Monthly Archives: March 2009

Sask. still on top, Northern Ontario close behind at Firefighters

Posted on by April 1, 2009

Unbeaten Saskatchewan, skipped by Jeff Gartner, had a day off on Tuesday at the 50th annual Canadian Firefighters Curling Association being played at the Charlottetown Curling Club, picking up their default win against Newfoundland and Labrador, who didn’t send a team to the event, to go to 7-0. Close behind at 6-1 is Northern Ontario’s Jeff Zechner rink, who recorded up a 7-3 win over the team from the southern part of the province, aided by a five-point seventh end.

Two teams, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, are sitting with two losses. In today’s play, the Bluenosers stole two in the tenth to pick up a high-scoring 13-11 win over PEI’s Jeff Nelson team from the Montague Fire Department, and then edged Manitoba by a 7-6 score. BC blanked the Northwest Territories 9-0 today.

Joining PEI with three losses are Southern Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, with Manitoba edging Alberta 6-5 in their first game today, before losing to Nova Scotia in the second.

Three teams are at 1-6. Quebec picked up their first win. 6-4 over New Brunswick, while New Brunswick picked up their first victory, a 10-0 blank of the Territories, who are the third 1-6 team, in only five ends.

Round robin play wraps up with the 9 am Friday draw, with Wednesday and Thursday games at 9 am and 2:30 pm.
The top four teams from the round robin will advance to the championship round, with the first and second place teams playing off in the Page 1 vs 2 game, with the winner advancing directly to the 1 pm Saturday final, and the loser playing the winner of the Page 3 vs 4 game in the semi-final, with that winner going to the championship game.

Saskatchewan now only undefeated team at Canadian Firefighters

Posted on by March 30, 2009

Saskatchewan is now the only undefeated rink, with a 6-0 record, after four days of play at the 50th annual Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship at the Charlottetown Curling Club.
In Monday action. Manitoba were handed their first loss, at the hands of the Saskatchewan team, by an 8-4 score. Northern Ontario, the other team with one loss, picked up wins over New Brunswick (10-7) and Quebec (10-4), scoring a five-ender in the eighth against the Quebec squad.

Four rinks have two losses, including PEI’s Jeff Nelson foursome, who recovered from a 7-4 deficit after five ends to beat Quebec by a 10-7 score, taking singles in ends six through eight and a triple in the ninth.

Southern Ontario, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia are the other teams with a pair of losses. Alberta sits at an even 3-3, while the Northwest Territories have one win, and New Brunswick and Quebec have yet to pull out a victory.

Round robin play continues  through Thursday with draws at 9 am and 2:30 pm, and wraps up Friday morning at 9. PEI plays Nova Scotia on Tuesday morning, and faces first place Saskatchewan at 9 am on Wednesday.

The final goes Sunday, April 4th at 1 pm.

Another proud achievement (Journal editorial)

Posted on by March 30, 2009

Sometimes a little bit of good reputation goes a long way. When the city that was in line to host the 2009 Canadian Seniors Curling Championships backed out, the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club was awarded the event.
It wrapped up on Saturday in front of a full house of spectators.
Organizers only had about eight months to prepare, but succeeded in putting on a fine show.
Of course, the real show was on the ice, performed by the 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams from all over Canada. Carl Delaney and his team of 170 volunteers kept the show running smoothly.
Click to read this editorial in the Journal-Pioneer

Nova Scotia are Senior women’s champions, beating British Columbia in final

Posted on by March 30, 2009

JASON SIMMONDS
The Journal Pioneer
SUMMERSIDE — Nova Scotia’s Colleen Pinkney rink from Truro was the class of the women’s field at the 2009 Canadian senior curling championships all week long, and the final game would be no different.
After going 10-1 (won-lost) in round-robin play, Pinkney, third stone Wendy Currie, second stone Karen Hennigar and lead Susan Creelman earned a 6-4 victory over British Columbia’s Kathy Smiley.
Click to read this story in the Journal-Pioneer

Delaney evens score with Howard; wins Canadian senior men’s curling ch’ship (Journal)

Posted on by March 30, 2009

ERIC MCCARTHY
The Journal Pioneer
SUMMERSIDE — This championship was years in the making.
The Bruce Delaney-skipped Ontario rink scored four points in the first end of a 10-4 victory over New Brunswick’s Russ Howard in the men’s final of the 2009 Canadian senior curling championships at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.
Click to read this story in the Journal-Pioneer

Saskatchewan and Manitoba share Firefighters lead

Posted on by March 29, 2009

After day three at the 50th Canadian Firefighters Curling Championships, being played at the Charlottetown Curling Club, teams from the Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are atop the standings with 4-0 win-loss records. Northern Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia have one loss each, while Southern Ontario, PEI, and BC are 2-2.  The Territories have one game on the winning side, while New Brunswick and Quebec have yet to record a win.

PEI’s Jeff Nelson foursome from the Montague Fire Department lost its only Sunday game, to Manitoba by an 8-6 score. Manitoba scored six points in the first four ends, with PEI fighting back with a triple in end five. Manitoba took singles in the next two ends, and PEI took a deuce and a single in ends eight and nine, but ran out of rocks in the tenth. On Saturday the PEI team lost 7-4 to Northern Ontario. PEI won their opener against Quebec on Friday, and picked up a win by default Sunday morning over Newfoundland-Labrador, who are not participating in the event.

In other Sunday games, Saskatchewan pounded the Northwest Territories by an 11-1 score in only five ends, but the northerners came back in the next game with a decisive 9-2 victory over Quebec. Alberta handed Northern Ontario their first loss today, with an 8-4 win.

Round robin play continues  through Thursday with draws at 9 am and 2:30 pm, and wraps up Friday morning at 9.  The final goes Sunday, April 4th at 1 pm.

Regina Men, Laurier Women beat SMU in Cdn. University finals

Posted on by March 29, 2009

The University of Regina’s Chris Busby rink edged out the Kendal Thompson foursome from Saint Mary’s in Halifax by a 9-8 score to win the men’s final of the CIS/CCA Canadian University Championships this afternoon in Montreal. Regina were undefeated in the tournament with an 8-0 record. Busby took four points in the seventh and eight ends. Thompson came back with four points in the final two ends, but was one short of a tie.

UPEI’s Adam Casey team which includes Anson Carmody, Nick van Ouwerkerk and Jamie Danbrook, made it to the tiebreaker round, beating St. FX in the first game, but losing to Calgary in the second. They had a 3-2 round robin record.

On the women’s side, the Holly Nicol rink from Ontario’s Laurier University beat the Saint Mary’s women’s team, skipped by Sarah Rhyno, by a 6-4 score in the final.

The UPEI women’s team of Sarah Clow, Brielle Quilty, Christina Hennessey, and Courtney Moore wrapped up play Sunday morning against Alberta, and did not manage to pick up a win in the event.

The winning Busby and Nicol teams now advance to the 2010 Karuizawa International Curling Championships, which take place late February in Japan.

China wins World Women’s Gold

Posted on by March 29, 2009

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, March 29, 2009 (CCA/WCF)— Bingyu Wang gave China its first world curling championship on Sunday at the Gangneung International Ice Rink.

Wang’s team from Harbin — third Yin Liu, second Qingshuang Yue and lead Yan Zhou — defeated Anette Norberg of Sweden 7-6 in the gold-medal game of the Mount Titlis world women’s championship.

Last year, the Chinese, whose coach Dan Rafael is from Montreal, lost the gold-medal game to Canada’s Jennifer Jones in the Ford worlds at Vernon, B.C.

“We lost the final last year, and we really wanted to get the gold,” said Wang, 24. “Everybody worked hard; it was a long week.”

China was in control the whole way, scoring deuces in the fourth, sixth and eighth ends. In the 10th, Sweden had two rocks in the rings but Wang removed both with her final delivery to clinch the gold.

“I was a little nervous and a little excited (before the final), but I just told myself, one more game,” said Wang. “Don’t think too much. Just play Sweden, and we played well.”

The game was shown at 3 a.m. Atlantic on TSN2, and will be repeated at 8 p.m. Atlantic on TSN.

Earlier on Sunday, Denmark’s Angelina Jensen captured the bronze medal, beating Jones’s Team Canada foursome 7-6.

The Ford women’s worlds return to Canada next year; the 2010 edition will be staged in Swift Current, Sask.

The Ford world men’s championship begins Saturday in Moncton, N.B.

Canada loses Bronze at World Women’s

Posted on by March 29, 2009

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, March 29, 2009 (CCA) — Canada’s Jennifer Jones lost 7-6 to Denmark’s Angelina Jensen in the bronze-medal game at the Mount Titlis world women’s curling championship Sunday morning at the Gangneung International Ice Rink.

It marked just the fifth time in 31 years at the world women’s championship that Canada finished without a medal.

Denmark scored three in the fifth end, and was up 6-3 through seven ends. But Canada came back to tie it going into the 10th end. Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont, who throws last rock, made a perfect freeze on her first throw of the 10th, and Jones couldn’t remove it, giving the winning point to Denmark.

“They played very well today, and they can get a lot more movement out of their rocks,” said Jones, who’s backed up by third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin (Jennifer Clark-Rouire is the alternate, while Janet Arnott is the coach). “We just couldn’t follow them down on the last one. Perfect weight and it just didn’t curl enough. It’s disappointing, hugely disappointing, but hopefully we’ll be back.”

Sweden versus China for 2009 World Women’s Championship Gold

Posted on by March 29, 2009

GANGNEUNG, Korea (WCF) – Sweden’s Anette Norberg edged Denmark’s Angelina Jensen 7-6 in the semifinal of the Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship 2009. 

Norberg, the two-time world champion and 2006 Olympic champion, didn’t have to throw her last stone as Danish fourth thrower Madeleine Dupont overcurled her final effort of the 10th end. 

“It’s a good day,” said Norberg, who had defeated defending champions Canada earlier in a playoff match.

 “I think we played well today. We were very confident in both games, and I think it showed.”

 The game proved a minor slugfest as Sweden took two in the second end and stole a deuce in the third for a 4-1 lead.

 Denmark, the 2007 world silver medallists, took a deuce of their own in the fourth end and stole the fifth to tie the match.

 Sweden then grabbed two in the seventh end, with Denmark tying the score again after a deuce in the eighth.

 The start of the final end took the wind out of Denmark’s sails, as Swedish lead Margaretha Sigfridsson made the “tick” shot to clear the front, and Danish misses allowed Norberg to remove any guard threats.

 The Swedes face China and skip Bingyu Wang, who are riding an 11 game winning streak heading into Sunday’s world championship final (15:00 Tokyo time).

 “Now we must beat China,” said Norberg.

 “We lost to them (in the round robin) but we had the game, I just made a lousy draw. We had them.”

 “I wasn’t impressed by China playing Denmark yesterday,” Norberg added.

 “But for sure they will be tougher tomorrow.”

 Denmark, currently mired in a two-game playoff slump after finishing the round robin at 9-2, faces Canada’s Jennifer Jones in Sunday morning’s bronze medal game (10:00 local time).

Nova Scotia women, Ontario men take Canadian Seniors titles

Posted on by March 29, 2009

SUMMERSIDE, March 28 (CCA)…Nova Scotia, skipped by Colleen Pinkney of Truro, and Ontario, skipped by Bruce Delaney of Ottawa, won the finals of the Canadian Seniors Curling Championships, Saturday at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club.

Pinkney, along with her Truro Curling Club teammates Wendy Currie, Karen Hennigar and Susan Creelman, upended British Columbia’s Kathy Smiley, 6-4.

The win capped a remarkable week for Pinkney, who proved almost unbeatable, finishing the round robin with a 10-1 mark to advance to the final, losing only to Newfoundland/Labrador’s Barbara Pinsent, 6-5 in the final draw of the round robin on Friday.

However, her crew rebounded with a solid, decisive effort in taking the Seniors title, the third for the province since the championship began in 1973. Skip Verda Kempton won twice for the ‘Bluenosers’, way back in 1982 and 1987.

Pinkney, who was an alternate for Nancy McConnery’s Nova Scotia team at the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Victoria in February, after also having played in the 1988 and 2003 Hearts, traded deuces with Smiley in the second and third ends, before taking another pair in the fifth for a 4-2 lead at the break. A steal of one in the eighth, end, upping the lead to 6-3, virtually put the game on ice for Pinkney, who had also beaten her opponent, 5-3 in the round robin.

New Westminster’s Smiley thus faced her fourth runner-up finish at the Canadian Seniors, following several other ‘tough beats’ in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Smiley, who finished the round robin with a 9-2 mark, had eliminated Manitoba (Lois Fowler of Brandon), 6-5 in last night’s semi-final to advance to today’s final.

Meanwhile, Delaney and his RCN Club team of Rich Bachand, Duncan Jamieson and George Mitchell put away New Brunswick’s Russ Howard, 10-4, the same score in a round robin victory as well.

It was the first Seniors title for the team, which, incidentally, had made one previous Canadian Seniors appearance, that in 2006, also at the Silver Fox in Summerside, when finishing with a 5-6 mark.

Today, though, Delaney went for the jugular early against New Brunswick’s Russ Howard, a two-time world champion, 2006 OIympic gold medallist and runner-up in last year’s Canadian Seniors in Prince Albert, taking a huge four in the first end.

That mountain proved too difficult for Howard to overcome. Delaney held a 5-3 advantage at the fifth end break. Then, after the teams traded singles, Ontario put the game away with a deuce in the eighth end, followed by a steal of a deuce in the ninth, for a 10-4 final verdict.

Delaney and Howard had finished the round robin tied for first with 8-3 records, but Delaney was awarded a bye to Saturday’s final for his round robin victory.

Howard, meanwhile, won the semi-final, 7-5 over Prince Edward Island’s Mel Bernard, on Friday night, to advance to the rematch with Delaney.

It’s a record-equalling 10th Senior men’s title for Ontario, tying Manitoba, since the championship began in 1965, but the first since Bob Turcotte skipped the province to victory in 2000 in Portage la Prairie.

UPEI Men out of the playoffs

Posted on by March 28, 2009

The Adam Casey rink lost their second tiebreaker this afternoon against the University of Calgary at the CIS/CCA Canadian University Curling Championships in Montreal, and did not advance to the semifinal round.  No scores are available for this draw on the event website. Earlier, the Island squad beat Nova Scotia’s St. FX  in the first of the two tiebreakers.

The Sarah Clow rink’s final round robin game against Alberta was postponed from Saturday morning to make way for the men’s tiebreakers, and will now take place on Sunday morning. Both teams are at 0-3.

Canada to play for Bronze at Women’s Worlds

Posted on by March 29, 2009

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, March 28, 2009  (CCAO— Canada’s quest for three straight world women’s curling championships came to an end Saturday afternoon at the Gangneung International Ice Rink.

Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeg foursome — third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin — dropped a 5-4 extra-end decision to Sweden’s Anette Norberg in the Page playoff three vs. four game at the Mount Titlis world women’s championship.

Jones was bidding for a second straight world title, while Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C., claimed gold for Canada two years ago in Aomori, Japan.

Jones held a 3-2 lead through eight ends, but gave up a crucial steal of two in the ninth end to Sweden when her last-rock draw wrecked on a guard.

Jones settled for one in the 10th end to force the extra, and in the 11th, Norberg made a draw to backing in the four-foot for the victory and a berth in the semifinal later Saturday against Denmark’s Angelina Jensen (6 a.m., all times Eastern, TSN; repeated at 7 p.m. on TSN).

“I thought we outplayed them again, and they snuck it out,” said Jones. “But they’re a great team. We controlled it; we were one up with (hammer) playing nine. You can’t really ask for anything more than that. Just not a very good ninth end all the way around, and it led to a really bad steal. It’s really unfortunate.”

Awaiting the winner of tonight’s semifinal is China’s Bingyu Wang, who’ll play for a gold medal for the second straight year after losing in the final to Jones in last year’s Ford world women’s in Vernon, B.C.

The championship game is scheduled for 2 a.m. (TSN2; repeated at 7 p.m. on TSN).

PEI Men still alive at Seniors (Journal)

Posted on by March 27, 2009

Eliminate defending Canadian senior champions SUMMERSIDE JASON SIMMONDS The Journal Pioneer SUMMERSIDE — There will be a new Canadian senior men’s curling champion in 2009. P.E.I.’s Mel Bernard eliminated defending champion Eugene Hritzuk with a 5-win in a third-place tiebreaker … Continue reading →

Firefighters on Ice (Guardian)

Posted on by March 27, 2009

The 50th annual Canadian Firefighters Muscular Dystrophy Hydrant Curling Championship gets underway today at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The host committee has put on the finishing touches on everything from the opening ceremonies to the presentation of the storied Hydrant … Continue reading →

UPEI Men pick up win

Posted on by March 26, 2009

The Adam Casey rink picked up their first win at the CIS/CCA Canadian University Curling Championships last evening, beating UoM by an 8-3 score, recording doubles in ends six, seven and eight. The UPEI men and women face McGill and … Continue reading →

Love on the rocks (Journal)

Posted on by March 26, 2009

COLIN MACLEAN Special to The Journal Pioneer SUMMERSIDE As his teammates were psyching themselves up last night for their curling match, George Mitchell was gathering his courage for another reason. The 53-year-old was about to ask his girlfriend of three … Continue reading →

Canada loses to Swedes at World Women’s

Posted on by March 25, 2009

GANGNEUNG, Korea (WCF)– Sweden’s Anette Norberg ended Canada’s unbeaten run at the 2009 Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship, defeating defending champion skip Jennifer Jones by a 7-4 scoreline.  Sweden’s two-time champions have blown hot and cold this week, and … Continue reading →

Howard still in first (Journal)

Posted on by March 25, 2009

JASON SIMMONDS The Journal Pioneer SUMMERSIDE — New Brunswick’s Russ Howard continues to maintain first place at the 2009 Canadian senior curling championships by the slimmest of margins. Howard pulled out a 5-4 win over Alberta’s David Olsen (2-4) on … Continue reading →

Kevin Martin wins his 3rd Canada Cup

Posted on by March 23, 2009

(Photo: CCA/Michael Burns Photography) YORKTON SK, March 22…Edmonton’s Kevin Martin and his Saville Sports Centre team of third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert showed what kind of championship mettle they’re made of by taking the men’s … Continue reading →

Alberta wins 2009 Tim Hortons Brier

Posted on by March 16, 2009

(Photo: CCA/Michael Burns Photography) CALGARY (CCA) — Alberta’s Kevin Martin defeated Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton 10-4 in the final of the Tim Hortons Brier here at the Saddledome Sunday night to capture Alberta its 24th Brier championship. Martin scored three-enders in the … Continue reading →

Alberta is Final Bound at Brier

Posted on by March 14, 2009

CALGARY, March 13, 2009 (CCA)– Alberta’s Kevin Martin will head into Sunday’s Tim Hortons Brier final in exactly the same position he was in heading into last year’s Brier final — holding the hammer, sporting an undefeated record and looking … Continue reading →

Brier Playoff Field Almost Set

Posted on by March 13, 2009

CALGARY, March 12, 2009 (CCA)– They completed the round-robin here at the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier Thursday night. And after playing 17 draws, it’s going to take an 18th before the final playoff field can be set. Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton … Continue reading →