Two Nova Scotia rinks, Team Revolve, skipped by Jamie Murphy, and defending event champion Brent MacDougall battled it out in this afternoon’s final of the second annual Gahan Brewery cashspiel at the Montague Curling Club. Murphy led the game 3-1 after four ends, but MacDougall had a chance to tie it up in the fifth with a draw for two, but was heavy on his last rock and had to settle for a single. He stole another single in end six to tie the game at 3-all. After a measure, Murphy pulled ahead again with a single in end seven, but give the all-important last rock advantage to MacDougall coming home. MacDougall scored a deuce on a thin double to win the game by a 5-4 score.

MacDougall has a new team this year, consisting of Lee Buott, Sean Audas and Neil Gallant. Rounding out the runner-up Team Revolve skipped by Murphy, were Jordan Pinder. Mike Bardsley, and Donald McDermaid, with coach Helen Radford.

In Sunday morning semi-final play, MacDougall edged Charlottetown’s Bill Hope 9-8 in an extra end, while Murphy blanked PEI’s Jamie Newson 7-0 in only four ends.

Also on Sunday morning, PEI’s Sam Ramsay rink won the consolation final, with a 5-1 victory over the Colton Steele foursome from Nova Scotia. Other members of the Ramsay rink are Matthew Nabuurs, Connor MacPhee, and Shawn Pitre, with coach Rob Roberts.

Sixteen men’s teams began play Friday in this double-knockout Atlantic Curling Tour event.

Next up on the Atlantic Curling Tour is the Rodd Curling Classic, which starts Thursday afternoon at the Charlottetown Curling Club, with 15 men’s teams and 12 women’s rinks taking part.

The 2011 Rodd Curling Classic Cashspiel starts Thursday November 3 and wraps up on Sunday the 6th at the Charlottetown Curling Club. This marks the 10th year of Rodd Hotels and Resorts sponsorship of this major event on the Atlantic Curling Tour (ACT). Fifteen men’s teams and 12 women’s rinks are taking part this year, with both sides playing round robins – the men with three pools of five teams, and the women with two pools of six.

Last year, PEI’s Kathy O’Rourke rink fought back from a 4-0 deficit to edge the Suzanne Birt foursome 6-5 in the women’s final, while the men’s final also featured two PEI teams, and was also won by a 6-5 score, but went an extra end, with the Robert Campbell team beating the Peter Gallant rink by a measure.

Here are this year’s teams and pools:

Men’s Division

Wally Rodd Pool:

Robert Campbell (PE), Mike Gaudet (PE), Danny Christianson (NS), Bruce Lohnes (NS), Ian Fitzner-LeBlanc (NS)

David Rodd Pool:
Brett Gallant (PE), John Likely (PE), Spencer Pitre (PE), John Luckhurst (NS), Chad Stevens (NS)

Mark Rodd Pool:
Rod MacDonald (PE), Jamie Newson (PE), Bill Hope (PE), Scott Saunders (NS), Mike Kennedy (NB)

Women’s Division:

Sally Rodd Pool:

Tanya Hilliard (NS), Sylvie Robichaud (NB), Coralie Richard (NS), Donna Butler (PE), Mary Jane McGuire (NB), Kim Dolan (PE)

Linda Rodd Pool:
Suzanne Birt, Heather Strong (NL), Kelly MacIntosh (NS), Melissa Adams (NB), Meaghan Hughes (PE), Sarah Rhyno (NS)

Here is the round robin draw (Sheets 1 through 5)):

Thursday Nov. 3

5:30 pm (Men)

Campbell vs Lohnes, Likely vs Stevens, Christianson vs Fitzner-LeBlanc, Gallant vs Luckhurst, Newson vs Hope

8 pm (Women)

McGuire vs Dolan, Strong vs Hughes, Birt vs Adams, Hilliard vs Richard, MacIntosh vs Rhyno

Friday Nov. 4

9 am (Men)

Gaudet vs Fitzner-LeBlanc, MacDonald vs Saunders, Newson vs Kennedy, Likely vs Pitre,  Luckhurst vs Stevens

12 noon (Women)

Richard vs Butler, Birt vs MacIntosh, Hilliard vs Dolan, Strong vs Rhyno, Robichaud vs Richard

3 pm (Men)
Gallant vs Pitre, Gaudet vs Christianson, Likely vs Luckhurst, Lohnes vs Fitzner-LeBlanc, Saunders vs Kennedy

5 pm (Women)
Strong vs MacIntosh, Butler vs McGuire, Birt vs Rhyno, Robichaud vs Dolan, Adams vs Hughes

9 pm (Men)

MacDonald vs Newson, Hope vs Kennedy, Pitre vs Stevens, Campbell vs Christianson, Gallant vs Likely

Saturday Nov. 5

9 am (Women)

Hughes vs Rhyno, Richard vs Dolan, Robichaud vs McGuire, MacIntosh vs Adams, Hilliard vs Butler

12 noon (Men)

Hope vs Saunders, Pitre vs Luckhurst, Gaudet vs Lohnes, MacDonald vs Kennedy, Campbell vs Fitzner-LeBlanc

3pm (Women)

Richard vs McGuire, Hilliard vs Robichaud, Butler vs Dolan, Strong vs Adams, Birt vs Hughes

6 pm (Men)

Campbell vs Gaudet, Gallant vs Stevens, MacDonald vs Hope, Newson vs Saunders, Christianson vs Lohnes

9 pm (Women)

Robichaud vs Butler, Adams vs Rhyno, Hilliard vs McGuire, MacIntosh vs Hughes, Birt vs Strong

The Sunday playoff round schedule will be determined after the round robin is complete.

The last two qualifiers for this morning’s 10 o’clock semi-finals were determined Saturday night at the Gahan Brewery Atlantic Curling Tour cashspiel at the Montague Curling Club. In play last night, PEI’s Jamie Newson rink beat Team Suburu Halifax, while defending champion Brent MacDougall of Nova Scotia won over PEI’s Mike Gaudet to advance to the semis. Earlier on Saturday, PEI’s Bill Hope rink beat Team Subaru, while Team Revolve defeated PEI’s Mike Gaudet foursome to grab the first two semi-final spots.

Semi-final draw: Team Revolve (Jamie Murphy) vs Jamie Newson, Bill Hope vs Brent MacDougall

In consolation round play last night, PEI’s Sam Ramsay beat Steve Elder, and Colton Steele from Halifax beat PEI’s Rod MacDonald. Ramsay and Steele will now advance to the 10 am Consolation round final.

The championship game goes this afternoon at one.

Next up on the Atlantic Curling Tour is the Rodd Curling Classic, which starts Thursday afternoon at the Charlottetown Curling Club, with 15 men’s teams and 12 women’s rinks taking part.

Here are the results from the 8 pm Friday draw in the Gahan Cashspiel as provided by the Montague Curling Club:

Mike Gaudet over Chris Sutherland,   Steve Elder over Colton Steele,  Sam Ramsay over Rob Moore, Team Revolve (Murphy) over Robert Campbell

There are no PEI curlers in the “Women of Curling” calendar this year, but several curlers who participated in national curling championships on the Island last curling season are there. Two-time Paralympic wheelchair curling champion Sonja Gaudet of Vernon BC, who was a featured speaker during the opening banquet of the national The Dominion Curling Club Championship held last November in Charlottetown and Cornwall is one of 12 female curling athletes featured in the calendar.

PEICurling.com photo: Sonja Gaudet

Each athlete model designed her own image, found her own volunteer photographer, and is raising money for the “Shoot For A Cure” campaign of the Canadian and  American Spinal Research Organizations, which aim to find the ultimate cure for spinal paralysis.

The cause is, to no surprise, close to Gaudet’s heart. “I was really surprised to get the phone call,” said Gaudet, a 2006 and 2010 Paralympic gold medal winner.

“When I heard the details, such as self-control of all images and the CSRO charity, I knew I wanted to participate.”

Other curlers in the calendar include Kaitlyn Lawes from the Jennifer Jones rink, Emma Miskew from Rachel Homan’s Ottawa team, and Heather Smith-Dacey from Halifax, all of whom were on PEI last winter curling in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Charlottetown. Jill Mouzar, formerly of Liverpool and Halifax NS and now living in Toronto, is also in the calendar.

Four-time world junior champion, world women’s silver medallist, and Olympian Eve Muirhead from Scotland is on the cover.

The glossy wall calendar, which begins shipping in November, features three photographs of each athlete model and also includes monthly curling event listings, colour-coded by gender and competition, making this a true “curling calendar”.

The calendar costs $29.95, including shipping and handling.

To order, visit womenofcurlingcalendar.com

Each of the athlete models as well as Canada’s 1,000 curling facilities can access the product at a discounted rate, making the calendar a fundraising tool within their local communities.

The 2012 Women of Curling are:

Eve Muirhead – Blair Atholl, Scotland
Cissi Ostlund – Karlstad, Sweden
Ekaterina Galkina – Moscow, Russia
Regan Mizuno – San Francisco, United States
Shannon Aleksic – Abbotsford, BC
Sonja Gaudet – Vernon, BC
Kalynn Park – Edmonton, AB
Kaitlyn Lawes – Winnipeg, MB
Laura Crocker – Kitchener-Waterloo, ON
Emma Miskew – Ottawa, ON
Jill Mouzar – Toronto, ON
Heather Smith-Dacey – Halifax, NS

(from The Dominion Curling Club Championship Facebook page)

The Women’s Prince Edward Island Team (Team Davies) for The Dominion Curling Club Championship [November 21-26 in Richmond BC] hails from the Cornwall Curling Club in Cornwall, P.E.I. It consists of Lorianne Davies, Skip; Melody Beck, Vice; Tracy MacDonald, Second; and Lynda Turnbull, Lead.

The four friends formed a team two years ago with the intention of having fun together both on and off the ice. Team Davies not only enjoyed each others’ company, but also found almost instant success as competitors. The team came incredibly close to playing in the 2010 Championship, but was defeated in last year’s provincial final. In 2011, the ladies came back with the goal of winning the Provincial Playdowns – and they did!

Not only have the four women won two club championships, but Lynda (Lead) and Lorianne (Skip) are three-time Cornwall Curling Club champions with back-to-back wins starting in 2009.

Before each match, the women have a pre-game powwow where they bump fists and say to each other “good game, girls”.

Individually, the team members are involved with a number of community organizations ranging from coaching curling, to local community theatre, environmental groups, chairing the board of a national historic site and helping out with the P.E.I. Special Olympics.

Last year, the whole team saw The Dominion Curling Club Championships from the volunteer side of the glass when the tournament was held in Charlottetown. They are eager to participate as players this year.

Team Davies is most looking forward to walking out on the ice at the opening ceremonies holding their P.E.I. flag and wearing the provincial jackets – a dream they thought might never come true.

“Before The Dominion Curling Club Championship was created, playing at a national was a dream we did not expect to realize.”

Best of luck to the Women’s Price Edward Island team at the

2011 The Dominion Curling Club Championship!

The Dominion will feature a championship team every week from now until the championship. Get to know your Canadian curling champions and their journey to the 2011 The Dominion Curling Club Championships!

Team Prince Edward Island, Cornwall Curling Club
(Left to Right: Davies, Beck, MacDonald, Turnbull)

Video of yesterday’s news conference, with CBC’s Bruce Rainnie as master of ceremonies, where it was officially announced that the GP Car and Home Players’ Championship Grand Slam of Curling event will be held at Credit Union Place in Summerside from April 10-15 2012 is now available below:

For the record, here is a copy of the official release:

Summerside to Host Grand Slam of Curling Event

The world’s best men’s and women’s curling teams will be competing in Summerside this April for the GP Car and Home Players’ Championship, the final stop of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.

The eight highest ranked teams on the official World Rankings will play-off for the Players’ Championship and the $370,000 that will be at stake. Men’s and women’s teams from Canada, Europe, China and the United States will compete for the largest purse in curling in front of a live national television audience with nine hours of coverage on CBC.

Mayor Basil Stewart was joined by Kevin Albrecht, CEO of iSport Media and Management today to make the announcement. “As a city, we are excited to host this Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event,” said Mayor Stewart, “Curling is a very popular sport in Prince Edward Island and we look forward to welcoming and hosting the world’s best men’s and women’s curling teams in Summerside.”

The GP Car and Home Player’s Championship will be held from April 10 – 15, 2012. All men’s and women’s draws will be played at EastLink Arena at Credit Union Place.

“The GP Car and Home Players’ Championship is the crown jewel of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.” said Kevin Albrecht. “The new play-down format this year will ensure PEI curling fans that they will see the best teams in the world battle it out head-to-head. This is a first for this unique eight team round-robin and is sure to produce the best curling in the world.”

Held annually since 2001- 2002, the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling is owned by the World Curling Player’s Association and operated by iSport Media and Management. The Capital One Grand Slam is a series of four major curling events that highlight the World Curling Tour season. The Players’ Championship is the most difficult curling tournament to win as the field is exclusively reserved for the world’s top ranked teams. Teams that have participated include Olympic medalists Kevin Martin (gold and silver) Edmonton AB, Brad Gushue (gold) St. John’s, NF, Cheryl Bernard (silver) Calgary, AB, and Thomas Ulsrud (silver) Oslo, Norway and World Championship medalists Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg, Man.), Randy Ferby (Edmonton, AB), Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) and reigning World Champion Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg, Man).

The Capital One Grand Slam of Curling events are closely tied to the Canadian Curling Association’s qualifying process for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Through their performance in the Grand Slam events, Canadian teams can earn important qualifying points towards securing a berth at the 2013 Canadian Olympic Trials.

Ticket packages for the event go on sale in the mid-November and will be available online at www.cupevents.ca, at the Credit Union Place Box Office and by phone at (902) 432-1234.

For more information on the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling and the GP Car and Home Player’s Championship, log onto www.grandslamofcurling.com .

Summerside officials announced Wednesday that the city will host the Grand Slam of Curling — the sport’s most competitive tournament — this spring.

The top teams in the world will face off for more than $300,000 in prize money at the event, which takes place April 10 to 15 at Credit Union Place.

Summerside Mayor Basil Stewart announces the city will host the Grand Slam of Curling. CBC Photo

“We’re bringing in the top eight teams in the world on the world ranking on the men’s side and the women’s side and they’ll play a round robin. So there will not be an easy game, easy match all week,” said Kevin Albrecht, event manager with iSport Media.

To prepare for the event, organizers will have to drum up about 100 volunteers. And Credit Union Place will have to turn its arena into a world-class ice surface.

“It’s going to be a hockey rink the day before they arrive,” said JP DesRosiers, event development officer with the City of Summerside.

“We’re going to have to ensure that our ice is as level as humanely possible. Mark Shurak from the World Curling Players Association will arrive here to build ice to make it playable for professionals.”

Click for full story at CBC News