It was a conservatively-played all-PEI final at the Silver Fox Curling Club Cashspiel this afternoon in Summerside, with Summerside’s Mike Gaudet edging Charlottetown’s Kyle Stevenson by a 5-4 score. Teams traded singles in every end except number four, where the Gaudet deuce gave him the edge needed to come out the winner. Playing with Gaudet this season are Eddie MacKenzie, Tyler Harris, and Sean Clarey, while Ben Blanchard, Kyle MacDonald and Doug MacGregor round out the Stevenson squad.

In semi-final action, Stevenson knocked off previously-undefeated Brett Gallant of Charlottetown by a 7-4 score, while Gaudet recorded triples in ends one and three en route to a 7-3 victory over Mark Armstrong of New Brunswick.

The Gaudet rink pick up two grand for their first place finish, while the Stevenson foursome bring $1600 back to Charlottetown. Gallant and Armstrong collect $1200 each, while quarter-finalists Rick Perron of New Brunswick and Danny Christianson of Nova Scotia go home with $800.

The Atlantic Curling Tour wraps up back on PEI in two weeks, with the ACT Championships taking place at the Charlottetown Curling Club December 11-14, with the top 16 regional qualifiers eligible to compete.

It takes a number of sponsors to put on major curling events such as the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship. The PEI Curling Association recently presented a plaque to Charlottetown Wal-Mart management to thank the company for their contribution to last year’s successful event held at the Charlottetown Curling Club.

Photo L-R: Greg Lucas (Executive Director, PEICA), Carl Gibbons (Manager, Charlottetown Wal-Mart), Marina Provost (Day Manager, Charlottetown Wal-Mart), Darrell Doucette (PEICA Event Coordinator) 

This year’s Scotties will take place at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside from January 22-26. Three-time defending champion and Summerside native Suzanne Birt will be back with a new team this year, with veteran skip Shelly Bradley (who skipped the runner-up team last year) at third, Leslie MacDougall at second, and Stefanie Clark, the only remaining member from last year’s rink, in the lead position.

New Glasgow NS-The Quarter-Final draw of the Sobeys Slam was incredibly exciting with three of the four games going down to the final rock, one of them even needing an extra end. The only game which was not a nail-biter was over early. Stephanie Lawton scored 3 in the first, stole 4 in the fourth, and shook hands after 5 ends in a dominating 9-1 victory over Crystal Webster. Last year’s finalists will meet this year in the Semi-Final, as Marie France Larouche stole 1 in the eighth as Bingyu Wang’s draw with her final stone came up light, and Sherry Middaugh made a hit for 2 points with her last rock in the extra end against Heather Rankin. Cathy King did not have to throw her last rock, as Mary Anne Arsenault just missed with her last, giving King the 6-5 victory.

This sets up a Western Semi-Final, and an Eastern Semi-Final. Cathy King from Alberta will face Stephanie Lawton from Saskatchewan, and Mary-France Larouche from Quebec meets Sherry Middaugh of Ontario. This is a rematch of last year’s final, which was won by Middaugh.

The semis go at 11:30 this morning, with the final at 3 pm.

Due to a conflict with the curling portion of the 55+ Games, the dates for the Provincial Stick Curling Championship at the Cornwall Curling Club have been advanced from early March to February 16-18. Entry deadline is Jan. 26, and entry fee is $60 per two-player team. This will be the third year for this event, which was won the first two years by the Cornwall duo of Ernie Stavert and Sterling Stratton.

In stick curling there are two curlers per team, who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end.  The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. All games are six ends.

Stick curlers are excited about a new rule this year which extends the free guard zone from the hogline to the backline of the house. This means that no stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end. Bob Leard is a stick curler and delivery stick manufacturer from Montague who has played under the new rule, and says that it makes for a much more exciting game, as there are always rocks in the house.

 For more information on stick curling, including complete rules of play, visit www.stickcurling.ca.

 Donna Butler’s Cinderella run concluded Saturday evening at the Sobeys Slam in New Glasgow NS, as Crystal Webster scored 4 in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead, then Butler blanked the seventh but was only able to get one with the hammer in eight to fall 6-5. Webster will face Stephanie Lawton in the quarter-finals, which begin Sunday morning at 8.

World Champion Jennifer Jones missed some opportunities early, and Cathy King took 4 in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead. But Jones replied with 3 of her own in the seventh, and was one down going home, without the hammer. King scored 2 in the eighth, and advanced to the quarter-finals, against Mary Anne Arsenault of Halifax, with an 8-5 victory.

Heather Strong and Marie France LaRouche went back and forth, until Larouche clinched the win with 2 in the eighth. Last year’s finalist now faces Team China in the quarters.

Heather Rankin survived a close call against Krista McCarville. She thought McCarville’s stone was shot rock, but a measurement revealed otherwise for a 7-6 victory. Rankin now meets defending champion Sherry Middaugh.

The semifinals are scheduled for 11:30 am and the final goes at 3 pm.

For CurlTV subscribers, the Donna Butler rink are playing Crystal Webster from Calgary at the Sobeys Slam beginning right now (7:30 pm) at www.curltv.com.

Summerside — Three-time P.E.I. Junior champ Brett Gallant and his team, which includes Summerside curlers, were hot on the ice Friday, winning both their games at the Silver Fox Curling Club’s Summerside Cashspiel.
Click to read this story in today’s Journal Pioneer.

The 4 pm Friday draw saw the first of the elimination games at the 2008 Sobeys Slam in New Glasgow NS, and in a bit of a shocker, Shannon Kleibrink was eliminated after losing 7-6 to Karen Porritt in an extra end. Kleibrink scored 3 in the eighth to force the extra, but Porritt took advantage of the hammer to get her single point and stay alive in the triple knockout event. Kleibrink lost in three straight, losing her opener to Cornwall’s Donna Butler on Thursday, and her second game to Renee Sonnenberg of Alberta.

Second seed Jennifer Jones was also on her last legs, but had more luck, ousting the Nova Scotia rink skipped by Jill Mouzar 6-5. Nancy McConnery, also from Nova Scotia, was eliminated after a 6-3 loss to Cathy King, which was King’s first victory at the Sobeys Slam in two years of travel to Pictou County. Another rink with a Nova Scotia connection has been eliminated, as the Kelly Scott rink, skipped this week by Colleen Jones, fell to Amber Holland 5-4 to be eliminated.

Along with six elimination games in the seventh draw, there was one match in the ‘B’ Event, with Suzanne Birt of PEI sending Marie France Larouche of Quebec to the ‘C’ event after an 8-3 decision. Larouche, who made the final of last year’s Slam after qualifying from the ‘A’ Event, will now face Amber Holland in an elimination game Saturday morning. The PEI rink now sports a 3-1 win-loss record. Earlier on Friday, they beat Jill Mouzar of Halifax 9-4.

The first two Quarter-Finalists were determined in the 7:30 pm draw, with, Mary Anne Arsenault of Halifax beating Stephanie Lawton of Saskatoon 8-6 in one ‘A’ Event match, while Bingyu Wang shaded Sherry Middaugh 5-4 in the other. Lawton now plays Suzanne Birt Saturday morning at 8:30.

Cornwall’s Donna Butler rink also moved to 3-1 with a decisive 9-2 win over Sylvie Robichaud of New Brunswick on Friday evening, picking up four points in the seventh end. Butler now faces Middaugh at 8:30 Saturday morning. Earlier on Friday, Butler beat Carrie Lindner of St. Catharines Ont. 7-5.