Here is the latest edition of the PEI Curling Association’s newsletter:
PEICA Newsletter November 30 2011

Due to construction at the Crapaud Community Curling Club, the Atlantic Canada Coaches Workshop scheduled for there this weekend has been moved to the Charlottetown Curling Club.

(Emily Gray is from O’Leary PEI, and will be competing in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, January 13-22, 2012. This story is reprinted from the CCA website).

The team got together in Brandon, Manitoba, for one last event before the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck.

Everyone flew to Winnipeg on Thursday, with our first game Friday morning at the Sun Life Financial Junior Challenge.

The weekend got off to a slow start. Both Thomas and I had flight delays, so Helen, Corryn and Derek all waited for us to arrive, with me flying in last at 8:00 p.m. Then the very long, slow car drive began. We realized very soon that the snow that hadn’t seemed so bad in Winnipeg was now causing slim to no visibility on the highway. The further we went, the worse it seemed to get. To make matters worse, every time a tractor trailer passed us (which was often) our visibility dropped immediately to zero and we would have to sit there and wait for the snow to settle before we could go on again.

Youth Olympians Emily Gray (l) and Corryn Brown (r) show off their new Canada pants in Brandon, Manitoba (Photo E. Gray)

We eventually did make it to Brandon, thankfully, safely.  Waiting for us in Brandon were some flashy new pants.  With our winnings from our last weekend together, we purchased some Canada pants from LoudMouth.  It was a great way to end a what seemed to be a neverending car ride!  Even though our excitement levels were high, we were all exhausted from the long day of traveling, and we had an early game the next day.  Bed never felt so good!

Our first game was at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning. The ice was straight, so it kept the game close. We came out with a 5-3 win. Our next game, at 3:00 p.m., started off well, but we let it slip away with a 6-3 loss which dropped us into the ‘B’ division.

Coming off the ice we were all pretty disappointed about how the game went. We had all played well, but it just seemed we weren’t getting the breaks we wanted, which can get frustrating. Thankfully Lisa (Derek’s mom) made us all treat bags and brought us cake for Derek’s birthday (Happy Belated Birthday, Derek!). How can you still be mad after eating a plate full of cake? We ate it quickly, though, because we still had to go back to the hotel and get ready for the banquet.

The banquet was great! The hotel made these Swedish meatballs which were probably the best meatballs I have ever eaten! Almost every sponsor had a representative there, all of whom had their turn at the podium for a quick speech. We even got a shout-out from Curl Manitoba. At the end of the night we had guest speaker Arnold Asham share some of his experiences with us.

Our next game was Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The ice makers had decided to paper the rocks a little bit the night before so we were starting to see some curl out of them, which was a great improvement and made for a more interesting game. We played really hard, with a few tough steals against us mid-game, and went into extra end. Unfortunately they got the better of us, and we dropped into the ‘C’ division with the 7-8 loss. We played again at 12:00 p.m. in a “do or die” situation. We played well, but we suffered a third loss, 5-2, which dropped us out of the competition. We were all pretty disappointed that we only got four games in, but our awesome coach, Helen, got us some practice time the next morning.

We went out for supper, and then to finish the night we did the same ritual we developed when we first got together last spring: stay up later than we should and hang out together. This time we decided to watch a movie and just chill out in our rooms.

The next morning we got up early once again for practice at the Brandon Curling Club. Three other games were going on, but the nice ice makers prepared one of the sheets so we could have some practice time. It was a really, really good practice and I took a lot from it. Our main focus was line and it helped me a lot. It had seemed in the last few games that I couldn’t multitask: I could either have awesome weight or awesome line, but not both. Helen ran through some simple yet challenging drills that I can use in my own practices.

As it always does, the weekend ended, and we all had to go home. We loaded up the Jeep and headed back to Winnipeg. The plan was for everyone to go to Derek’s and wait for our flights, but Helen and I didn’t have enough time to go there and make it back to the airport in time, so we just said goodbye to the gang at the airport. It kind of gave me chills because when I gave Corryn a hug she said “I’ll see you in Innsbruck.”

It’s crazy to think the next time we will be together we will be heading to Innsbruck, Austria for the Youth Olympic Games!  I will be there in less than 50 days! Even writing it now I have the biggest smile on my face and a sort of butterflies-in-my-stomach feel. To this day, only a month and a half away from the games, I still can’t believe that this is my life. I cannot believe that I, Emily Gray, from a little town on P.E.I., has come this far. My friends are constantly reminding me about how proud they are of me. Either that or they are trying to shut me up with all my crazy countdowns!

Either way, Innsbruck, you better be ready: 50 days!

Click to view this story on the CCA website.

SUMMERSIDE – A clash between two skips from Summerside had to be decided by a draw to the button and a measurement.

The Rod MacDonald rink inched past the Mike Gaudet foursome 4-3 in the championship game of the Atlantic Curling Tour’s Labatt/Journal Pioneer Cashspiel at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.

With the match tied 3-3 in the final end, MacDonald’s last rock had a piece of the four-foot, forcing Gaudet to draw to the button with his final stone.

But Gaudet’s attempt came up just short, and a measurement determined MacDonald’s stone was shot rock.

“I just put the guard up and made (Gaudet) draw to the wings a little bit more,” said MacDonald. “He (Gaudet) almost made it. . .

“You can’t get much closer than that for a final.”

Click for full story in the Journal-Pioneer.

PEI’s Brett Gallant rink, which includes Eddie MacKenzie at third, second Anson Carmody, and lead Alex MacFadyen, captured the $12,000 top prize at the 2011 Challenge Casino de Charlevoix World Curling Tour event in Clermont Quebec this afternoon. Gallant scored three points in the sixth end to edge Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue rink, which includes Gallant’s former teammate Adam Casey at lead, by a 5-4 score in a game that otherwise saw only single points by each side. The Gushue foursome go home with $7000.  Third and fourth place finishers were defending event champion Mike McEwen of Winnipeg Manitoba, and Pierre Charette of Saguenay Quebec, who each pocketed $4000 in the 18 team triple-knockout event. Gallant scored a six-ender in his 10-4 win over Charette in the semi-finals.  Ian Fitzner-LeBlanc of Halifax was one of the four quarter-finalists, who received $2500 each.

This is a reminder to curlers age 20 and under that the registration deadline for the Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships is December 1, 2011. The Pepsi Juniors take place Dec. 29 to Jan. 2 at the Crapaud Community Curling Club. Entry fee of $45/player is due by Dec. 8. Enter online at PEICurling.com. Payment may be made online or by cheque.  Defending champions are the Sarah Fullerton and Spencer Pitre rinks. This season’s men’s and women’s winners will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Napanee, Ontario, from Feb. 4-12.

Note that all Junior teams must have a Certified Level 1 (or equivalent) coach  to participate in the Provincial  championship. Coaches participating at the Canadian Juniors must be Certified Competition Coach or Certified Level 2.

Visit peicurling.com/juniors to see teams entered to-date.

Richmond, B.C. – Ontario went into the finals of The Dominion Curling Club Championship undefeated in both men’s and women’s play, but both teams had to settle for runner-up.  Alberta’s Wade Thurber of the Red Deer Curling Club pulled off a massive upset, beating Ontario’s Greg Balsdon 6-2.  And three sheets over, Manitoba’s Meghan Armit of the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg took advantage of some key misses by Ontario to beat Jodi McCutcheon of High Park 8-6.

Thurber, supported by third Harvey Kelts, second Rick Hjettaas, and lead Eldon Rabb, knew they were a heavy underdog against Ontario, which had gone 6-0 in the round robin.  But Thurber says they tried some different strategy.  “We decided to junk it up against Greg, and just see what happens.”

Thurber also says the team recognized he had a slow rock, and gave him a different rock to throw last.  “I hogged one in the 3rd (end), and it came up light in the 4th, so we changed it up, and I was okay after that.”

Balsdon struggled with draw weight throughout the game, throwing heavy on two draws in the 1st end to give Alberta a steal of one, coming up light on a draw in the 3rd in the second to allow another steal, and coming up light again in the 5th for another steal to make it 4-1.  Balsdon’s only bright spot was a sensational angle-raise triple-takeout in the 3rd to score one point.

Meanwhile, the women’s final was a see-saw affair, with Manitoba scoring 3 in the 4th  end to go up 5-2, and Ontario bouncing back with a 4-ender in the 5th to take a 6-5 lead.  The game turned for good in the 7th, when McCutcheon had an open hit to score 3, but instead gave up a steal of one.  That four point swing turned out to be the difference for Armit, along with third Nikki Hawrylyshen, second Sarah Lund, and lead Nadine Cabak-Ralph.

Armit, a competitive player who lost a provincial junior semi-final two years ago, says she was most happy for her club teammates.  “Some of the girls have tears in their eyes.  This has been such an amazing week.” Armit’s next game will be her regular Wednesday night club game at the Granite Club.  “I don’t know who we’re playing, but it should be interesting.”

Women’s tie-breaker results:

QC (3) vs SK (5)

Men’s tie-breaker results:

NO (5) vs MB (4)

Women’s semi-finals:

Sheet 2 – ON vs NO

Sheet 3 – MB vs SK

Men’s semi-finals:

Sheet 4 – AB vs NL

Sheet 5 – ON vs NO

The semi-final game goes at 9 am PST (1 pm PEI time) Saturday.

The championship game goes at 2 pm local time (6 pm PEI time) Saturday.