba will play the Manitoba Host team (2W-5L) & Ontario (6W-1L)
** Nova Scotia will play Alberta (5W-2L) & Saskatchewan (2W-5L)
** Alberta will play Nova Scotia (6W-1L) & Quebec (3W-4L)

WOMEN STANDINGS AFTER 2 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS:
6-1 British Columbia
6-1 Ontario
6-1 Nova Scotia
5-2 Manitoba
5-2 Alberta
3-4 Quebec
2-5 Saskatchewan
2-5 Manitoba Host

As the second men’s championship round game of the day went on the ice for the late draw Thursday, Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner was the only undefeated team left in the double championship event. Six teams, including both Murray Warren’s Team Manitoba and Mark Franklin’s Manitoba Host team still were well positioned to advance to the Saturday playoffs.

MEN STANDINGS AFTER 1 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND:
7-0 Northern Ontario
6-1 British Columbia
5-2 Manitoba
5-2 Saskatchewan
5-2 Ontario
4-3 Manitoba Host
3-4 New Brunswick
2-5 Nova Scotia

FRANKLIN OVER WARREN IN MANITOBA MASTERS FACE-OFF AT NATIONALS

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The two Manitoba Men’s teams competing in the Canadian Masters Championship at the Pembina Curling Club met in today’s opening game of the championship round. A re-match of last spring’s provincial final, this time Mark Franklin’s Manitoba host team was an extra end winner over the Manitoba champion team skipped by Murray Warren.

The 4-3 win came on a ninth end last shot hit by skip Mark Franklin. On the eighth end, Warren had tied the game with a last shot hack weight bump to remove a mostly buried Franklin stone in the four foot circle.

On the seventh, Warren had made a perfect freeze in the four foot facing three to force Franklin to a single and a 3-2 lead.

The win improves the Manitoba host (Franklin) record to 4W-3L while Warren in now 5W-2L.

Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner, with a win over Nova Scotia, remained undefeated (7W-0L). British Columbia and Ontario also both won to improve to 6W-1L and 5W-2L respectively. Saskatchewan is also at 5W-2L after losing to Ontario.

MEN:
7-0 Northern Ontario’s
6-1 British Columbia
5-2 Manitoba
5-2 Saskatchewan
5-2 Ontario
4-3 Manitoba Host
3-4 New Brunswick
2-5 Nova Scotia

On the early draw Thursday, Manitoba’s Judy Colwell team defeated Alberta 7-4 to leave the two teams tied in fourth place with 4W-2L records. British Columbia and Ontario both won to stay perfect at 6W-0L and Nova Scotia won to improve to 5W-1L.

WOMEN:
6-0 British Columbia
6-0 Ontario
5-1 Nova Scotia
4-2 Manitoba
4-2 Alberta
2-4 Saskatchewan
2-4 Manitoba Host
2-4 Quebec

NEXT DRAW: 4PM Thursday Women’s Championship Round
NEXT DRAW: 7:45PM Thursday Men’s Championship Round

MANITOBA WOMEN’S TEAMS ADVANCE TO MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

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Although they have a big job ahead to make the playoffs, both of Manitoba’s Women’s teams have advanced to the championship round of the Canadian Masters at the Pembina Curling Club.

Judy Colwell’s Team Manitoba completed the preliminary round with a 3W-2L record while Sandra Cowling’s Manitoba Host team advanced with a 2W-3L record. (A provincial host team is included as a wildcard team in the draw when there are an odd number of provincial/territorial entries.)

British Columbia and Ontario lead the way with perfect 5W-0L records while Alberta and Nova Scotia are at 4W-1L.

The four teams from each pool will play the four from the other pool in the championship round. The preliminary round record carries forward and wins continue to accumulate to determine the four semi-finalist teams to meet Saturday at 2PM, with the finals set for 10AM Sunday.

Women’s championship round play is underway at the Pembina Curling Club with future games set for Thursday, Nov 17: 4pm; and Friday, Nov. 18: 10am & 6pm. Men’s championship round play is scheduled for Thursday, Nov 17: 12:15pm & 7:45pm; Friday, Nov. 18: 2pm; & Saturday, Nov 19: 10am.

On the Men’s Championship Round, Team Manitoba (Murray Warren) plays the Manitoba Host team (Mark Franklin) at 12:15pm Thursday. Warren advanced with a 5W-1L record while Franklin has a 3W-3L record.