By Ed Klajman 

Special to the Guardian

LONDON, Ont. – It has been one long Brier week that mercifully ended Thursday for the P.E.I. team.

The competition concluded just as it began for the squad – with the opposition easily dispatching the players representing the Charlottetown Curling Club – skip Eddie MacKenzie, third stone Mike Gaudet, second Mike Dillon and lead Alex MacFadyen. The team also features fifth Jamie Newson and coach Blair Weeks.

In the morning, they were beaten 7-1 by British Columbia in seven ends. In the afternoon, they fell 12-3 to Nova Scotia, also in seven ends.

With a record of 1-10, they finished firmly in last place. And of their 10 losses, they only made it to the tenth end once.

“We’re a first-year team. We had probably some things we could have worked on before we got here. But we put a fair bit of effort in this year. It just didn’t translate out on the ice for the most part,” said the 38-year-old accountant. “The motivation level gets a little lower when you’re out of the playoff and you’re not playing well all around. It hurts team morale on the ice, to say the least.”

To make matters worse, there were still lingering effects from Wednesday’s game against Team Ontario, when the Prince Edward Islanders stopped playing after five ends, when trailing 11-1. Teams are mandated by Canadian Curling Association (CCA) rules to play seven ends.

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Photo by The Canadian Press

Eddie MacKenzie