SALMON ARM, BC, February 5 (CCA)…With one day to go in the round robin, playoff positions are still up for grabs at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors.
Just when you think order has been restored to the standings, positions get tossed about when teams on the ropes stay alive anyway they can.
Take, for example, the Ontario-British Columbia women’s game Thursday evening. Skipped by Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ontario entered the contest in first place with an 8-1 mark, after beating defending champion Kaitlyn Lawes of Manitoba in the afternoon, while Kelly Shimizu of Richmond was at 5-4, tied with four others for third.
So what happens? British Columbia edges Ontario, 7-6 to move to 6-4 and remain alive for a playoff spot. Homan drops into a tie for first place with an 8-2 record, alongside Alberta (Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge), which defeated Prince Edward Island (Erin Carmody of Summerside), 7-4, stealing a deuce in the 10th to cement it. Homan, however, holds a tiebreaker edge should the teams finish tied, since Ontario edged Alberta, 5-4 earlier in the week. Carmody’s win loss record is now 5-5.
The 21-year-old Shimizu has taken a year off school to concentrate on curling. At last year’s M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, she played third for British Columbia skip Kelly Thompson, finishing with a 4-8 record in Sault Ste. Marie. This season, she’s taken the reins on a new team, one which got off to a shaky start here, losing its first two, before righting the ship.
“The win was definitely huge for us,” said Shimizu. “Our team is playing really well right now. We gave up three in the fifth end, but we came back, stayed with our game and got three in the sixth end, then had a hit to win it in the 10th. We’ve heard lots about their team but we figured we could beat anybody here if we stick to our own game, and call it aggressive when we have to.
“Last year, it was definitely hard. It was my first time. You have to go through the whole thing and learn from your lessons. So this year seems a lot easier. It’s great to be the home team. Lots of people cheering. A lot of people we know drove up here. We have lots of support. We were really confident (coming in). After that (first two losses), we just stuck together as a team and focused on what we wanted to do.”
Joining British Columbia in third is Manitoba, after defeating Northern Ontario (Vanessa Maloney of Sudbury), 8-5, taking three in the ninth to seize command. In other games, Saskatchewan (Brooklyn Lemon of Regina) walloped Quebec (Kristen Richard of Lachine), 10-5 while Newfoundland and Labrador (Erin Porter of St. John’s) was a 6-4 winner over New Brunswick (Ashley Howard of Moncton).
On the men’s side, Northern Ontario, skipped by Dylan Johnston of Thunder Bay, has regained top spot, now with an 8-2 mark, after clipping Manitoba (Sam Good of Winnipeg), 6-5 in an extra end.
Meanwhile, Alberta (Kevin Yablonski of Calgary) scored a huge win over Prince Edward Island (Brett Gallant of Charlottetown), 7-4, as both teams now reside in second place with 7-3 records.
New Brunswick (Steve Burgess of Fredericton) is next at 6-4, after suffering a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Newfoundland and Labrador (Kelly Schuh). In other games, Ontario (Bowie Abbis-Mills of Waterloo) was a 7-6 victor over British Columbia (Bryan Kedziora of Maple Ridge), while Saskatchewan (Mike Armstrong of Saskatoon) hammered Quebec (Andrew Leigh of Lachine), 10-5.
That left British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Saskatchewan all tied for fifth at 5-5.
The round robin continues on Friday with draws at 9:00 am, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Pacific time, with PEI playing the Yukon at 9 and the Northwest Territories at 7, after which the first place teams advance to their respective finals on Sunday, while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday.
TSN will carry the women’s final live on February 8 at 11:30 am PT/ 3:30 pm AT, followed by the men’s final at 4:00 pm PT/8:00 pm Atlantic.
The winners of the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors will then represent Canada at the world juniors, March 5-15 at the Olympic Centre in Vancouver. Canada has won a leading 16 world junior men’s titles since 1975 and eight women’s crowns since 1988.