The first Final Eight team to be chosen was the Charlottetown Curling Club rink of Rod MacDonald, Kevin Champion, Andrew Robinson, and Mark O’Rourke, with fifth player Peter MacDonald, and coach Pat Aylward. Champion and O’Rourke were members of last year’s championship team. Seeded number three going into the event, the MacDonald rink  beat top seed Mike Gaudet, also from the Charlottetown club, 6-2 in the first of two A pool finals in this triple-knockout event, stealing singles in the last three ends en route to the win.

The John Likely foursome, seeded second, were the second team to advance to the Final Eight. Likely’s team includes Phil Gorveatt, Mark Butler, and Mike Dillon, with fifth Robert Campbell. They shaded their Charlottetown clubmates the Kyle Stevenson rink by a 5-4 score in an extra end. Likely stole the ninth end to lead 4-2 coming home. Stevenson forced the extra end with a double, but Likely recorded a single in the extra for the trip to the Eights.

Final Eight team number three is the Charlottetown Curling Club foursome of Jamie Newson, Tim Hockin, Darren Higgins, and Matthew MacCarville, who beat the Daryl MacDonald rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary by a 13-4 score in the first of four B section qualifier games. MacDonald started out well, taking a pair in the first end, and stole another deuce in the second for a 4-0 lead. Things went downhill rapidly, though, with Newson taking a six-ender in the third, following it with steals of one, two, and four points to put the game out of reach after only six ends of play.

The fourth team to qualify is this year’s Provincial Seniors Champions, the Mel Bernard rink from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside. Bernards teammates are Blair Jay, Doug Simmons, and Earle Proude. Seeded eighth, they beat number four seed Kyle Stevenson by a 9-8 score in an extra end to advance to the Eights.

The number five spot goes to Ted MacFadyen from the Charlottetown club, veteran of five Labatt Tankard championships, and six Seniors titles, and runner-up to Bernard in this year’s Seniors final. MacFadyen, and his team of Craig Mackie, David Murphy and Mike Coady, with coach Al Ledgerwood, beat newcomer Jeff Wilson, also from Charlottetown, by a 9-4 score, taking four points in the seventh, to end the game early.

The final B section Final Eight qualifier is top seed Mike Gaudet and his Charlottetown Curling Club rink of Eddie MacKenzie, Tyler Harris, and Sean Clarey, who beat the Terry Arsenault rink from the Silver Fox by a 7-5 score on the Saturday evening qualifying game. A stolen triple in the third end game Gaudet an early lead, which he maintained through the game, keeping the Arsenault foursome from scoring more than a single in the remaining ends.

The final two spots in the Eights will be decided on Sunday, with draws at 1 and 6 pm.

The 6 pm final for spot number seven will see Bill Hope play the winner of a 1 pm game between Kyle Stevenson and Charlottetown clubmate Calvin Smith. Hope beat Charlottetown clubmate Robert Shaw 7-5 on Saturday night to advance to the qualifying game.

The last spot in the Eights will also be decided at 6 pm, when the winners of 1 pm games between Daryl MacDonald and Clair Sweet, both from the Maple Leaf club, and between Jeff Wilson and Terry Arsenault will play off

The winning team from the Final Eight round will advance to the Tim Horton Brier, March 7-15 in Calgary.

The top four seeds, all from the Charlottetown Curling Club, remain undefeated after day two at the Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s playdowns, which continue through Sunday at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. In Friday play in this triple-knockout event, top seed Mike Gaudet beat provincial Seniors champ Mel Bernard of Summerside, seeded eighth, by a 10-6 score, while number three seed Rod MacDonald edged five-time Tankard and six-time Seniors champ Ted MacFadyen 7-6 in an extra end, stealing the 9th end in a closely-fought contest for a 6-5 lead coming home. MacFadyen was not able to pull off a deuce in the tenth, bring the game to an extra, where MacDonald scored the winning point. Gaudet and MacDonald now square off at 10:30 am Saturday, with the winner grabbing the first spot in the Final Eight round, set for Montague from February 10-15.

The other two undefeated teams, skipped by number four seed Kyle Stevenson and number two seed John Likely, will play Saturday afternoon at 2 for the number two spot. In action on Friday, Stevenson beat Clair Sweet of O’Leary’s Maple Leaf club by an 8-6 score, and scored a 10th end deuce to edge Charlottetown clubmate Jamie Newson 10-9. In his opening game, Likely beat Terry Arsenault 9-1 in only five ends and advanced directly to the number two qualifier game.

In the B section, where teams have one loss, qualifier game number three is set for 2 pm Saturday, between Jamie Newson of Charlottetown and Daryl MacDonald of the Maple Leaf. On Friday, unseeded MacDonald took five points in the ninth end in a 12-5 win over fifth seed Bill Hope of Charlottetown.Qualifier number five is also set to go at 2 pm Saturday, with newcomer Jeff Wilson facing veteran Ted MacFadyen. Wilson lost 10-3 to Charlottetown clubmate Jamie Newson on Friday, but rebounded in the evening draw with a 10-8 win over Clair Sweet.

Qualifier four goes Saturday evening at 7, with the loser of Qualifier two, between Stevenson and Likely, facing the winner of a 10:30 am game between Robert Shaw of Charlottetown and Summerside’s Mel Bernard.

Qualifier six is also Saturday at 7, with the winner of a 10:30 am game between Calvin Smith of the Charlottetown Curling Club and Terry Arsenault of the Silver Fox facing the loser of Qualifer One, between Gaudet and MacDonald.

Down in the “last chance” C section, qualifiers number seven and eight go Sunday at 8 pm. Fourteen teams began play on Friday, competing for the eight spots in the Final Eight, where the winning team will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 7-15 in Calgary.

JASON SIMMONDS – The Journal Pioneer

SUMMERSIDE — The M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior curling championships have become a family tradition for the Carmodys.
For the third straight year, the brother-sister act of Anson and Erin Carmody from Summerside have represented P.E.I. at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships.

Click to read this story in today’s Journal-Pioneer.

Play in this triple-knockout competition continues at 10:30 am Friday, with number four seed Kyle Stevenson of Charlottetown taking on Clair Sweet of O’leary, number six seed Jamie Newson of the capital city facing newcomer and clubmate Jeff Wilson, and Robert Shaw of Charlottetown, seeded seventh, facing Terry Arsenault of the Silver Fox. Top seed Mike Gaudet plays his first game in the 2 pm draw, while number two seed John Likely sees first action in at six pm.

The playdowns continue through Sunday evening, with eight teams advancing to the Final Eight round, February 10-15 in Montague. The winner of that event will advance to the Tim Horton’s Brier, March 7-15 in Calgary.

M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors start Sunday in Salmon Arm, BC

January 28, 2009 (CCA)…The M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior men’s and women’s curling championships, presented by AMJ Campbell Van Lines, get underway Sunday, February 1 in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
 
Thirteen men’s and 13 women’s teams (representing the 10 provinces plus Northern Ontario, Northwest Territories and Yukon) are set to compete.   Round robin games will be played at both the Salmon Arm Curling Club and Sunwave Centre. At the conclusion of the round robin, the first place teams advance to their respective finals, while the second and third place finishers meet in semi-finals on Saturday.
 
Both the women’s and men’s finals of the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors will be played on Sunday, February 8 at the Sunwave Centre and will be televised live across Canada on TSN.   The women’s final takes place at 11:30 am PT/ 3:30 pm AT while the men’s final begins at 4:00 pm PT/9:00 pm AT.
 
The winners will then represent Canada at the 2009 world junior curling championships, March 5-15 in Vancouver.   Canada has won a leading 16 world junior men’s titles since 1975 and eight women’s crowns since 1988.
 
The women’s roster includes defending champion skip Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who won the Canadian title in Sault Ste. Marie last year and went on to earn a bronze medal at the world juniors in Östersund, Sweden and 2007 Canada Winter Games gold medallist Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ontario, who has also enjoyed success on the women’s tour and is currently 10th on the CTRS (Canadian Team Ranking System) standings. Richmond’s Kelly Shimizu will wear the host province’s colours.
 
On the men’s side, Prince Edward Island’s Brett Gallant of Charlottetown, the Canadian junior runner-up in 2007 and third place finisher last year, is the likely favourite, while British Columbia is represented by Bryan Kedziora of Maple Ridge.   Last year, Quebec’s William Dion claimed Canadian honours, and also went on to claim a bronze medal at the world juniors.
 
This marks the fourth year of title sponsorship by M&M Meat Shops, Canada’s leading retail chain of specialty frozen foods.   The company recently announced a further three-year extension as title sponsor through 2012.
 
The Canadian junior men’s championship began in 1950 in Quebec City.  Alberta has won a leading 15 times while British Columbia has four wins, the last by skip Brad Kuhn in 2000.   

The Canadian junior women’s championship was first played in Vancouver in 1971.  Saskatchewan leads all provinces with 10 titles while British Columbia has three victories, the last in 1987 by skip Julie Sutton (Skinner).   The Canadian junior championships were conducted as separate events until being combined in 1987 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Since then, British Columbia has hosted four Canadian Juniors…1988 in North Vancouver, 1992 in Vernon, 1999 in Kelowna and 2004 in Victoria.

Tickets can be purchased by phoning (250) 832-4044.  Full Event passes are on sale for $100.   Day passes, at $15.00, are also available, while Finals tickets cost $15.00 (adult) or $10.00 (student).

Draw results will be instantly available at www.curling.ca   or seasonofchampions.ca.
Event Details: 
2009 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Men’s Curling Championship
February 1-8, Sunwave Centre and Salmon Arm Curling Club
Salmon Arm, British Columbia
 
TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead and coach)
 
Alberta – Calgary Winter Club, Calgary
Kevin Yablonski, Michael Ng, Brad Benini, Derek Clark, Randy Yablonski
 
British Columbia – Golden Ears Winter Club, Maple Ridge
Bryan Kedziora, Derek Errington, Cal Jackson, Tyler MacKenzie, Bill Tschirhart
 
Manitoba – Pembina Curling Club, Winnipeg
Sam Good, Taylor McIntyre, Kent Moffitt, David Wiebe, Peter Wiebe
 
New Brunswick – Fredericton Curling Club, Fredericton
Steve Burgess, Jon Rennie, Robbie Doherty, Kevin Brayshaw, Paul Brayshaw
 
Newfoundland and Labrador – Re/Max Centre, St. John’s
Kelly Schuh (third rocks), Cory Schuh (fourth rocks), Scott Eaton, Stephen Moss, Eugene Trickett
 
Northern Ontario – Fort William Curling Club, Thunder Bay
Dylan Johnston, Cody Johnston, Michael Makela, Mike Badiuk, Ray Skillen
 
Northwest Territories – Yellowknife Curling Club, Yellowknife
Colin Miller, Robert Heimbach, John Murray, David Aho, Maureen Miller
 
Nova Scotia – Highlander Curling Club, St. Andrews
Paul Dexter, Robby McLean, Alex MacFadyen, Josh MacInnis, Paul McLean
 
Ontario – K-W Granite Club, Waterloo
Bowie Abbis-Mills, Scott McGregor, Scott Hindle, Terry Arnold, Jamie Arnold
 
Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown Curling Club, Charlottetown
Brett Gallant, Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, Jamie Danbrook, Peter Gallant
 
Quebec – Lachine Curling Club, Lachine
Andrew Leigh, Benoit (Ben) Vezeau, Mathieu (Matt) Westphal, Brad Hamelin,
Anne-Marie Legault-Lapierre
 
Saskatchewan – Granite Curling Club, Saskatoon
Mike Armstrong, Tyler Lang, Tyson Armstrong, Jordan Raymond, Don Greer
 
Yukon – Whitehorse Curling Club, Whitehorse
Thomas Scoffin, Will Mahoney, Nicholas Koltun, Mitch Young, Wade Scoffin
 

2009 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Women’s Curling Championship
February 1-8, Sunwave Centre and Salmon Arm Curling Club
Salmon Arm, British Columbia
 
TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead and coach)
 
Alberta – Lethbridge Curling Club, Lethbridge
Casey Scheidegger, Kalynn Park, Jessie Scheidegger, Jayme Coutts, Don Scheidegger
 
British Columbia – Richmond Curling Club, Richmond
Kelly Shimizu, Kayte Gyles, Janelle Sakamoto, Julianna Tsang, Victor Shimizu
 
Manitoba – Pembina Curling Club, Winnipeg
Kaitlyn Lawes, Jenna Loder, Laryssa Grenkow, Breanne Meakin, Rob Meakin
 
New Brunswick – Curling Beauséjour, Moncton
Ashley Howard, Jillian Babin, Melissa Menzies, Emily MacRae, Michael Babin
 
Newfoundland and Labrador – Bally Haly Golf and Curling Club, St. John’s
Erin Porter, Alysha Renouf, Kylie Power, Leah Prosser, Michele Renouf
 
Northern Ontario – Idylwylde Golf & Country Club, Sudbury
Vanessa Maloney, Kendra Lilly, Jennifer (Jenny) Gates, Kaitlynd Burns, Jan Pula
 
Northwest Territories – Yellowknife Curling Club, Yellowknife
Katie (Kate) Maksymowich, Valisa Aho, Danae Kelln, Natasha (Natty) Petten, Bill Aho
 
Nova Scotia – CFB Halifax Curling Club, Halifax
Marie Christianson, Tanya Hilliard, Jane Snyder, Kaitlin Fralic, Danny Christianson
 
Ontario – Ottawa Curling Club, Ottawa
Rachel Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk, Lynn Kreviazuk, Earle Morris
 
Prince Edward Island – Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club, Summerside
Erin Carmody, Geri-Lynn Ramsay, Jessica van Ouwerkerk,  Darcee Birch, Kathie Gallant
 
Quebec – Lachine Curling Club, Lachine
Kristen Richard, Lana Gosselin, Brittany O’Rourke, Sasha Beauchamp, Glenn Tester
 
Saskatchewan – Callie Curling Club, Regina
Brooklyn Lemon, Amanda Craigie, Leah Mihalicz, Nicole Lang, Dwayne Mihalicz
 
Yukon – Whitehorse Curling Club, Whitehorse
Sarah Koltun, Chelsea Duncan, Linea Eby, Jenna Duncan, Lindsay Moldowan

The Provincial 15 and Under curling championships are also sponsored by M&M Meat Shops, and take place at the Montague Curling Club. Event dates are also February 26 to March 1st, and entry deadline is February 5th. Entry fee is $20 per player. Last year’s champs were the Tiffany Sweet and Matthew MacLean rinks from the Maple Leaf club.

The KFC Provincial 12 and Under championships also take place at the Montague Curling Club, from March 5-8. Entry deadline is February 12, and entry fee is $20 per player. Defending champions are the Tyler Smith, Katie Fullerton, and Jonathan Schut rinks, all from the Cornwall Curling Club.

Entries for all events must be on official PEICA entry forms, available at all PEI curling clubs, or enter online at peicurling.com.

The Open Playdowns portion of the Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling Championship gets underway Thursday evening at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. Fourteen teams, ten from the Charlottetown Curling Club, two from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, and two from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, are entered in this triple knockout competition which will select eight teams for the Final Eight championship round, February 10-15 at the Montague Curling Club. Last year’s champions were the rink of Peter Gallant, Kevin Champion, Mark O’Rourke, and John Desrosiers. Gallant and Desrosiers are not competing in this event this year, but Champion and O’Rourke are members of the Rod MacDonald rink. The Playdowns wrap up Sunday evening. The winning team from the Final Eight will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 7-15 in Calgary. Live results from both the Playdowns and the Final Eight will be available at peicurling.com/tankard

Eight of the fourteen teams have been seeded in the draw as a result of cashspiel winnings this season.

Here are the team rosters and seedings (skip to lead – club):
#1 Mike Gaudet, Eddie MacKenzie, Tyler Harris, Sean Clarey – Charlottetown

#2 John Likely, Philip Gorveatt, Mark Butler, Mike Dillon, Robert Campbell – Charlottetown

#3 Rod MacDonald, Kevin Champion, Andrew Robinson, Mark O’Rourke, 5th Peter MacDonald, coach Pat Aylward – Charlottetown

#4 Kyle Stevenson, Ben Blanchard, Kyle MacDonald, Doug MacGregor – Charlottetown
#5 Bill Hope, Dennis Watts, Jeff Gallant, Phillip MacInnis – Charlottetown
#6 Jamie Newson, Tim Hockin, Darren Higgins, Matthew MacCarville – Charlottetown

#7 Robert Shaw, Tom Fetterly, Robbie Younker, Sandy MacPhee – Charlottetown
#8 Mel Bernard, Blair Jay, Doug Simmons, Earle Proude – Silver Fox

Unseeded:

Terry Arsenault, Kevin Ellsworth, Pat Aylward, Brian Marcipont – Silver Fox

Daryl MacDonald Glen Betts Lowell Morrison Joey Ellsworth – Maple Leaf
Ted MacFadyen, Craig Mackie, David Murphy, Mike Coady, coach Al Ledgerwood – Charlottetown
Calvin Smith, Kevin Smith, Todd Gilbert, Richie Hughes – Charlottetown
Clair Sweet, Bob Matheson, Muncey Harris, Wayne Arsenault – Maple Leaf
Jeff Wilson, Lincoln Peters, Matt Praught, Nick VanOuwerkerk, 5th Brent Campbell, coaches Tom Peters and Robbie Roberts – Charlottetown

Here are the opening draws:

Thursday, January 29th, 6 pm

Mel Bernard (Silver Fox) vs Daryl MacDonald (Maple Leaf)

Bill Hope (Ch’town) vs Ted MacFadyen (Ch’town)

Rod MacDonald (Ch’town) vs Calvin Smith (Ch’town)

Friday, January 30th, 10:30 am

Kyle Stevenson (Ch’town) vs Clair Sweet (Maple Leaf)

Jamie Newson (Ch’town) vs Jeff Wilson (Ch’town)

Robert Shaw (Ch’town) vs Terry Arsenault (Silver Fox)

Friday, January 30th, 2 pm

Mike Gaudet (Ch’town) vs winner Bernard/MacDonald game (Thursday at 6 pm)

Friday, January 30th, 6 pm

John Likely (Ch’town) vs winner Shaw/Arsenault game (Friday at 10:30 am)

The Dominion Curling Club Championship, sponsored by The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, is a new event which gives regular club curlers across the country an opportunity to compete in provincial and national level competitions. Club curlers are those who enjoy the sport recreationally, supporting club leagues on a regular basis each curling season. Now, these teams will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skill against other curling clubs in their province and country.
Here on PEI, club-level events are being held at each of the seven curling clubs, to pick men’s and women’s club champions. Winners are to be declared by February 28th, and will compete in the Provincial Dominion Curling Club Championship, March 13-15 at the Crapaud Community Curling Club. This event replaces the Intermediate championship that was held in previous years. Entry fee for the provincial event is $30 per player. The Dominion Provincial Club Championship will be a round robin with eight end games, and will follow the PEI Curling Association’s Rules of Play. Ties will be decided by a full extra end. Upon completion of the round robin, the top three teams will advance to the playoff round, with the second-place team playing the third-place team in the semi-final, and the semi-final winner playing the first-place team in the final. Any profit generated from provincial or national Dominion Curling Club Championship events will be directed to charities including the Canadian Paraplegic Association, as well as developmental curling initiatives in communities across Canada.

The winners from the PEI championship will advance to the national event, at the St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke Ontario in November.
Here are the eligibility requirements for  The Dominion Provincial Club Championship:
1-Teams are to be made up from paid members from one PEI curling club. One women’s and one men’s team may be sent from each  PEI curling club. Clubs have sole responsibility for deciding how to choose their representatives.
2-Replacement players must come from the same club, can play any position but skip, and cannot play any position higher than the position being replaced.
3-Clubs are responsible to ensure that eligibility criteria are met.
4-The PEI Curling Association has the sole authority to accept or reject any entry. On the national level, The Dominion reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to exclude any team that violates the intent and spirit of the competition. The rules of the national event may differ slightly from the provincial rules, and will be in effect for the national event.
5-The PEI event is open to men’s and women’s teams of four curlers from the same curling club. Teams may include no more than one player who has competed in the final four of a PEI Curling Association Provincial Championship event in the current and previous two seasons, or has competed in a championship outside the province, in the current and previous two seasons, as a result of winning a PEICA championship event.
6. Curlers from the former Intermediate championship and the Stick curling championship, and from championships not conducted by the PEICA, may compete, regardless of placement in those events, and provided that all team members belong to the same curling club.
 7. Each team will be allowed a maximum of 2 players between the ages of 15 and 20, as of December 31st of the year prior to the Canadian championship. Curlers under the age of 15 are not eligible to compete.