Category Archives: Canadian Curling Championships

CANADIAN BRONZE MEDAL FOR SMITH-REHBEIN

Posted on by
Reply

Four of ten Manitoba teams advanced to the Sunday playoffs at the Canadian Stick Championships in Nanaimo but only one was able to bring home a medal.

St. Vital’s Gewen Smith & Lynne Rehbein receive Canadian Bronze Medals from Canadian Stick Ass’n President Randy Olson

That medal was assured when the bronze medal game was a re-match of the Manitoba Women’s championship final game. This time around, Gwen Smith & Lynne Rehbein (St. Vital) defeated Val Kolsun and Lorna Marr (Springfield).

In the Open Division, Manitoba champions Warren Johnson & Dan McDonald (St. Vital) were eliminated in the round of 16 while defending Canadian champions Norm Magnusson & Resby Coutts advanced one step further.

Magnusson-Coutts lost a 3-2 quarter-final to McDougall-Dyke (Nova Scotia). A near perfect game by both teams saw the Nova Scotians with last rock coming home tied and McDougall’s draw to the open rings stopped with a2 inch bite of the back 12 foot circle.

Norm Magnusson & Resby Coutts receive “qualifier” congratulations from Randy Olson

The Nova Scotia team advanced to the gold medal game where they lost to Keith Bennett-Paul Landry, also from Nova Scotia.

The Women’s gold medal was won by Rich-Radcliffe, British Columbia.

Former Manitoba Brad Childe finished 4-1 and advanced to the first round of playoffs. He was awarded the Open event Sportsmanship Award.

**
The Round Robin Records of the ten Manitoba teams were:
WOMEN 4-1: Val Kolsun-Lorna Marr
WOMEN 3-2: Gwen Smith-Lynne Rehbein
WOMEN 1-4: Darlene Maywood-Mel Shura

OPEN 4-1:Warren Johnson-Dan McDonald
OPEN 4-1: Norm Magnusson-Resby Coutts
OPEN 2-3: Don Fischer-Grant Nicolson
OPEN 2-3: Fred & Britta Spiring
OPEN 2:3: Jim & Keren Rouse
OPEN 1-4: Ken & Shirley Strand
OPEN 1-4: Tom & Rae Campbell

Smiles after a Manitoba final re-match in the Canadian Bronze Medal game: Lorna Marr, Gwen Smith, Lynne Rehbein, Val Kolsun

LOTT/LOTT INTO PLAYOFFS AT CANADIAN MIXED DOUBLES

Posted on by
Reply

With a 5W-2L record, Manitoba’s Mixed Doubles Champions have advanced to the playoff round of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship in Sudbury. They will play an elimination game Saturday morning against Lisa Weagle and John Epping with the winner advancing to a quarter-final game against Jennifer Jones & Brent Laing.

Kadriana & Colton Lott
(Photo: Curling Canada-Duncan Bell)

Kadriana and Colton Lott opened the competition with a pair of wins before losing to Jones/Laing who finished the round robin undefeated (7W-0L). They ran off three more victories before losing their final game to Tracey Fleury and Jacob Horgan. Jones/Laing at 7W-0L will advance to the quarterfinals. Lott/Lott at 5W-2L tied for second in the pool with Weagle/Epping but rank ahead of them as they defeated Weagle/Epping in their first round game.

A pre-event Curling Canada news release describes the playoff plan: “teams will play a seven-game round robin within their pools Tuesday through Friday, with 12 teams advancing to the single-knockout playoffs, which begin Saturday. The four pool winners will get byes directly into the quarter-finals, which take place Saturday at 7 p.m., while the teams with the next eight best records overall, regardless of the pool they’re in, will be matched up in the playoff opener at 1 p.m. Saturday.”

Three of the pool winners, Jones/Laing, Laura Walker & Kirk Muyres, Jocelyn Peterman & Brett Gallant, were unbeaten in seven games, and Chaelynn Kitz & Brayden Stewart won their pool with a 6W-1L record. The other eight teams include two with 6W-1L records and six with 5W-2L records.

SILVER MEDAL FOR TEAM DUNSTONE

Posted on by
Reply

Matt Dunstone and his Team Manitoba came up a shot short in their Tim Hortons Brier final game – a 7-5 loss to Brad Gushue’s Team Canada. Their 10-2 record included an unbeaten 8-0 round robin and two playoff wins over Brendan Bottcher’s wild card entry – but two playoff losses to Team Gushue.

Matt Dunstone, BJ Neufeld, Colton Lott, Ryan Harnden, Adam Kingsbury
Curling Canada Photo: Mike Burns

11W-1L AND SENIOR MEN’S BRONZE MEDAL FOR MANITOBANS

Posted on by
Reply

(December 10, 2022: 7PM) Disappointment for Randy Neufeld’s Team Manitoba as they lost their semi-final game at the Everest Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, giving up a two coming home to lose 4-3 to Alberta. They bounced back in the Bronze Medal game, scoring a three and a four in the first two ends enroute to a 10-7 victory over Nova Scotia.

In the Gold Medal game, Ontario defeated the Albertans, 7-6.

In the Senior Women’s, Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson won the semi-final (7-4 over Nova Scotia) and the final (7-3 over Quebec). It was the fifth consecutive Canadian Senior Women’s title for Anderson’s Saskatchewan team.

(December 9 , 2022: 11PM) 10W-0L MANITOBAN’S ADVANCE TO PLAYOFFS … Repeat headline – TWO MORE WINS: NEUFELD STILL PERFECT – as Randy Neufeld and his Manitobans (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) wrapped up the championship qualifying round with two more wins. On the early draw they beat BC 7-3 and then, with first place on the line, they defeated Nova Scotia.

Seeded first in playoffs, Team Neufeld will play Alberta’s Pahl team on the early morning draw Saturday – hoping to advance to the gold medal game at 12:30 (10:30 CST). Nova Scotia will play Ontario in the other semi-final.

In the Women’s championship, Nova Scotia earned the #1 seed with a 9W-1L record and they`ll play Saskatchewan (7W-3L). Quebec (also 9W-1L) will play Ontario (also 7W-3L) in the second semi-final.

(December 8, 2022: 9PM) TWO MORE WINS; NEUFELD STILL PERFECT … Thursday started slow for Randy Neufeld’s Team Manitoba with Howard Rajala’s Ontario team scoring three consecutive singles to start their first game of the day. Neufeld scored a three on the fourth end to tie and went on to a 7-4 win.

A 10-3 victory over Quebec followed on the late draw and and the Manitobans had improved to a perfect 8W-0L. They are now guaranteed a spot in the final four playoffs.

At 8W-0L, Neufeld’s La Salle team leads the way – ahead of Nova Scotia (7W-1L), Ontario (6W-2L), and both Alberta and Saskatchewan who are tied at 5W-3L. They wrap the championship round on Friday with games against BC’s Wes Craig (4W-4L) and Glen MacLeod’s Nova Scotians.

Even with two losses, a worst case scenario, Manitoba will finish 8W-2L and no worse than second place seeding going into the semi-finals.

(December 7, 2022: 8PM) NEUFELD UNDEFEATED INTO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND … Randy Neufeld’s LaSalle team (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) haver completed the preliminary round of play at the Everest Canadian Senior Championships with a perfect 6W-1L record. The Manitobans now advance to the second round, the championship round.

Right behind the Neufeld team in the standings are Howard Rajala (Ontario) and Glen MacLeod (Nova Scotia) with 5W-1L records. The two teams both advanced from the other pool so Neufeld must yet play both. Their game with Rajala opens the championship round on the morning draw Thursday while they’ll finish on Friday afternoon against MacLeod.

Their other two games will be against British Columbia and Quebec. The top four teams overall advance to the playoffs.

In the women’s championship, Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson team is the lone unbeaten team as they continue a quest to win a fifth consecutive title. After opening with split of their first two games Manitoba’s Terry Ursel has lost four in a row and finished the preliminary round with a 1W-5L record.

(December 5, 2022) CANADIAN SENIORS UNDERWAY … Manitoba’s Terry Ursel and Randy Neufeld teams have begun their quest for the national Senior championships. Neufeld and his team opened play with a win over Alberta’s James Pahl while Ursel’s first game was a loss to Ontario’s JoAnne Rizzo.

Both teams won their second games. Neufeld defeated Keith Ryan (Nfld/Labrador) while Ursel defeated Sandy Comeau (New Brunswick). The teams play in two pools of seven for a six-game preliminary round. The top four teams will advance to a second championship round for four more games against teams crossing over from the other pool. Four teams then advance to a knockout playoff.

Neufeld (Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls, Dale Michie) won gold and silver in back to back years in 2015 & 2016 along with a world seniors silver medal in their Canadian championship year. Former Brier & world champion Al Hackner, fresh off his Masters victory at Pembina a couple of weeks ago, won the 2006 Canadian Seniors – the only other former champion skip in the field.

Ursel (Wanda Rainka, Brenda Walker, Tracy Igonia, Alternate Chris Hamblin, Coach Lorne Hamblin) reached the bronze medal game in 2019. The favorite is no doubt Saskatchewan Sherry Anderson, attempting to win a fifth consecutive title. Alberta’s Diane Foster won the Canadian and world titles in 2008.

Photos: Curling Canada/Malcolm Seaboyer

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MANITOBA TEAMS IN EDMONTON

Posted on by
Reply

Manitoba’s teams at the Everest Club Championships in Edmonton will come home empty handed. Both Jack Hykaway’s men’s team and Lisa Birchard’s women’s team advanced to the playoff round as the top team in their preliminary round pools but both lost knock-out games late Friday to be eliminated.

Team Hykaway ran off 7 straight wins but lost back-to-back Friday, first losing 9-6 to Northern Ontario and then11-2 to Alberta. Team Birchard lost their opening playoff game, rebounded to win their second but lost the elimination game 5-3 to Quebec.

Semi-finals go at 11AM (Mtn) with the medal games at 4PM.

(Friday 5:30PM) MANITOBA TEAMS POST PLAYOFF WINS EDMONTON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Manitoba’s Jack Hykaway team went though the preliminary round with a perfect 6W-0L record and have posted their first win in the modified double knockout playoff round. The Pembina team defeated BC’s Ron Schmidt 6-5 in an extra end in their first playoff game. Next up (at 6PM Mtn) is a re-match with Northern Ontario’s Ben Mikkelsen, who Manitoba has already beaten in the round robin.

The Mikkelsen team includes second Mark Blanchard, who won Manitoba in 2016 with Andrew Wickman.

Lis Birchard and her Women’s team advanced to the playoffs after finishing first in their pool with a 4W-1L record. They were ambushed in their first playoff game, losing 9-1 to Ontario’s Chrissy Cadorin team. However, the Pembina women bounced back in their second playoff game, defeating Kimberley Dennis and her BC champions. Now in a must-win situation, Team Birchard has a re-match on the late draw Friday against Team Ontario, who lost their second game to drop to the playoffs “B” Side.

(Wednesday: Nov 23 6PM) MANITOBA TEAMS UNBEATEN IN EDMONTON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Manitoba’s teams at the Everest Club Championships in Edmonton are off to a great start – both the Lisa Birchard and Zach Wasylik teams have posted three wins and sit with perfect 3W-0L records at start of play Wednesday.

The men are playing in a pool of seven so have 3 games to go in preliminary round play while the women are in a pool of six so they have two games remaining in preliminary round play. Team Birchard wraps up its preliminary round on the Thursday 1:30pm draw while Team Wasylik finishes on the 8:30pm draw tomorrow. (Photos: Curling Canada-Jake Walker)

After the round robin, the top three teams in each pool will advance to a modified double-knockout playoffs, which begin Friday, Nov. 25, and conclude with the gold- and bronze-medal games on Saturday, Nov. 26.

SILVER AND BRONZE FOR MANITOBA AT THE 2022 CANADIAN MASTERS

Posted on by
Reply

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.

COLWELL TEAM TO PLAY FOR GOLD; WARREN TEAM FOR BRONZE

Posted on by
Reply

(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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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)