Manitoba sports fans have a special opportunity to win an opportunity to cheer for Team Manitoba at the Regina Montana’s Brier OR MAYBE the Winnipeg Jets in the drive (hopefully) to the Stanley Cup OR MAYBE the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they start the season with a Grey Cup re-match with the Montreal Alouettes.

These are the featured prizes in the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum’s 2024 Manitoba Sports Ticket Raffle (License: LGCA 4051-43040). The window of opportunity is a small one – ticket sales launched today and will close February 10. The winners will be announced at the Viterra Championship in Stonewall.

The first three prizes, in order, are:

• Two event passes for the Regina Montana’s Brier (March 1-10) PLUS $500
• Two tickets for the Winnipeg Jets VS Seattle Kraken (March 5)
• Two tickets on the 50-yeard line, lower bowl, for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers VS Montreal Alouettes (June 6)

Additional prizes will include two pairs of CurlManitoba all-season championship passes for the 2024-25 curling season. The recipients will receive a pair of passes which includes the U-18 & U-21 championships along with the Viterra Men’s, Scotties, Seniors, Masters, Mixed and Club Championship events. There will also be an early-bird prize draw (February 6) for a pair of passes compliments of the 2024 Stonewall Viterra Championship Committee (February 6-11).

Proceeds of the fund-raiser will support the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum’s virtual museum project (helping to make the museum’s collection of some 40,000 items available online) and CurlManitoba Junior Development projects rough the Curling for Life Endowment Fund.

Ticket sales are $5.00 each and will also be available in blocks of three for $10. They can be purchased online at www.fundingchange.ca/mbcurlmuseum .

9Curling Canada Release) Curling Canada has announced that a familiar face has been named Curling Canada’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Nolan Thiessen, a three-time Brier and former world men’s curling champion, who has been a member of the Curling Canada senior management team for the past four years, will take the position following a thorough and exhaustive search and interview process conducted by an external agency, SRI, alongside Curling Canada’s Board of Governors CEO hiring committee.

He replaces Katherine Henderson, who departed Curling Canada in August to take the position of CEO and president at Hockey Canada.

“I’m truly humbled by this opportunity, and it’s one that I know comes with a great deal of responsibility, but I have a great team around me that is well-positioned to continue taking our sport forward and build on what Katherine did during her time at Curling Canada,” said Thiessen, 43. “Our sport has so many avenues forward as we look to reach into new communities and make our sport and championship events even more inclusive and welcoming. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for curling in this country.”

Thiessen was a member of Brier-winning teams in 2010, 2014 and 2015, and was a member of Canada’s world championship gold-medal team in 2010.

He retired as a competitive curler following the 2015-16 season, and took on duties as an Athlete Liaison for Curling Canada in 2016 and also served as a consultant. He was formally hired two years later, and most recently served as the Executive Director, Marketing and Fan Experience.

Thiessen also has been active internationally, serving on the World Curling Federation’s Athlete Commission for more than five years (and chairing the commission for three of those years), and then moving onto the WCF’s Competition and Rules Commission a year ago.

Away from curling, Thiessen, a University of Manitoba Bachelor of Commerce graduate, is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, and holds the CPA and CA designations. He also sits on the board of Sport Tourism Canada.

“We said at the beginning of this process that we would leave no stone unturned, and that we would take the time to make sure we do this right, and I firmly we believe we did with Nolan Thiessen,” said Michael Szajewski, Chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors. “He has played an integral role in helping our organization move forward over the past few years, and his vision is completely in line with the Board’s on what needs to happen to continue this forward progress.”

Thiessen will assume the full-time duties as CEO this week, taking over from interim CEO Danny Lamoureux, who will resume his retirement plans that were delayed to help Curling Canada transition after Henderson’s departure.

“Danny has been, and will continue to be, a source of wisdom and we couldn’t be more thankful that he stepped up over the past few months as we embarked on our search,” said Szajewski.

“Curling Canada tasked SRI with conducting a comprehensive global search to identify its next CEO,” said Jeff Yocom, SRI’s North American partner leading the search. “Considering the strength and heritage of the sport in Canada, we recognized early on the importance of installing a Canadian into the role. With that intent, we identified an outstanding group of 13 candidates for the board to deeply investigate and consider. We congratulate Nolan for standing out and are confident he will excel in the role and continue the important work of Curling Canada to grow the sport.”   

Head protection is a good idea for beginning curlers and for those of us who are maybe “a day or two past our prime”. Three different types of head protection were on display in a recent stick-league game at Winnipeg’s Fort Rouge CC.

Norm Magnusson, Manitoba Stick Curling Association’s Chief Clinician, always opens an introductory stick curling session with an emphasis on safety, including a recommendation that “curlers of a certain age” should be thinking about head protection. He has taken his own advice by always wearing his choice of head gear.

The three different types of headwear being used on this day were Asham’s full helmet (right) worn by Dale Gray; the Goldline baseball cap with back-of-head protection (left) worn by Resby Coutts; and a soccer-rugby helmet (centre) worn by Magnusson.

The Goldline head-gear also comes in a headband, visor, and toque version. The writer has been wearing the baseball cap since Goldline began development over a decade ago.

Dale Gray began wearing his helmet “about three years ago”. Earlier he had taken a fall on the ice and began thinking about head protection. Later, after suffering a broken ankle, he adopted the helmet to ensure his safety on the ice while the strength in the ankle recovered. He has never taken it off (during curling games, that is).

Magnusson, who admits he is “not a hat guy”, had used the visor version of the Goldline hat for a few years when he was introduced to the soccer-rugby helmet at the Canadian Stick Championship in Moncton in 2022 by Jean Lamere of Quebec. He likes the feel of this helmet and the full head protection which it provides.

The point here is not to promote any of these options as favoured, and certainly not to promote them as favoured over other products from other suppliers. The point, simply, is to encourage every curler and especially every curler “of a certain age” to think about head protection.

Those of us wearing these hats and helmets are not yet in the majority in the stick leagues, or among older players in traditional leagues, but our numbers are increasing.

The Swiss junior champion team of Xenia Schwaller has won the 2023 DEKALB SuperSpiel, making them the first non-Canadian champion in the 16 year history of the event.

Schwaller needed an extra end today in the DEKALB final in Morris to defeat Serena Gray-Withers Alberta team 6-5. Earlier in the day, the young Swiss team had beaten Selena Sturmay (Alberta) 9-2 in the semi-final and Corrie Huerlimann (Switzerland) 8-1 in the quarterfinal.

In the Men’s final, Tanner Horgan (Northern Ontario) became a two-time champion with 4-2 final game win over Braden Calvert (Manitoba). Horgan was the 2019 champion when he was playing out of Manitoba.

In the semifinal, Team Horgan, which includes 2023 Manitoba Mixed champion Ian McMillan, beat Ryan Wiebe (Manitoba) 7-1.

(December 4 – 9AM) THREE MANITOBA TEAMS IN DEKALB MEN’S PLAYOFFS, ZERO IN WOMEN’S: Fourteen teams (8 women, 6 men) have advanced to the playoff rounds of the DEKALB SuperSpiel in Morris.

Two Swiss teams and one from the United States join five Canadian women’s teams. One USA team reached the men’s playoffs with five Canadian teams.

Three Manitoba men’s teams are hopeful of winning the top prize – they include the Jordon McDonald, Braden Calvert and Ryan Wiebe squads. They are joined in the playoffs by Rich Ruohenen (Minneapolis), Tanner Horgan (Northern Ontario) and Owen Purcell (Nova Scotia).

The Women’s Division features a Swiss match-up in the quarterfinals where Xenia Schwaller will play Corrie Huerlimann. The other women’s teams include Delaney Strouse (Minneapolis); Serena Gray-Withers and Selena Sturmay (Alberta) Clancy Grandy & Corryn Brown (BC); and Danielle Inglis (Ontario.

Top prize in the 24 team women’s event is $36,000 while the 16 team men’s division pays $24,000 for first place.

The final games are set for 4PM Monday in Morris.

CurlManitoba held a berth bonspiel for both the 2024 Scotties presented by RME and the 2024 Viterra Championship this past weekend.  The event was hosted by the Gimli Curling Club and had 7 teams participate in each event. 

In the Women’s event, Rhonda Varnes (Manitou) and Kristy Watling (East St. Paul) qualified out of the A event.  Emma Jensen (Heather) and Rachel Kaatz (AMCC) qualified through the B event.  In the page playoff, Varnes and her team beat Kristy Watling to move directly to the final.  In the 3vs4 game, Emma Jensen and her team took control of the game against Kaatz to move onto the semi-final against Watling.  It was Watling who came out on top of this match to set up a rematch of the 1vs2 game earlier in the day.  This time it was Kristy, along with Laura Burtnyk, Emily Deschenes and Sarah Pyke that outlasted Rhonda Varnes and came away with a 7-5 win. The Watling team will participate in the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME January 23-28, 2024 in Morden, MB.

In the Men’s event, Brett Walter and Devon Wiebe qualified out of the A event to meet in the 1vs2 page playoff game.  Walter’s team won the game to move directly to the final, while Wiebe had to then play in the semi-final against Justin Reynolds and his team from Winnipeg Beach.  Reynolds had beaten Emerson Klimpke (Stonewall) earlier in the day in the 3vs4 game to move onto the semi-final.  As in the women’s event, a rematch between Brett Walter (AMCC) and Devon Wiebe (Fort Rouge) was set after Wiebe beat Reynolds.  In the final, it was Brett Walter and his team of JT Ryan, Graham McFarlane and Hugh McFarlane that earned the berth to the 2024 Viterra Championship that will be held in Stonewall, MB from February 6-11, 2024.

With one round to play at the Seagram’s Whisky Manitoba Curling Club Championships, one team has a confirmed spot in the playoff round, the winner of two upcoming games are assured of a playoff spot, and the loser of those games plus eight other teams can make the playoffs with the right sets of wins & losses across the next two draws.

On the women’s side, only Kara Balshaw’s Thistle team is a ‘lock’ to make the playoffs. In their six-team pool, Team Balshaw is a perfect 4W-0L while four teams have 2W-2L records. Those four teams will be playing for wins and hoping for losses by the other teams to help them make the playoffs. In those games Laurie MacDonnell (Beausejour) plays Lisa Dickson (St. Vital) – both have 2W-2L records, so the winner has a chance. Balshaw plays former champion Tracy Andries (Fort Rouge) – Andries has a 2W-2L record, so she has a chance with a win. Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin) is also at 2W-2L and has a chance to make the playoffs with a win over winless Sheri Horning (Burntwood).

Like Balshaw, Fort Garry’s Jennifer Clark-Rouire is still perfect at 4W-0L. Their last game is against former champion Lori Pelissier (Thistle) whose 3W-1L record will put them ahead of Team JCR in the standings, IF they win. Former champion Stacey Irwin (Brandon) also has a 3W-1L record and can improve to 4W-1L with a win over Kendall Kohinski (Neepawa) whose record is 1W-3L.

The only thing that is clear on the men’s side of the competition is that the winner between Andy Stewart (Stonewall) and Brett Walter (Elmwood) will advance. Both teams have 3W-1L records as the 2:30PM Saturday game gets underway. In the same pool David Bohn (AMCC) has a 3W-1L plays Randy Neufeld (La Salle) whose record is 2W-2L so for both teams a win is essential if they hope to make the playoffs.

In the other men’s pool, Derek Anderson (Gimli) and Kyle Forsyth (Dauphin) have 3W-1L records, so they have have win-and-you’re-in games. Forysth plays Grant Brown (Burntwood) whose 2W-2L records gives his team a chance, if they win. Anderson plays Corey Thompson (Deer Lodge) who is at 1W-3L. Like Brown, Ryan Hyde (Portage) has a 2W-2L record and still has a chance, with a win over Andrew Irving (Ft Rouge) who is also 1W-3L.

The top two teams in each pool advance to playoffs. In case of a two-team tie for second, there will be one playoff game. In a three-way tie, one team will be eliminated based on their pre-game button draws.

The first major event on the calendar at Fort Rouge this season will be the newly branded Seagrams Club Championships later this month – and visitors to the club for that event will find new, smiling faces and a very welcoming new menu in the main floor lunch counter.

Now branded as a satellite of A&V Diner/Drive-in, the operating hours this season will be 8AM to 9PM – with a full breakfast menu, hamburgers and lunch counter menu, and a pizza menu.

A&V (Angelo & Vickie) formerly operated a popular diner on Chevrier Boulevard and have now relocated that business to the Fort Rouge CC.

The A&V lunch bar is now open and fully operational as league curling begins this week.

Editor’s note: my appreciation for a good meal is pretty well-known, My first breakfast was A1 and I look forward to many more – RC.

The Charleswood Curling Club has kicked off the 2023/24 curling season in style with it’s 75th Anniversary Bonspiel. The bonspiel started on Thursday in round robin play with the final on Sunday.

In true curling club sportsmanship and with both teams having played a lot of rocks for their kick-off bonspiel of the season, our final two teams decided to shake hands, split the pot and head upstairs for a cold drink to cap off a fun weekend.

Congratulations to the Cory Anderson team (Cory Anderson, Ted Laing, Dylan Dutiaume and Quinn – right to left from the center) from the Charleswood CC and the Dale Fust team (Randy Neufeld, Dale Fust, Dean Clayton, Derek Horner and Ryan Blight (not shown) – left to right, from the center)  from the La Salle CC for reaching the final of the 75th Anniversary Bonspiel at the Charleswood Curling Club.

The club expresses a special thanks to the organizing committee, bar staff and kitchen staff for putting on a great event…. and to all of the teams for participating! “We hope you had a great weekend on and off the ice.”

A few have noted that the updates at thecurler.com have been pretty infrequent this fall and the question asked – have you packed it in? The answer is no but I must confess that the curling season has gotten started a little sooner than I was ready for. I also confess there is a chance that the Toronto Blue Jays might continue to slow me down – but once the season is into full swing, so will I be.

Besides – I have had a good book to read.

I was intrigued when I saw that David Florig had written a novel (THE STONES OF AILSA CRAIG ) with curling as a background. I was willing to give it a read – after all I’m not aware that anyone has ever tried and I wondered how he could make it work.

I won’t say it was a “couldn’t put it down” book – but close. Mine arrived in the mail just over a week ago. I finished it today and would have been done a few days ago but there were Blue Jays games to occupy the spare time.

If you are reader – it is a good read and if you are interested in the history of our sport, you’ll love the way he has built some curling history into a book with an interesting genealogy search, a good bit of how it feels to be a beginner curler, a dash of why we curlers love a bonspiel, some insights into the state of Maine (which Florig obviously loves), and an understated but intriguing love interest. Oh yes, and a couple of murders with a good courtroom-trial chapter.

The opening chapter of THE STONES OF AILSA CRAIG has the feel of someone who “has been there”. It certainly read that way to me.

A passing reference, in chapter two, to the Duddington Curling Society told me that in Florig I had found a kindred spirit. (Note of explanation – simply put Duddington pre-dated the Royal Caledonian Curling Club as an organizing body for curling.) You’re wondering why I know about it – and as old friend would say – it just one of those things in my “bank of worthless knowledge”. But the fact that an admitted newcomer to the sport was using the reference told me I had found a kindred spirit and I read on!

Half way through the book, I was in awe of both his ‘bank account” (curling history that is) and of the way he had written a story that I wanted to read, for the story itself.

Like most good novels, THE STONES OF AILSA CRAIG has a plot twist as sharp as a nasty pick on your last shot draw to the button.

In his notes at the back of the book, David Florig admits, in a chapter dedicated to explaining the sport of curling to non-curlers who might pick up the book, he has never seen an 8-ender. He explains that teams with the hammer would like to score 2 or 3 points in an end – and explains that a “three or four point end is a significant score”. I am not prepared to give the book an eight rocks out of eight rating – but I’ll do better than the four he calls significant.

thecurler.com’s rating for THE STONES OF AILSA CRAIG ….. six rocks out of eight!!!

Curling started at St. Vital a couple of weeks ago with very successful Police & Fire Games but the real kickoff to the season is tonight when the club is hosting a FREE Indigenous Cultural Celebration as a season launch – following the 5PM opening draw of this weekend’s St Vital NISO Mixed Doubles Classic – a Manitoba Mixed Doubles Tour event.

The celebration begins at 7PM and features food, entertainment by the Asham Stompers, a Land Acknowledgment and what is being described as a cultural celebration.

Why the name NISO Mixed Doubles Classic, you ask? Perhaps not an exact interpretation but I’m told NISO is a Cree word for two – so it’s a good name for a Doubles curling event with a great line-up of teams. Top-ranked Canadian teams like Jennifer Jones & Brent Laing, Laura Walker & Kirk Muyres, Chaelynn Kitz & Brayden Stewart, and Jennifer Armstrong & Tyrel Griffith will face the challenge of the likes of Winnipeggers Dawn & Mike McEwen, Mackenzie Arbuckle &  Aaron Macdonell, and ten other teams.

Preliminary round game times are 5PM Thursday, 4 & 8PM Friday, 9-12-3-6 Saturday.