(Submitted by Eric McGillivray for MJCT) Another junior curling season wrapped up this weekend at The Heather Curling Club. An invitation was sent to the top 8 men’s and women’s teams on the MJCT circuit. The prizes involve a CurlManitoba Provincial Berth, Asham gear, cash, and bragging rights.
MJCT PHOTO – Team Ogg with Albert Bazinet – MJCT President, (l-r: Emily Ogg, Mikaylah Lyburn, Katie Zacharias, Mackenzie Arbuckle)
The Semi-finalist round featured Team Jensen (2-1) against Team Ogg (2-1) with Emily Ogg pulling out a 5-4 win in 8 ends as Emma Jensen’s last draw to the 4-foot glided too far through the house. In the other women’s semi-finalist round Team Beaudry (2-1) against Team Ehnes (2-1), had Grace Beaudry sailing to a 9-5 win in 7 ends. The women’s final took only 4 ends as Emily Ogg’s team cruised to an 8-1 win over Grace Beaudry’s team.
MJCT PHOTO – Team McGillivray with Albert Bazinet -MJCT President, (l-r: Thomas McGillivray, Aaron MacDonell, Johnny Trinke, Brennan Kezema)
In the men’s semi-finalist event Team Johnson (3-0) took on Team McDonald (2-1). It was a back an forth affair with Team McDonald leading by 3 in the 8th end. Victory wasn’t that easy as Team Johnson managed to score 3 and force an extra end. Jordon McDonald with hammer managed to score in the extra, with the final being 8-7. In the other men’s semi-final Team McGillivray (3-0) took on Team Steski (2-1). Thomas McGillivray’s team took the early lead and landed a 6-2 win in 7 ends.
The final between McGillivray and McDonald was a very exciting edge of your seat match. Jordon McDonald’s team was the favourite to win, but they ran into a red hot McGillivray Team. McGillivray jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and the teams traded points with McGillivray being up by one in the 8th without hammer. Jordon McDonald had a rock that was so well guarded that Thomas McGillivray had only a draw facing 3 to force McDonald to take one and go into an extra. In the extra end McGillivray played an open game and was sitting 2 in the house. McDonald’s last rock draw went just an inch too far and in the 8 foot and McGillivray ended up winning 6-5.
(CurlManitoba Release – Saturday Evening) Colton Lott and his Winnipeg Beach team-mates) Kyle Doering, Tanner Lott, and Emerson Klimpke are a win away from representing Manitoba at the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier as Manitoba champions.
Team Lott posted a pair of wins Saturday at the Viterra Championship in Selkirk; a 9-3 victory over William Lyburn (Granite) on the morning draw to advance to the Page 1-1 Playoff game and then a late 8-7 victory in that game over 2019 champion Mike McEwen (West St. Paul).
The Winnipeg Beach foursome was tied 4-4 with McEwen after five ends and led 6-5 after seven ends but trailed 7-6 coming home. They blanked the ninth to hold last rock coming home but didn’t need to throw it. They will play in the Manitoba Men’s Curling Championship final game, Sunday at 2:00PM.
Ryan Wiebe
In the 9AM semi-final, McEwen will take on Ryan Wiebe and his Fort Rouge team who won three games Saturday in Selkirk. Qualifying through the “B” side of the Playoff Round, Team Wiebe defeated 2020 champion Jason Gunnlaugson and 2015 World Junior champion skip Braden Calvert. They defeated Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 7-4 in the Page 2-2 Playoff game.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE PLAYOFF PAGE 1-1 GAME (Winner to the final, Loser to the semi-final) Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) 8-7 over Mike McEwen (West St. Paul)
PAGE 2-2 GAME (Winner to the semi-final, Loser eliminated) Ryan Wiebe (Ft. Rouge) 7-4 over Corey Chambers (Ft. Garry)
PLAYOFF ROUND – 2PM SATURDAY “B” Side (Winners advance to Page Playoff Championship Round – Losers eliminated)) Ryan Wiebe (Ft. Rouge) 6-5 over Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) Corey Chambers (Ft. Garry) 7-2 over William Lyburn (Granite)
PLAYOFF ROUND – 9AM SATURDAY“A” Side (Winners advance to Page Playoff Championship Round – Losers to “B” Side) Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) 7-6 over Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) 9-3 over William Lyburn (Granite)
“B” Side ( Winners move on – Losers eliminated) Corey Chambers (Ft. Garry) 5-4 over Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) Ryan Wiebe (Ft. Rouge) 7-4 over Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris)
Braden Calvert
(CurlManitoba Release – Friday Evening) PLAYOFF ROUND UNDERWAY IN VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP: A pair of World Junior champion skips faced off Friday night in Selkirk in the opening game of the 2022 Viterra Championship Playoff Round. The game between Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial), the 2015 world champion, and clubmate Jacques Gauthier, the 2020 world champion, saw Calvert score deuces each of the first four times he had last rock. The third of them, on the fifth end, gave Team Calvert a 6-5 lead as they went on to a 9-5 victory.
Mike McEwen
For Mike McEwen and his top seeded West St. Paul team, the score sheet shows all singles. It was the fourth one, a steal on the extra end, which gave the 2019 champions a 4-3 win over Corey Chambers (Fort Garry).
Jason Gunnlaugson’s Morris foursome gave up a pair of deuces to start their game against Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach). Team Lott never trailed in their 8-3 win over the 2020 champions.
William Lyburn won three Friday
In the fourth game, William Lyburn (Granite) never led in his game with Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) until Team Lyburn stole a pair coming home to win 7-6.
At 9:00AM Saturday in Selkirk, on the “A” side of the Playoff Round, Lyburn will play Lott and Calvert will play McEwen. Winners of these two games will move on to the Page Playoff format Championship. In the last chance “B” side games, Gunnlaugson will play Wiebe and Gauthier will play Chambers.
Following are the Friday results in the 2022 Viterra Championship.
PLAYOFF ROUND – First Games (New Double Knockout)
7:45PM: William Lyburn (Granite) 7-6 over Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) 7:45PM: Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) 8-3 over Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) 7:45PM: Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) 9-5 over Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 7:45PM: Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) vs Corey Chambers (Fort Garry)
“B” Side Qualifying Games (Winners advancing to the Friday evening playoff round – losers eliminated) 4:00PM: Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 7-2 over Justin Richter (Beausejour) 4:00PM: William Lyburn (Granite) 7-6 over Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial)
4:00PM: Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) 8-4 over JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) 4:00PM: Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 6-3 over Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge)
“B” Side (Winners play on – Losers eliminated) 12:15PM: Justin Richter (Beausejour) 10-4 over Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) 12:15PM: Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 7-6 over Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) 12:15PM: William Lyburn (Granite) 8-5 over Daniel Birchard (Pembina) 12:15PM: JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) 9-4 over Jack Hykaway (Pembina)
“A” Side Qualifying Games (Winners advancing to the Friday evening playoff round – losers to “B” Qualifying Games) 8:30AM: Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) 7-5 over Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial) 8:30AM: Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) 5-4 over Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) 8:30AM: Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) 4-2 over Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 8:30AM: Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) 7-1 over Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge)
(CurlManitoba Release) VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP NOW A FIELD OF SIXTEEN: An even dozen teams have been eliminated from the 2022 Viterra Championship in Selkirk, leaving 16 teams still in the chase for the Manitoba Men’s Curling Championship.
The first four qualifiers for the Playoff Round will be identified on the early morning draw Friday. The other 12 teams will play the 12:15PM and 4PM draws with four of them advancing as well.
There are still eight unbeaten teams, including all four of the top four seeds. They’ll meet in the Friday 8:30AM draw. The match-ups are:
#1 seed Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) vs Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) #2 seed Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) vs Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) #3 seed Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) vs Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial) #4 Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) vs Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge
Two of the most dramatic games of the day involved William Lyburn and his Granite team. On the 12:15 draw, Riley Smith needed to win measures on the tenth end, for two to tie, and again on the eleventh, for a steal of one and a 7-6 victory over Lyburn. On the late draw, trailing 6-0 after three ends, Lyburn bounced back to tie Dean North (Carman) 7-7 coming home and stayed alive with a steal of two for a 9-7 win.
Following are the Thursday results in the 2022 Viterra Championship.
“A” Side (Winners advancing to the Friday morning qualifying game) 12:15PM: Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 7-3 over Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) 12:15PM: Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) 11-6 over Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 12:15PM: Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial) 7-6 over William Lyburn (Granite) 12:15PM: Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) 5-4 over JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial)
8:30AM: Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) 7-2 over Richard Muntain (Granite)
“B” Side (Winners play on – Losers eliminated) 8:15PM: Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) 8-2 over Sam Antila (Burntwood 8:15PM: Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 9-3 over Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) 8:15PM: William Lyburn (Granite) 9-7 over Dean North (Carman) 8:15PM: JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) 8-1 over Randy Neufeld (LaSalle)
4:00PM: Jack Hykaway (Pembina) 7-4 over Grant Shewfelt (Baldur) 4:00PM: Daniel Birchard (Pembina) 10-9 over Ryan Thomson (Morden) 4:00PM: Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) 8-1 over Graham Freeman (Virden) 4:00PM: Justin Richter (Beausejour) 11-2 over Richard Muntain (Granite)
8:30AM: Ryan Thomson (Morden) 9-2 over Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) 8:30AM: Graham Freeman (Virden) 11-4 over Graham Freeman (Virden) 8:30AM: Justin Richter (Beausejour) 9-6 over Kyle McCannell (Pilot Mound)
(Thursday, February 10: 3:30PM)DRAMATIC WINS FOR WIEBE & SMITH ON DRAW #6 IN SELKIRK: The noon draw at the 2022 Viterra Championship in Selkirk had four “A” side games so no eliminations but among the four a last shot victory and a dramatic extra end victory.
JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) and Ryan Wiebe (Ft Rouge) were tied coming home in their match. Former Junior Champ JT Ryan made a fine last rock hit and roll to the button, buried. Ryan Wiebe won the game 5-4 with his last shot past the centre guard, a tap-back for victory.
Second victory for Ryan Wiebe (foreground)
On the sheet beside, Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial) stole an extra end on a measure to beat William Lyburn (Granite). Smith blanked the ninth with a big weight double kill then needed a measure for the tie 6-6 on end ten when his last draw slid deep into the 12 foot circle. On the extra end, Smith drew the back half of the four foot behind Lyburn’s stone. A rock in front of it meant Lyburn needed to gently move two stones but his draw-tap was light and Smith won his second measure and the game.
Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) was a 7-3 winner over Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) and Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) beat former Grassie teammate Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 11-6.
Top seed Mike McEwen and third Reid Carruthers look on as Richard Muntain calls line. Team McEwen won their opener Thursday morning
On the early draw Thursday, top seeded Mike McEwen and his West St. Paul team won their opening game of the 2022 Viterra Championship in Selkirk. With the first day bye thanks to their top seed position, Team McEwen played Richard Muntain (Granite) who had won their opener yesterday but didn’t mount a significant challenge. McEwen blanked the first two ends and took control of the game with two on the third enroute to a 7-2 win.
Three early “B” side games saw three teams eliminated. Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) bowed out in 9-2 loss to Ryan Thomson (Morden), Kyle McCannell (Pilot Mound) lost to 9-6 to Justin Richter (Beausejour), and Mark Lukowich (Ft Rouge) lost 11-4 to Graham Freeman (Virden).
(CurlManitoba Release) PAST CHAMPIONS LEAD THE WAY ON DAY ONE OF THE VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP: Among the 28 teams who began play Wednesday in the Viterra Championship in Selkirk, there are no fewer than 13 skips who have won at least one previous Manitoba championship. Eleven skipped those earlier championship teams. Two won Manitoba championships at the third position.
Twelve of those former champions played on Day #1 of the Manitoba Men’s Championship and collectively posted a record of 9 wins and 5 losses.
On the late draw Wednesday, three of the top four seeds played their first games after the seeding by the competing teams gave them a first round bye.
Defending Manitoba champion and #2 seed Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) opened his defense of the title with a 9-1, 6-end victory over Grant Shewfelt (Baldur)
Former Manitoba Mixed Doubles champion and #3 seed Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach) jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Daniel Birchard (Pembina) at the 5th end break and went on to a 7-3 victory.
A first game win for Braden Calvert (foreground) while Brett Walter had a win and a loss on Day #1
Tied 3-3 after eight ends with clubmate Brett Walter, former World Junior champion and #4 seed Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) scored a deuce on the ninth end but Walter forced an extra end with two of his own coming home. With last rock, Calvert won the game 6-5. Walter, who is the reigning Manitoba Junior champion, had a win and a loss in his two games on opening day.
Top seeded Mike McEwen and his 2019 Manitoba Viterra Championship winning team will play their first game Thursday morning on the 8:30AM draw against Richard Muntain (Granite).
In the fourth late draw game, the first “B” side game; Jack Hykaway (Pembina) bested Evan Martin (Fort Rouge) by a 7-4 score. The second loss of the day for the Martin team, skipped by Travis Bale, means they are eliminated.
Throughout the first three draws of the day, reigning World Junior Champion Jacques Gauthier (who was a Manitoba Junior champion third but won the World Juniors after winning Canada as a Wild Card entry); Manitoba Junior Champions Brett Walter, JT Ryan and Riley Smith (also a Manitoba Junior champion third); U-18 Champion Jordon McDonald; and former Canadian Mixed champion (and World Mixed Doubles Bronze Medallist) Sean Grassie; all won their first games of the competition.
Former World Senior silver medallist Randy Neufeld and former Manitoba Men’s champion Mark Lukowich lost their first games. Former Manitoba Junior champion Travis Bale, skipping the Evan Martin entry, lost a pair of games.
Following are the results of the first three draws on the first day of play in the 2022 Viterra Championship.
4PM DRAW: Richard Muntain (Granite) 10-4 over Sam Antila (Burntwood) Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) 7-4 over Justin Richter (Beausejour) Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) 7-5 over Graham Freeman (Virden) Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 8-3 over Kyle McCannell (Pilot Mound)
12:15PM DRAW: Corey Chambers (Fort Garry) 8-3 over Mark Lukowich (Fort Rouge) Brett Walter (AMCC) 7-6 over Jeff Stewart (Gladstone). Riley Smith (AMCC) 8-3 over Ryan Thomson (Morden) William Lyburn (Granite) 6-5 over Kelly Marnoch (Carberry)
8:30AM DRAW Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) 9-3 over Jack Hykaway (Pembina) JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) 6-2 over Evan Martin (Fort Rouge) Daniel Birchard (Pembina) 8-3 over Dean North (Carman) William Lyburn (Granite) 6-5 over Kelly Marnoch (Carberry)
(February 9, 8PM)FIRST ROUND WIN EARNS MUNTAIN A DATE WITH MCEWEN: Richard Muntain and his Granite team opened play today in the 2022 Viterra Championship in Selkirk with a victory over Sam Antila and his Thompson team. The first round victory advances Muntain and his team to a Thursday morning game against top seed Mike McEwen (West St. Paul).
Richard Muntain (foreground) will play top seed Mike McEwen Thursday morning
Muntain will be hoping there is an advantage for him in the fact his team has now played a game on the Selkirk Curling Club ice while McEwen’s top seed position got his team bye and they’ll therefore be playing their first game.
Muntain will also be hoping the McEwen foursome’s practice schedules has been disrupted by last week’s coaching assignments at the national Scotties for both Reid Carruthers and Colin Hodgson.
He’ll know by 11AM Thursday!
A first round win for Jacques Gauthier (foreground)
In other games on Draw #3 at 4PM in Selkirk, a pair of Deer Lodge teams posted victories. Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge), a former Manitoba finalist, won 7-4 over Justin Richter (Beausejour) and Jordon McDonald (Der Lodge) beat Graham Freeman (Virden) 7-5.
In the fourth 4PM game, Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) defeated Kyle McCannell (Pilot Mound) 8-3. Due to pandemic cancellation, Gauthier is still the reigning world junior champion. It has rarely occurred that a world junior champion has held that title and next-level provincial title at the same time.
Mackenzie Zacharias accomplished the feat with her Manitoba Scotties win in Carberry in December. Gauthier has taken the first step along the difficult road to matching the accomplishment.
A first round win for Daniel Birchard (foreground)
(February 9, 5PM) VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP UNDERWAY: FIRST GAME WINNERS ADVANCE TO PLAY TOP SEEDS: For the first time in almost a quarter of a century, the Manitoba Men’s Curling Championship is underway on curling club ice. The Viterra Championship, usually played in an arena and scheduled this year for the Selkirk Recreation Centre, was moved to the Selkirk Curling Club in a covid-related decision.
The last time curling rink ice was used was 1998 in Virden when teams played their first day games split between the curling rink and arena. In 1999, in Portage, all games in the event were played in that community’s arena.
After the first two draws of preliminary round play in the 2022 Viterra Championship, general assessment is that CurlManitoba Ice Technician Greg Ewasko and his crew of Matt Rankine, Dale Lott and club volunteers have been able to approximate arena conditions. The ice is keen with a predictable curl – all you need to determine a champion.
The first two draws went pretty much according to the form chart with only one game of eight which might be considered an upset. On the opening draw, former World Senior silver medallist Randy Neufeld and his LaSalle team were defeated 7-6 by Grant Shewfelt and his Baldur team. Tied coming home, Shewfelt had an open centre line hit for the victory.
Ryan Wiebe (Ft Rouge) jumped out to a 7-0 three end lead over Jack Hykaway (Pembina) and cruised to a 9-3 win. The Hykaway foursome, with Richard Hawkins throwing first and calling the game, will be back on the ice on the late draw Wednesday in their “B” side elimination game as they got the cruel spot in the draw which will eliminate one team on day one fo the competition.
Former provincial champion JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) beat Evan Martin (Ft Rouge) 6-2 and Daniel Birchard beat Dean North (Carman) 8-3. The Martin drops in that evening draw elimination game against Hykaway.
A first round win for Corey Chambers (foreground)
On the noon draw, Corey Chambers (Ft Garry) Brett Walter (AMCC), Riley Smith (AMCC), and William Lyburn (Granite) were first game winners.
Chambers posted an 8-3 win over former Manitoba Men’s champion Mark Lukowich (Ft Rouge). Walter was a 7-6 victor over Jeff Stewart (Gladstone). Smith beat Ryan Thomson (Morden) 8-3.
In their first game playing together Lyburn and his new third Scott McDonald were tied 5-5 coming home and didn’t need their last rock in beating Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) 6-5. The game was the kind of close affair which Lyburn would have wanted for the first playing with McDonald. They scored a deuce on the third end and played with a one or two point lead for the entire game, until Marnoch’s deuce on the ninth tied the game and gave Lyburn last rock coming home.
The early results set up 8:15PM Wednesday “A” side games against the top seeds. Grant Shewfelt (Baldur) will play #2 seed Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris), Daniel Birchard (Pembina) will play Colton Lott (Winnipeg Beach), and Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) will play #4 Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial). Top seeded Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) will play his first game at 8:30AM Thursday against the winner of the 4PM game between Sam Antila (Burntwood) and Richard Muntain (Granite).
(Tuesday, February 8)DRAW SET FOR VITERRA CHAMPIONSHIP, MCEWEN TOP SEED: The draw has been published for the Viterra Championship, the Manitoba Men’s Curling Championship which gets underway Wednesday (Feb 9) in the Selkirk Curling Club. (Check the complete draw at curlmanitoba.org)
The draw format is identical to recent past years – double knockout preliminary round; 8-team double knockout playoff round; 4-team Page Playoff championship round. Because the event is being played with 28 teams rather than the usual 32, the top four seeds will all get a first round bye and will play their opening games at 8:15PM Wednesday against teams who win their openers earlier in the day.
The top four seeds are skipped by Mike McEwen (West St. Paul), Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris), Tanner Lott (Winnipeg Beach), and Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial).
The match-ups on the first three draws Wednesday follow.
8:30AM: Randy Neufeld (LaSalle) vs Grant Shewfelt (Baldur) 8:30AM: Jack Hykaway (Pembina) vs Ryan Wiebe (Fort Rouge) 8:30AM: JT Ryan (Assiniboine Memorial) vs Evan Martin (Fort Rouge) 8:30AM: Dean North (Carman) vs Daniel Birchard (Pembina)
12:15PM: Riley Smith (Assiniboine Memorial) vs Ryan Thomson (Morden) 12:15PM: Jeff Stewart (Gladstone) vs Brett Walter (Assiniboine Memorial) 12:15PM: William Lyburn (Granite) vs Kelly Marnoch (Carberry) 12:15PM: Mark Lukowich (Fort Rouge) vs Corey Chambers (Fort Garry)
4:00PM: Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) vs Graham Freeman (Virden) 4:00PM: Sam Antila (Burntwood) vs Richard Muntain (Granite) 4:00PM: Kyle McCannell (Pilot Mound) vs Jacques Gauthier (Assiniboine Memorial) 4:00PM: Sean Grassie (Deer Lodge) vs Justin Richter (Beausejour)
8:15PM: #2 Jason Gunnlaugson (Morris) vs Winner (Shewfelt-Neufeld) 8:15PM: #3 Tanner Lott (Winnipeg Beach) vs Winner (North-Birchard) 8:15PM: #4 Braden Calvert (Assiniboine Memorial) vs Winner (Stewart-Walter)
THURSDAY: 8:30AM: #1 Mike McEwen (West St. Paul) vs Winner (Antila-Muntain)
A limited number of spectators will be allowed in the upstairs clubrooms of the Selkirk Curling Club. Tickets can be purchased via the CurlManitoba website at https://curlmanitoba.org/viterra-championship/ . Spectators will be required to leave the building between draws. All spectators are expected to be fully vaccinated and to follow all health protocols requested by the Selkirk Curling Club, including the wearing of masks.
(Sunday, 10PM, February 6) Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Brianne Meilleur won a pair of playoff games Sunday in Thunder Bay to win the Scotties Tournament of Heart. It is the third consecutive national championship for the Einarson team from Gimli – a record held by Jennifer Jones and Vera Pezer and surpassed only by Colleen Jones and her four consecutive.
Three-time Scotties champions (l-r) Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, Briane Meilleur – Photo: Curling Canada/Andrew Kalver
Team Canada enjoyed mid-game break leads in both games; 4-2 over Andrea Crawford (New Brunswick) in the semi-final and 6-2 over Krista McCarville (Northern Ontario) in the final.
They controlled the semi-final through the second half in an 8-4 victory. The final was different, however. The hometown team fought back to trail 7-6 playing the 8th end and forced Einarson to a single on the ninth. Trailing 8-6, McCarville missed her ‘slim chance’ runback attempt with her last rock to give Team Canada another steal and the 9-6 ‘three-peat’ win.
The entire Team Canada line-up earned first all-start team honours at the championship. Selena Njegovan, who came into the event as a third but skipped the first seven Team Fleury games, was the second all-star team skip!
(Saturday, 10PM, February 5) MCCARVILLE IN FINAL; EINARSON-CRAWFORD SEMI-FINAL: Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada eliminated Manitoba-Wild Card Tracy Fleury and Krista McCarville (Northern Ontario) advanced to the final with a win over Andrea Crawford (New Brunswick) – both with come-back wins Saturday.
Team Einarson: Photo-Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
In the afternoon Page 3-4 game, Einarson trailed 5-4 at the fifth end break but took control with a four on the sixth end, then stole two on the seventh to lead 10-5 in an 11-6 win over Team Fleury.
McCarville trailed Crawford 7-3 after seven ends but scored three on the eighth and two more coming home to force an extra end. The home town team stole one on the extra to advance to the Sunday 6PM (CST) final game.
Crawford drops to the semi-final against Einarson. That game goes at 11AM (CST).
(Friday, 10PM, February 4) BAD DAY FRIDAY FOR MANTIOBA’S SCOTTIES TEAMS: Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada (Gimli) and Tracy Fleury’s Manitoba Wild Card Team (East St. Paul) will meet Saturday in a Page Playoff game in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay – but not the game most would have predicted.
Team Zacharias: Photo-Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
Both had earned playoff round byes and played Friday evening with a chance to advance to the top side of the Page Playoff draw – the game with two chances to reach the Sunday final.
Neither was able to win their game. Fleury and her team were blasted 8-3 by Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville team. Einarson fell behind 4–0 early and fought back to tie but had trouble scoring again as they trailed Andrea Crawford’s New Brunswick foursome 7-4 playing the ninth. They scored two on end nine and forced Crawford to a last rock draw coming home but saw her hit the four foot for victory.
Crawford and McCarville will meet in the Page Playoff 1-2 game while Fleury and Einarson will meet in the Page 3-4 elimination game.
Earlier in the day, Mackenzie Zacharias’ Team Manitoba (Altona) had lost their tiebreaker 8-6 to Kerry Galusha (NWT). Galusha then lost by the same score to McCarville. Crawford advanced to her game with Einarson by defeating Christa Black (NS) 11-8 in the first playoff game.
The Einarson-Fleury game is set for 1PM (CST) Saturday while the McCarville-Crawford game goes at 6PM
(Thursday, 10PM, February 3) EINARSON UNDEFEATED, ZACHARIAS IN TIEBREAKER: Mackenzie Zacharias did what they had to do to survive Thursday. They won one of their two games, and 10-7 win over Alberta, and ended with a 5W-3L record. The last game, however, was the one that got away. They scored a five on Kerri Einarson and Team Canada. However, they could not hold the lead – giving up five points over the next three ends and five more over ends 7 to 10. The final 10-7 Einarson win gave Team Canada a perfect 8W-0L record.
Zacharias finished with a 5W-3L record, tied with Christina Black (Nova Scotia) and Kerry Galusha (Northwest Territories). Nova Scotia earns second place thanks to round robin wins over both Manitoba and Northwest Territories. Zacharias and Galusha will meet in a tiebreaker on Friday morning.
EINARSON VS Manitoba: Win 10-7 EINARSON VS NWT: Win 8-5 EINARSON VS Yukon: WIN 6-4 EINARSON VS BC: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Alberta: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Quebec: WIN 8-5 EINARSON VS Nova Scotia: WIN 6-3 EINARSON VS Ontario: WIN 12-5
ZACHARIAS VS Canada: LOSS 10-7 ZACHARIAS VS Alberta: WIN 10-7 ZACHARIAS VS Quebec: WIN 4-3 ZACHARIAS VS Nova Scotia: LOSS 7-6 ZACHARIAS VS NWT: LOSS 8-6 ZACHARIAS VS Ontario: WIN 8-7 ZACHARIAS VS Yukon: WIN 12-3 ZACHARIAS VS British Columbia: WIN 6-5
FINAL ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS: 8-0: Team Canada (Einarson) 5-3: Team Nova Scotia (Black) 5-3: Team Northwest Territories (Galusha) 5-3: Team Manitoba (Zacharias) 4-4: Ontario (Duncan) 3-5: Team Alberta (Walker) 3-5: Team Quebec (St-Georges) 3-5 British Columbia (Arsenault) 0-8: Yukon (Birnie)
(Thursday, 6PM, February 3) ABSOLUTELY FLEURY SHOULD PLAY – AND SHE DID, VERY WELL: There was a social media debate Thursday. Tracy Fleury was out of Covid protocol and ready to play. But should she – they asked. Or should she let Selena Njegovan continue to throw last – they asked.
She played and threw last – and even if they had lost, that was absolutely the right decision. First, the game was not critical as they had already confirmed a playoff berth. Obviously the win was important but they could play on if they lost. And second, it was logical to give Tracy the full chance to test herself. If there were unidentified implications of the several days off – better to learn them today so an informed decision could be made for tomorrow’s game.
So she played – and shot 85%, outscoring Krista McCarville by a fully 20 percentage points.
They’ll go into the Friday playoff round as the top team in the pool so they earn a bye to the 6PM draw, awaiting the winner between McCarville (Northern Ontario) and Christina Black (Nova Scotia).
Team Fleury finished with a 7W-1L record while Andrea a (New Brunswick) finished 6W-2L and McCarville finished third in the group with a 5W-3L record.
FLEURY VS Northern Ontario: WIN 8-6 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Nunavut: WIN 8-2 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Nfld-Labrador: WIN 8-3 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Saskatchewan: WIN 9-4 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Ontario: WIN 11-9 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Prince Edward Island: WIN 9-1 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Saskatchewan: WIN 9-7 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS New Brunswick: LOSS 6-5
FINAL ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS: 7-1: Wild Card-Manitoba (Fleury/Njegovan) 6-2: Team New Brunswick (Crawford) 5-3: Northern Ontario (McCarville) 4-3: Saskatchewan (Barker) 4-4: Wild Card-Ontario (Homan/Miskew) 4-4: Wild Card – Saskatchewan (Carey) 4-4: Prince Edward Island (Birt) 2-6: Newfoundland-Labrador (Hill) 0-8: Nunavut (MacPhail)
(Wednesday 9PM, February 2) EINARSON, FLEURY WILL ADVANCE, ZACHARIAS MUST WIN THURSDAY: Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada and the Selena Njegovan skipped Tracy Fleury Team Wild Card have, with games to play Thursday, already assured themselves of advancing to the next round at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay. Mackenzie Zacharias and Team Manitoba won their only game Wednesday to stay firmly in the chase for one of the three spots to advance from their pool.
Team Fleury/Njegovan: Photo Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
The Manitoba Wild Card team of Tracy Fleury won a pair of games on Wednesday to improve to 6W-1L. That record assures them of advancing to the next round with a game to play on the afternoon draw Thursday against Northern Ontario. New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford is also assured of advancing, also with a 6W-1L record. Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville is at 5W-2L and can grab the third ‘next round’ berth with a win over Team Fleury. If Fleury/Njegovan win, then Saskatchewan can also improve to 5W-2L by beating the Emma Miskew-skipped Ontario Wild Card team.
FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Nunavut: WIN 8-2 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Nfld-Labrador: WIN 8-3 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Saskatchewan: WIN 9-4 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Ontario: WIN 11-9 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Prince Edward Island: WIN 9-1 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Saskatchewan: WIN 9-7 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS New Brunswick: LOSS 6-5
STANDINGS AFTER WEDNESDAY: 6-1: Team New Brunswick (Crawford) 6-1: Wild Card-Manitoba (Fleury/Njegovan) 5-2: Northern Ontario (McCarville) 4-3: Saskatchewan (Barker) 3-4: Wild Card-Ontario (Homan/Miskew) 3-4: Wild Card – Saskatchewan (Carey) 3-4: Prince Edward Island (Birt) 2-5: Newfoundland-Labrador (Hill) 0-8: Nunavut (MacPhail)
Team Canada is still perfect at 7W-0L following an 8-5 win over Northwest Territories (Kerry Galusha) in their only game of the day Wednesday. She ends the round robin, assured of advancing, with one game Thursday. That game will be on the evening draw – against Mackenzie Zacharias and Team Manitoba.
A win Wednesday, 4-3 in an extra end over Quebec, kept Team Manitoba’s hopes very much alive. However, Zacharias faces a very tough day Thursday. On the early draw, they play Alberta’s Laura Walker team and then finish the preliminary round with the game against Team Einarson. With a record of 4W-2L, Zacharias and her Altona team need at least one win, and may need to win both, to have advance.
EINARSON VS NWT: Win 8-5 EINARSON VS Yukon: WIN 6-4 EINARSON VS BC: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Alberta: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Quebec: WIN 8-5 EINARSON VS Nova Scotia: WIN 6-3 EINARSON VS Ontario: WIN 12-5
ZACHARIAS VS Quebec: WIN 4-3 ZACHARIAS VS Nova Scotia: LOSS 7-6 ZACHARIAS VS NWT: LOSS 8-6 ZACHARIAS VS Ontario: WIN 8-7 ZACHARIAS VS Yukon: WIN 12-3 ZACHARIAS VS British Columbia: WIN 6-5
STANDINGS AFTER WEDNESDAY: 7-0: Team Canada (Einarson) 4-2: Team Northwest Territories (Galusha) 4-2: Team Manitoba (Zacharias) 4-2: Team Nova Scotia (Black) 3-3: Team Alberta (Walker) 3-4: Ontario (Duncan) 2-4: Team Quebec (St-Georges) 1-5 British Columbia (Arsenault) 0-6: Yukon (Birnie)
(Tuesday 10PM, February 1)TOUGH TUESDAY FOR ZACHARIAS; EINARSON STILL PERFECT Mackenzie Zacharias and her Team Manitoba had a tough day Tuesday at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. A pair of losses has dropped their record to 3W-2L. In both games, Team Zacharias mounted strong comebacks but were unable to overcome early deficits. On the morning draw, they trailed Kerry Galusha (NWT) by 4 after two ends and 7-2 after six but fought back to trail 8-6 loss coming home. On the evening draw Christina Black (NS), they again trailed by 4 after two ends and 6-2 after six but fought back to trail 7-5 coming home.
Kerri Einarson and her Team Canada won a pair of games Tuesday to improve their perfect record to 6W-0L with two games to play. On the morning draw, a four on the third end was the base for a 10-5 win over Mary Anne Arsenault (BC) They opened the evening draw against Hailey Birnie (Yukon) with a 4 ender and went on to a 6-4 victory.
EINARSON VS Yukon: WIN 6-4 EINARSON VS BC: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Alberta: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Quebec: WIN 8-5 EINARSON VS Nova Scotia: WIN 6-3 EINARSON VS Ontario: WIN 12-5
ZACHARIAS VS Nova Scotia: LOSS 7-6 ZACHARIAS VS NWT: LOSS 8-6 ZACHARIAS VS Ontario: WIN 8-7 ZACHARIAS VS Yukon: WIN 12-3 ZACHARIAS VS British Columbia: WIN 6-5
STANDINGS AFTER TUESDAY:
6-0: Team Canada (Einarson) 4-1: Team Northwest Territories (Galusha) 3-2: Team Manitoba (Zacharias) 3-2: Team Nova Scotia (Black) 3-2: Team Alberta (Walker) 2-3: Team Quebec (St-Georges) 2-4: Ontario (Duncan) 1-5 British Columbia (Arsenault) 0-5: Yukon (Birnie)
Meanwhile, Selena Njegovan continues to skip Team Fleury and continues to lead them to victory. Tuesday’s one game was against the Saskatchewan Wild Card entry skipped by Chelsea Carey. They improved to a 4W-1L record with a 9-4 win, although the somewhat unflattering score for Carey included a stolen three coming home when Carey had to ‘go for it’ but simply had no shot with her final stone of the game. Team Fleury plays two games Wednesday, against Nfld-Labrador and Nunavut.
FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Saskatchewan: WIN 9-4 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Ontario: WIN 11-9 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Prince Edward Island: WIN 9-1 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Saskatchewan: WIN 9-7 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS New Brunswick: LOSS 6-5
STANDINGS AFTER TUESDAY:
5-0: Team New Brunswick (Crawford) 4-1: Wild Card-Manitoba (Fleury/Njegovan) 3-2: Northern Ontario (McCarville) 3-2: Saskatchewan (Barker) 3-3: Wild Card-Ontario (Homan/Miskew) 2-3: Wild Card – Saskatchewan (Carey) 2-3: Newfoundland-Labrador (Hill) 2-4: Prince Edward Island (Birt) 0-6: Nunavut (MacPhail)
(Monday 5PM, January 31)A PERFECT MANITOBA MONDAY AT THE SCOTTIES: Manitoba’s three team won their only games of the day on the first two draws Monday – in three distinctly different manners. In their pool, Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada dominated Alberta’s Laura Walker, scoring two three’s and two deuces in an 8-end victory, while Mackenzie Zacharias and Team Manitoba gave up a three point lead and had to go an extra end in beating Ontario’s Hollie Duncan. The two lead the way in their pool: Team Canada is perfect at 4W-0L while Team Manitoba has already had their bye and are also perfect at 3W-0L.
EINARSON VS Alberta: WIN 10-5 EINARSON VS Quebec: WIN 8-5 EINARSON VS Nova Scotia: WIN 6-3 EINARSON VS Ontario: WIN 12-5
ZACHARIAS VS Ontario: WIN 8-7 ZACHARIAS VS Yukon: WIN 12-3 ZACHARIAS VS British Columbia: WIN 6-5
Both teams will play two games Tuesday. Current standings:
4-0: Team Canada (Einarson) 3-0: Team Manitoba (Zacharias) 2-1: Team Nova Scotia (Black) 2-1: Team Northwest Territories (Galusha) 2-2: Team Quebec (St-Georges) 2-2: Team Alberta (Walker) 1-3 British Columbia (Arsenault) 0-3: Yukon (Birnie) 0-4: Ontario (Duncan)
In the other pool Selena Njegovan is proving her ability to move back to the tee, if/when the future time comes when that becomes necessary. After the close (6-5 loss) opening draw loss to still undefeated Andrea Crawford and her Nova Scotia team, Njegovan has skipped the Tracy Fleury team to three consecutive victories with their bye on Monday evening.
FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Wild Card-Ontario: WIN 11-9 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Prince Edward Island: WIN 9-1 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Saskatchewan: WIN 9-7 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS New Brunswick: LOSS 6-5
The Njegovan led Fleury team has one game Tuesday. Group standings:
4-0: Team New Brunswick (Crawford) 3-1: Wild Card-Manitoba (Fleury/Njegovan) 2-1: Northern Ontario (McCarville) 2-1: Saskatchewan (Barker) 2-2: Wild Card-Ontario (Homan/Miskew) 1-2: Wild Card – Saskatchewan (Carey) 1-2: Newfoundland-Labrador (Hill) 1-3: Prince Edward Island (Birt) 0-4: Nunavut (MacPhail)
(Sunday 10PM, January 30)STRONG SCOTTIES START FOR MANITOBA’S TEAMS: The three Manitoba teams had a strong opening weekend at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay.
Playing in the same pool, Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada has marked up three wins to lead the way. Mackenzie Zacharias and her Team Manitoba had their bye on the opening weekend but won the two games they played.
EINARSON VS Quebec: WIN 8-5 EINARSON VS Nova Scotia: WIN 6-3 EINARSON VS Ontario: WIN 12-5
ZACHARIAS VS Yukon: WIN 12-3 ZACHARIAS VS British Columbia: WIN 6-5
As a result of opening weekend play, the two Manitoba teams top the standings in their pool.
3-0: Team Canada (Einarson) 2-0: Team Manitoba (Zacharias) 2-1: Team Nova Scotia (Black) 2-1: Team Quebec (St-Georges) 2-1: Team Alberta (Walker) 1-1: Team Northwest Territories (Galusha) 0-2: Yukon (Birnie) 0-3 British Columbia (Arsenault) 0-3: Ontario (Duncan)
In the other pool, the Wild Card Manitoba entry of Tracy Fleury has an impressive 2W-1L start. After losing their opener to New Brunswick, who are the only unbeaten team in the group after three games, the East St. Paul team won two games on Sunday. Selena Njegovan has had to skip the team with Fleury being in covid-protocol isolation after a positive test result.
FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Prince Edward Island: WIN 9-1 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS Saskatchewan: WIN 9-7 FLEURY/NJEGOVAN VS New Brunswick: LOSS 6-5
The two Team Fleury wins have them squarely in the top half of the pool standings after the opening weekend.
3-0: Team New Brunswick (Crawford) 2-1: Wild Card-Manitoba (Fleury/Njegovan) 2-1: Wild Card-Ontario (Homan/Miskew) 2-1: Northern Ontario (McCarville) 1-1: Saskatchewan (Barker) 1-1: Wild Card – Saskatchewan (Carey) 1-1 Prince Edward Island (Birt) 0-2: Newfoundland-Labrador (Hill) 0-3: Nunavut (MacPhail)
(February 2, 2022) The Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame has announced a 2022 Inductee class which includes a Builder, two Curlers, four teams, and two additions to the Olympic Curler category.
Builder: Judy Brown served as Manitoba Ladies Curling Association President in 1990-91. She was elected to the MLCA Board in 1984 and she was part of a progressive leadership who, among other things began the discussions about amalgamation of the MLCA and MCA and also encouraged a study of thinking-time timing a couple of decades before it became reality in championship curling. During her term as President, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the 1991 Winnipeg World Championship Committee and she ended her provincial volunteer career with six years on the Board, including two as President, of the Manitoba Curling Foundation. Judy Brown is the 21st Woman recognized as a Builder in the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame.
On the eve of the 2022 Olympics, two Manitoba-born champions are added this year to the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame Olympic Curler category. This category recognizes Manitobans with a strong Manitoba curling resume and an Olympic accomplishment with a team outside Manitoba.
Ryan Fry
Olympic Curler: Ryan Fry is a two-time Manitoba Junior champion skip and a Manitoba men’s champion third for Jeff Stoughton in 2007. Ryan’s curling legend continues to grow but he is already one of the most accomplished of Manitoba born curlers after success with Brad Gushue and Brad Jacobs. Specifically, of course, that includes the 2014 Olympic Gold Medal won with Team Brad Jacobs at Sochi.
Curling Canada Archival Photo: Carolyn Darbyshire
Olympic Curler: Carolyn Darbyshire – is actually the first former Manitoba champion to earn a medal at the Olympics. She was a member of the 1985 Manitoba Scott Tournament of Hearts champion team skipped by her mother Merline. A remarkable 25 years later, she played second on the silver medal-winning team skipped by Cheryl Bernard.
In the normal course of things, the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame honours teams and it honours individuals. In general, individual curlers are recognized for their career accomplishments – and generally that means both longevity and a high level of success with several teams. Sometimes one or more of those teams might already have been recognized – and such is the case with our two curler inductees today.
Team-mates on the 1995 Kerry Burtnyk world-champion team, which is already in the Manitoba Curling and Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, Keith Fenton and Jeff Ryan in fact curled together in winning an MCA Bonspiel Grand Aggregate in 1981.
Keith Fenton
Curler: Keith Fenton, between 1977 and 2011, competed in 23 Manitoba championships at the Junior (2), Men’s (18), Senior Men’s (1), and Mixed (2) levels. He is a one of a very small number of curlers who played with the Stoughton, Peters and Burtnyk at men’s provincial championships. He won the MCA Bonspiel Grand Aggregate four times – in 1981 with Jeff Ryan, and with Burtnyk in 1997, 1998 and 2001.
Jeff Ryan
Curler: Jeff Ryan won his first championship with Mark Olson when they won the 1976 Junior Men’s Bonspiel. In addition to the MCA ‘Spiel Grand Aggregate he won with his own team in 1981, he won five with two different Burtnyk teams – in 1985 and 1986 and then again, the three he shares with Keith Fenton and Rob Meakin – in 1997, 1998 and 2001.
Their greatest frustration was no doubt 2001 when they won Manitoba but lost both the Brier final and the Olympic Trials final. The highlight year was 1995 when Keith Fenton and Jeff Ryan, with Burtnyk and Meakin, won Manitoba, the Brier and the World Championship – the only Manitoba team to win a world title at home in Manitoba!
The 2022 induction class also includes four teams – the 2 senior men’s teams and 2 Master’s men’s teams who won all four of the Canadian championships available in 2001 and 2002….and in fact both teams in 2001 had one player in common – a rare accomplishment for Winston Warren to win two buffalos in the same year.
(l-r) Gary Ross, Winston Warren, Garry Smith, Ken Orr
2001 Canadian Senior Men’s Champion Team:: Winston was the third on the team skipped by Gary Ross and including Gary Smith and Ken Orr. 2001 was their second season competing together as a team. At the 2000 Manitoba Seniors, they had reached the playoffs but finished with a 5W – 3L record. The next year they won Manitoba with a 7W – 2L record. At the Canadian Seniors, where Gary Ross was named second team all-star skip, they had a 10W – 3L record and won the championship. For Gary Ross and Ken Orr it was the first, and only, provincial championship of their careers. For Gary Smith, it was a second senior title in a career which saw him later add three Masters titles. For Winston Warren, it was the first of two championships won in the same season – he has a total of seven Manitoba championships in Mixed, Men’s, Senior’s and Masters’ competition. Gary Ross, Garry Smith and Winston Warren have all been previously inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in individual categories. This is a posthumous induction for Garry Smith.
(l-r) Barry Coleman, Winston Warren, Don Duguid, Barry Fry
2001 Canadian Masters Champion Team: Winston Warren’s second championship that season came at second for Barry Fry and Don Duguid with Barry Coleman at lead. They were undefeated with a 9W – 0L record at provincials and went on to win the Canadian title with a 6W – 2L record. With individual and team honours, this is the fourth induction into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame for both Barry Fry and Don Duguid- and as previously mentioned, this is the second in the same day and third total for Winston Warren. It is a posthumous induction for Barry Fry.
There are not many occasions when a Canadian Championship title has been defended by a completely different team – but it happened twice in 2002.
(l-r) Carl German, Ray Fillion, Ray McDougall, Brian Copeland
2002 Canadian Senior Men’s Champion Team: The first Canadian championship banner to hang in the East St. Paul curling club was won by Carl German’s team in 2002. Carl German and Ray Fillion were all-star skip and third respectively and they were joined by Ray McDougall and Brian Copeland in posting an 11W-2L record to give Manitoba a repeat Canadian Senior Men’s Championship. That year, the WCF started a World Senior championship – but Carl was ineligible to compete in that inaugural Worlds event in Bismarck, ND due to differing age standards for Senior competition at the Canadian and World levels. Ron Westcott joined the team and led them to a 4W – 2L round-robin record. They won a playoff game but lost the final. Their silver medal is the first Senior Worlds medal won by a Manitoba team and Ron Westcott is included with the four members of the Carl German team in this induction.
(l-r) Ken grove, John Usackis, Bob Lesko, Richard Schroeder
2002 Canadian Masters Champion Team: Also a five-man team -Ken Grove, John Usackis, Bob Lesko, and Richard Schroeder won the 2002 Canadian Master’s Championship with a 7W-2L record. In this case, Ken Grove was the fill-in. Orest Meleschuk had skipped the team to the Manitoba championship with an 8W-1L record but due to a health situation, Orest was unable to compete at the national event. They recruited Ken Grove who had won the 2000 Manitoba Senior Men’s championship. Orest Meleschuk and John Usackis are both previous Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame inductees. It is a posthumous induction for both Ken Grove and Bob Lesko, for whom it is a first induction.
(Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum Release – February 2) Planning is underway for the first Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame Induction and Fund-raising Dinner to take place in three years. The event will take place on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park.
Having missed both the 2020 and 2021 annual Induction Dinners due to the pandemic, Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum (MCHoF&M) President Peter Nicholls says the Board and volunteers are optimistic the current Omicron surge will be sufficiently in decline by May 14 to allow a celebration party to occur.
“We are planning for an induction event which will excite the interest of Manitoba curling fans of several generations,” Nicholls says. “We are making adjustments to our traditional event to help change what has always been a celebration into a party as well.”
“The biggest change is a move to Saturday from Sunday evening, which has been traditional,” says Dinner Chair Sharon Thiessen-Woods, who acknowledges the significant support which has been received from the Canad Inns organization in scheduling and re-scheduling over the past three years.
“The pandemic has obviously impacted host venues like Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park in a major way and we very much appreciate the effort they have made in helping us plan for a gala event on May 14 this year,” says Thiessen-Woods.
The move to Saturday evening will allow guests to stay a little later after the induction ceremony to visit with old friends and congratulate the inductees. To allow for the visiting, a post-Induction social is being planned and Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park will be holding a block of rooms for Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame inductees and other dinner attendees. Call the hotel direct (204-775-5091) to reserve a room.
The MCHoF&M will require that all guests at the event be fully vaccinated and will work with Canad Inns staff to ensure that full attention will be paid to the implementation of all necessary health protocols.
Banquet details, including pricing, are currently being finalized. Send inquiries c/o mbcurlmuseum@gmail.com OR info@curlmanitoba.org.
The expanded dinner program will include the twice-deferred induction of the 2020 honourees and the new slate of 2022 honourees as well as recognition of the five historically significant teams inducted in 2021.
Team Einarson (Team Canada) Photo Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
Manitoba teams skipped by Kerri Einarson (Team Canada), Tracy Fleury (Wild Card #1), and Mackenzie Zacharias (Team Manitoba) are in Thunder Bay for the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts which begins play this evening. For at least the round-robin session, there will be no fans in the building as Curling Canada implements aggressive protocols to meet current health regulations.
Team Zacharias (Team Manitoba) Photo Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver
Einarson and Zacharias are in the same pool of nine teams. They will not meet until the final round-robin draw on Thursday evening. Team Fleury will begin play with Selena Njegovan moving up to skip as Tracey Fleury misses the opening games due to a positive test and therefore starting the event in the Covid protocols.
Team Canada seeks to join Jennifer Jones and Vera Pezer as consecutive three-time champions and continue a chase to join Colleen Jones as the only consecutive four time champion.
Team Fleury and Team Zacharias are chasing their own form of Manitoba curling history. Since 1982 (40 years ago), when Scott Paper became the sponsor, only three Manitoba skips have won the Canadian Scotties championship. Connie Laliberte achieved legendary status. Jennifer Jones has already achieved legendary status and continues to write her story with her appearance in the next couple of weeks at the Olympics, and Kerri Einarson could begin to approach legendary status with her third consecutive win.
Zacharias, with her entire World Junior Champion team intact, and Fleury, ranked #1 in the world but with that disappointing final game loss in the Trials, would become just the fourth Manitoba skip to win a Canadian Scotties title. And it would be just the ninth Team Manitoba to win (Laliberte 1984, 1992 & 1995; Jones 2008, 2015 & 2018; Einarson 2020 & 2021) but Jones, of course, also won back-to-back as Team Canada in 2009 & 2010.
Team Fleury was seeded #1 while Einarson was #3 (behind #2 Laura Walker-Alberta) while Zacharias was ranked in the top third of the field at #6.
SUPPOSED TO START TODAY but announced earlier in the month…CurlManitoba’s Viterra Championship will be played in the Selkirk Curling Club, February 9-13.
At the time of cancellation, 28 teams had qualified for the Viterra Championship. Only the Brandon Bonspiel (one berth) and Manitoba Open (three berths) had yet to be determined. The championship will go ahead with the 28 teams already identified – logical to assume the top four seeds will get first round byes. Hard to say if that’s a good thing or not – ice conditions will dictate whether there is an advantage to playing a lesser team in the opening round as a chance to acclimatize!
The championship carries with it an invitation to represent Manitoba at the Tim Hortons Brier in Lethbridge in early March. A very few Manitoba teams have a chance to move up the CTRS list to earn a shot at one of the three available wildcard entries in the Brier.
Brad Gushue’s Olympic team is currently #1 and appears to be so far ahead on the CTRS list that they would be a certain wildcard entry. However, the standing rule is that it is highest ranking CTRS teams after provincial playdowns and Team Gushue opted out. However, the Nfld-Labradon provincial men’s was canceled. If not re-scheduled, it would seem to open the door for them to come home from the Olympics and play the Brier as either the appointed NL rep or as a wildcard team.
Kevin Koe (#2) has already won Alberta and Brendan Bottcher (#7) is Team Canada so they are not part of the wild card discussion.
Status of Brad Jacobs (#4) and Glenn Howard (#5) is up in the air. Currently they are certain wild card selections. The Northern Ontario playoff has been postponed with no re-schedule date. When the Scotties starts this week Krista McCarville’s team has been selected as the Northern Ontario rep – the parallel men’s decision would be to select Team Jacobs and remove them from the wildcard discussion.
Howard may still have to play the Ontario Tankard. It has been re-scheduled to February 9-13, the same time as Manitoba’s Viterra event.
Jason Gunnlaugson’s team is currently ranked #5 so they currently hold the third wild card position. Mike McEwen’s foursome is #8 behind Matt Dunstone (#6). Dunstone’s status will also be determined February 9-13 when the Saskatchewan Tankard playoff occurs. If he doesn’t win Saskatchewan, he needs a high finish to move up the CTRS into a wild card spot.
John Epping is currently #9. Like Howard in Ontario, Dunstone in Saskatchewan, and McEwen in Manitoba, if they don’t win they need a high finish to be in the wildcard conversation.
Of the lesser ranked Manitoba teams, it seems likely only one has even a remote shot at the wild card spots. Tanner & Colton Lott, Kyle Doering and Emerson Klimpke, still listed as Team Pat Simmons, are at #13. If they were to lose the Manitoba final, depending on results in other provinces, they might (but seems unlikely) jump far enough up the list.
The others, starting with Braden Calvert (#18) and Riley Smith (#19) have one chance of a trip to Brier – they have to win in Selkirk.
The teams qualified for Manitoba’s Viterra Championship represent curling clubs and communities across Manitoba. They are:
Assiniboine Memorial: Braden Calvert Assiniboine Memorial: Jacques Gauthier Assiniboine Memorial: JT Ryan Assiniboine Memorial: Riley Smith Assiniboine Memorial: Brett Walter Baldur: Grant Shewfelt Beausejour: Justin Richter Burntwood: Sam Antila Carberry: Kelly Marnoch Carman: Dean North Deer Lodge: Sean Grassie Deer Lodge: Jordon McDonald Fort Garry: Corey Chambers Fort Rouge: Mark Lukowich Fort Rouge: Evan Martin Fort Rouge: Ryan Wiebe Gladstone: Jeff Stewart Granite: William Lyburn Granite: Richard Muntain LaSalle: Randy Neufeld Morden: Ryan Thomson Morris: Jason Gunnlaugson Pembina: Daniel Birchard Pembina: Jack Hykaway Pilot Mound: Kyle McCannell Virden: Graham Freeman West St. Paul: Mike McEwen Winnipeg Beach: Colton Lott
Randy Neufeld continued his winning ways Saturday at Portage when he and his team (Dean Moxham, Devon Wiebe, Brett Moxham) won three games to win the South Central SuperLeague championship.
Neufeld beat Ryan Thomson in the final game, following earlier wins over Mike Zacharias and Dean North.
The Neufeld team had finished in a second place round robin tie, with a 5W – 2L record, in the pre-Christmas league play. Darryl Bachalo and Thomson were also at 5W – 2L, behind David Hamblin’s 6W – 1L record.
Neufeld’s team earned the $1,200 winning share of the $4,000 total league prize purse. Bachalo lost his opening game and dropped to the ‘consolation’ event, where a pair of wins earned his team $600 – the same amount as Thomson’s team picked up for their finalist finish.
LEAGUE ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS
6-1 David Hamblin 5-2 Darryl Bachalo 5-2 Randy Neufeld 5-2 Ryan Thomson 3-4 Kyle McCannell 2-5 Dean North 2-5 Ryan Hyde 0-7 Mike Zacharias
“Excited to be going”, “grateful for the opportunity”, “proud & honoured to be named Team Canada” – Rachel Homan and John Morris echoed each other’s comments in today’s media availability shortly after the announcement was made that they would represent Canada in the Olympic Mixed Doubles competition in Beijing. They’ll leave Canada in 16 days and in the meantime will do their best to avoid the Omicron virus’s best efforts to derail the plan.
“Whether you’re Curling Canada or an athlete, it’s not how you want it to go down,” Morris said. “I wanted to play against Canada’s best to win it but unfortunately that couldn’t happen.”
“It’s the way it had to be done,” he said and he carefully avoided the question if being selected added extra pressure compared with winning the chance in head-to-head competition.
“Whenever you are Team Canada, regardless of how it happens, there is going to be pressure. I love the pressure – I want to play in it and so does Rachel.”
Homan and Morris have known each other for most of 30 years and when Mixed Doubles was launched in Canada, they began competing together. They have been very successful when they have had the chance to play together, winning some 30 events.
They did not compete in the 2017 Trials simply because Homan’s team had won the 4’s Trials and she was replaced by Kaitlyn Lawes. Lawes & Morris went on to win the Gold Medal in Pyeongchang.
While Homan’s team fell short of the medals in Korea, it must be remembered that she has succeeded at the international level in Asia – specifically in Beijing where she won the World Women’s in 2017. She will draw on both experiences in her return to the Olympics.
Coach Scott Pfeifer, speaking for Curling Canada made it clear that Homan-Morris were a logical choice noting that they have had a long and successful career together and that they both have very strong international and Olympic experience.
Morris & Homan will be on the ice in the next few days in a full training camp designed to get them ready for Beijing. Morris says it will be a different experience from the two previous Olympics where he won gold medals but he knows it will be a great experience. Clearly, they will go planning to soak it all in but also recognizing the need for dedication to best effort to bring back a medal.
While not providing details, Pfeifer says Curling Canada is putting in place contingency plans if it turns out, between now and departure day, that any member of any of the Canadian Olympic curling team contingent are unable to attend.
It was also made clear in the news conference that there will be discussion of timing before the next Olympic Trials process is defined. When this year’s Trials in Saskatoon and Portage were determined, the pandemic was still in the future. With the benefit of lessons learned, the potential for future wholesale cancellation has to be considered in both timing and the entire process.
Also for future discussion, the question of whether Canada’s 4-player team members should be excluded from Mixed Doubles.
“That’s how it is for this quadrennial,” Pfeifer said. “Curling Canada wants them to have full focus on the team game. If they play right to the Gold Medal game in Mixed Doubles, which we expect, it overlaps with the start of the teams’ competition. There is also the physical and mental toll. (For this quadrennial at least) we think it increases podium potential for all of the teams.”
That’s for next time, however. For this time, Rachel Homan and John Morris will be as prepared as they possibly can be when they play their first game at 7PM (CST), February 2 against Great Britain.
(Curling Canada News Release – January 13) A pair of Olympians and former world champions will represent Canada in mixed doubles curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, it was announced jointly today by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Curling Canada.
Morris-Homan (Photo from Curling Canada website)
Rachel Homan (Beaumont, Alta.) and John Morris (Canmore, Alta.), along with national coach Scott Pfeifer (Sherwood Park, Alta.), will play their first game at the National Aquatics Centre (AKA the Ice Cube) in Beijing on Feb. 2 at 8:05 p.m. ET against the Great British duo of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, the reigning world mixed doubles champions.
It will be Morris’s third trip to the Winter Olympics and an opportunity to be a three-time Olympic gold-medallist. He teamed with Kaitlyn Lawes in 2018 at PyeongChang to win the inaugural Olympic mixed doubles gold medal, and also played vice-skip for Kevin Martin’s four-player men’s team that claimed gold in 2010 at Vancouver. He is a three-time champion at the Tim Hortons Brier, and a member of Martin’s 2008 world championship gold-medal team.
Homan will be playing in her second Olympics, having skipped Canada’s women’s team in 2018 in PyeongChang. Homan, a three-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion, also skipped her team to a world women’s championship gold medal in 2017 in Beijing at the Capital Indoor Stadium — just 17 minutes away from the Ice Cube curling venue.
“John and I are eager to get to Beijing and make Canada proud,” said Homan. “We know these are difficult circumstances, and we truly appreciate the faith being shown in us by Curling Canada.”
“Rachel and I have played a lot of mixed doubles together over the years with the dream of playing for Canada at the Olympics,” added Morris. “We can’t wait to get over there and give it our best. We know it’s a tough field, but we’ve worked extremely hard this season and we’ll be fighting hard for gold in Beijing.”
Canada’s Olympic mixed doubles team was supposed to be the winner of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials that were scheduled for Dec. 28-Jan. 2 in Portage la Prairie, Man. But positive tests for COVID-19 among athletes who were scheduled to attend, along with the potential for more cases during the event, forced Curling Canada to cancel the Trials and select a team to nominate to the COC.“After cancelling the Trials, we engaged in extensive consultation with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium and it became increasingly apparent that the nomination criteria for selecting athletes should put a premium on experience on the world championship and Olympic stage, as well as experience and success playing together in mixed doubles,” said Katherine Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of Curling Canada. “We are blessed with an amazing pool of mixed doubles players, and I feel nothing but compassion for the curlers who were to compete in the Trials and had that opportunity taken from them by the pandemic. But we are confident that Rachel and John will make Canada proud in Beijing.”
Homan and Morris, both originally from Ottawa and now playing out of the Canmore Golf and Curling Club, have extensive experience in the mixed doubles discipline. They were slated to team up at the 2017 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials before Homan’s four-player women’s team prevailed at the 2017 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials. Morris then teamed with Lawes to win the mixed doubles trials and went on to the Olympic gold a few weeks later.
Homan and Morris won a silver medal at the 2017 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship, and earlier this season topped a world-class field to win the Qualico Mixed Doubles Classic in Canmore and Banff, Alta., beating the duo of Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant (both 2022 Olympians in four-player curling) in the final.
Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg) and Team Brad Gushue (St. John’s, N.L.) will be Canada’s four-player teams at the Winter Olympics.
Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.
“We fully support the adjustment made by Curling Canada in their team selection criteria for mixed doubles under the extraordinary circumstances, and we are excited to watch Team Canada compete,” said Eric Myles, Chief of Sport for the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“Every sport has been impacted differently around qualifying Olympic quota spots as a result of COVID-19, and the cancellation of the mixed doubles curling trials in Canada is another example of that,” added Anne Merklinger, chief executive officer, Own the Podium. “We are fortunate in Canada to have significant depth in our national curling program. While it is unfortunate the nation’s elite curling athletes were not able to compete head-to-head for the opportunity to represent Canada in Beijing during these unprecedented times, we are thrilled that Curling Canada has been able to find a solution to field a strong team at the Olympic Winter Games.”
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