Play begins this afternoon and wraps up Sunday in the Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling championship Final Six, with the six qualifying teams from the Open Playdowns, held last month at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, competing at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. After round robin play, the top three teams advance to the championship round, with the second and third place teams squaring off in the semi-final, and the winner of the semi facing the first place team in the final. The 2010 PEI Tankard winning team will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 6-14 in Halifax.
One team, headed by former Nova Scotian Tom Fetterly, who curled on three Canadian Mixed championship teams, is from the Silver Fox, while the other five rinks curl out of the Charlottetown Curling Club. The defending champion Rod MacDonald team are back to defend their title, along with last year’s runners-up, the John Likely foursome. Eight time Tankard winner Robert Campbell is also in the Final Six, with a new team which includes 2007 and 2009 New Brunswick Junior champion skip Steve Burgess at third. Jamie Newson at second stone, and Charlottetown’s Rob Doherty, who played lead for Burgess last season in New Brunswick, throwing first. Completing the Final Six are the Bill Hope rink, which includes five-time Tankard and six-time Seniors champ Ted MacFadyen, and the Eddie MacKenzie foursome, with 2004 Tankard winner Mike Gaudet at third.
First round-robin draws are Thursday at 2 and 7 pm. Friday play is at 1 and 6 pm, with the round robin concluding with the noon Saturday draw. If there are no tiebreakers, the semi-final will go Saturday at 6 pm, with the final Sunday at noon.
If there is one tiebreaker, it will go Saturday at 6 pm. If two are needed, they will go Saturday at 4 and 8 pm. The semi-final will take place Sunday at 12 noon, with the final at 6 pm if there are one or two tiebreakers.
End-by-end results will be available at peicurling.com/tankard.
Final Six Team Rosters in qualifier order from the Open Playdowns (skip to lead, club)
Qualifier #1: Bill Hope, Craig Mackie, Ted MacFadyen, Mike Coady, Al Ledgerwood (coach), Charlottetown Curling Club
Qualifier #2: Robert Campbell, Steve Burgess, Jamie Newson, Rob Doherty, Charlottetown Curling Club
Qualifier #3: Tom Fetterly, Terry Arsenault, Tim Hockin, Pat Aylward (Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club, Summerside)
Qualifier #4: John Likely, Mark Butler, Phillip Gorveatt, Mike Dillon, Charlottetown Curling Club
Qualifier #5: Rod MacDonald, Kevin Champion, Andrew Robinson, Mark O’Rourke, Peter MacDonald (5th), Charlottetown Curling Club
Qualifier #6: Eddie MacKenzie, Mike Gaudet, Tyler Harris, Sean Clarey, Charlottetown Curling Club
Here are the round robin draws (Ice sheets 1 through 3):
Draw One Thursday Feb. 4 at 2 pm: Hope vs MacKenzie, Fetterly vs Likely, Campbell vs MacDonald
Draw Two Thursday Feb. 4 at 7 pm: Campbell vs Likely, Hope vs MacDonald, Fetterly vs MacKenzie
Draw Three Friday Feb. 5 at 1 pm: Campbell vs MacKenzie, Hope vs Fetterly, Likely vs MacDonald
Draw Four: Friday Feb. 5 at 6 pm: Fetterley vs MacDonald, Likely vs MacKenzie, Hope vs Campbell
Draw Five Saturday Feb. 6 at 12 noon (end of round robin): Hope vs Likely, Campbell vs Fetterly, MacDonald vs MacKenzie
Draw Six Saturday Feb. 6 at 6 pm (semi-final or single tiebreaker) or 4 pm (Tiebreaker #1 if two)
Draw Seven Saturday Feb. 6 at 8 pm (Tiebreaker #2 if two). IF NEEDED.
Draw Eight Sunday Feb. 7 at 12 noon. Semi-final (if Tiebreakers). Final ( if no tiebreakers).
Draw Nine Sunday Feb. 7 at 6 pm. Final (if tiebreakers)