The final is underway at the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Classic in Vernon BC, with the Anna Sidorova rink from Russia taking on Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin foursome. Sidorova eliminated Calgary’s Crystal Webster team, which includes PEI natives Erin Carmody at third, and Geri-Lynn Ramsay at second, in this morning’s quarter-finals by an 8-2 score, which included a four point fourth end, and fought back from a 3-1 deficit against defending champion Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary, stealing three consecutive ends for a 6-4 victory in the semi-final. Nedohin downed fellow Edmontonian Valerie Sweeting 7-1 in the quarters, and Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie 6-4 in the semis, building up a 4-0 lead after four ends.

Curling may already be in full force in some provinces, and PEI curlers, such as Charlottetown’s Eddie MacKenzie rink, have already been winning cashspiels off-Island, but the season here on PEI is just getting underway, Here is a summary of startup information for the province’s seven dedicated curling clubs (curling also takes place part-time at the Eastern Kings Sportsplex in Souris, and  the Belfast Recreation Centre):

Charlottetown

Photo: A sneak peek at the Charlottetown Curling Complex renovations

Icemaking is already underway at the Charlottetown Curling Club, newly rechristened the “Charlottetown Curling Complex”. The facility was renovated over the summer. For curlers wishing to get a head start on their season, or new curlers wishing to give the sport a try before registering, there will be free clinics on Oct 9, 10 and 11. running from 4-6 pm Junior and 6-8 pm (adult) each day. Membership and league signup will take place from October 9-13, with an open house/social evening to unveil the newly renovated facilities also taking place on October 13. Most league play gets underway the week of October 21.

Silver Fox

Refrigeration specialists are currently onsite at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, installing a new condenser for the ice plant, with plant startup set for Oct. 4, and ice availability by Oct. 15. The club will be holding three open house nights – Oct. 15, Oct 16, and Oct 18, from 7-9 pm each evening, with on-ice instruction for those wishing to try the sport, or get a refresher, and information available on club membership.  Signup sheets for evening leagues are available on the main bulletin board, with mid-October signup deadlines for each draw, and draws beginning at various dates from Oct. 17 through Oct. 25. The club is also hosting an Island-wide Senior league in preparation for provincial Senior events, and for the national Senior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championship, being held March 16-24 at the club.

Crapaud
The Crapaud Community Curling Club, renovated last season, is holding early registration on Oct. 19, with a car rally on Oct. 27, and ice availability the first week of November.

Cornwall
The Cornwall Curling Club was totally rebuilt last season, with a new clubhouse and a new ice plant. Registration for returning members will take place on Oct. 10, with free curling instruction and signup for new members Oct. 15, 16, and 17. Daytime curling is scheduled to begin Oct. 15, with league curling starting Oct. 21.

Montague
The Montague Curling Rink kicks off its season with a  BBQ and Registration night on Friday, October 5 at 6:30 pm, followed by its Annual General Meeting on Oct. 19. The ice will be ready in advance of the PEI Brewing Company Fall Classic Atlantic Curling Tour cashspiel, set for the club Oct. 26-28. The annual lobster and ham takeout will take place on November 3, starting at 2 pm.

Western and Maple Leaf

Curling at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, and the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary normally gets underway in mid November.

Visit each facility’s website and/or Facebook page or call or email the respective facility for more details on season startup.

Note: we had a reported problem with the new home page news “slider” not working properly on Internet Explorer. This problem has been resolved.

The world of Internet browsing keeps changing, and PEICurling.com continues to keep up with these changes. The latest phenomenon is the great variety of devices which a website can now viewed on, from tiny mobile smartphones to 5×7 and 8×10″ tablets, through to wide screen high-resolution desktop displays.

Responsive theme

We are pleased to announce that the PEICurling.com site has now been changed to adjust automatically to various screen sizes, using a new “responsive” version of the theme which controls the look and feel of the site. With this new version, text and graphics now flow and change in size to fit your device’s screen size, making the site more readable on a wide variety of devices. We have also installed a new “responsive” version of the news “slider” which appears near the top of the home page, and are working to make the various tables in the website responsive to various screen widths by changing table widths from specific widths to percentages of the screen width.

Integrated Mobile Support

As well, when viewing on an iOS (Apple iPhone/ iPod Touch or iPad) or Android smartphone or tablet, the site will be displayed with a special “mobile” view, which, in the smartphone version, includes a custom site menu pull-down on the menu bar near the top. There is also a “Full” button at the top and bottom to show the full site as it is normally viewed on the web.

Mobile features

Here is a list of the new mobile features:

Smartphones

1. A slightly modified header – the default image will be displayed, but there is a modified Site Title that comes at the top, and also leaves room for the toggle to full screen button.
2. No sidebars – instead there is an alternate widget area displayed at the bottom.
3. The site menu only drops down on demand, and shows all menu entries displayed vertically.
4. The News page will show excerpts for entries- click on the “Continue reading” link at the bottom of the excerpt to view a full story
5. All links are displayed with an underline – it can be more difficult to recognize links on a touch screen.
6. The horizontal view will automatically adjust on most devices to show more content.
7. There is an easy to spot button to switch to full screen view

Tablets

1. Small tablets treat the vertical and horizontal views differently. The vertical view is much like the smartphone view with the exception that the standard drop-down menu is used. The horizontal small tablet view will automatically (sometimes requires a manual page refresh depending on the browser being used) display the standard sidebars and hide the mobile sidebar.
2. The large tablet view is essentially exactly the same as the standard browser view with the exception that links are underlined, and elements may be a bit narrower on the vertical view. There are no icons to switch views.

These changes will make it easier to access our site from wherever you are, on whatever device you are using.

News also available via Social Media programs

As well, our PEI Curling news continues to be instantly available on any device via our Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/peicurling), our email subscription service (https://peicurling.com/subscribe to signup), our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/peicurling) and our RSS feed (https://peicurling.com/feed). Twitter, Email, Facebook, and RSS reader applications are available on most if not all platforms to read this information.

The SILVER FOX CURLING CLUB CASHSPIEL, part of the Atlantic Curling Tour (ACT), and sponsored by the Journal-Pioneer, takes place November 23, 24 & 25, 2012 at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, with first draws at 12:30 & 3:00 on Friday.
There will be a new format this year, with 8 End Games – 3 Games Guaranteed, and the top 4 teams advancing to the Championship event on Sunday. There will be a consolation event as well.
ENTRY FEE: (MEN) $450 + $31.50 ACT fee.(WOMEN) $450
Entry limited to 16 teams, with $7200 in prize money (assuming full draw of 16 teams).
For More information or to enter a team, contact:
Blair Jay 1-902-432-8224 – Work, 1-902-436-5994 – Home
Email: journal@journalpioneer.com
or Carl Delaney at 1-902-436-4842

All Entry Fees Must Be Paid By October 31st.
MAIL POSTDATED CHEQUE TO:
SILVER FOX CURLING AND YACHT CLUB
110 WATER STREET, SUMMERSIDE, PE,
C1N 1A9
Make Cheques Payable To: THE SILVER FOX CURLING AND YACHT CLUB

For accommodations at $99.99 + taxes for standard room with 2 double beds, contact the Quality Inn at 1-902-436-2295

Click for event poster (PDF)

(By Con Griwkowsky, Edmonton Sun)

Kaitlyn Lawes follows her shot during the final of the Shootout at Saville on Sunday. Skipping Jennifer Jones Winnipeg rink, Lawes and company won 6-2. Amber Bracken, Edmonton Sun

EDMONTON – It seems Kaitlyn Lawes has learned her lessons well.

After spending the last two seasons under the tutelage of Jennifer Jones, Lawes earned her first World Curling Tour title as a skip at The Shoot-Out.

Lawes was never in trouble, cruising to a 6-2 win over Calgary’s Crystal Webster in Sunday’s women’s final.

Lawes has taken over the skipping duties while mom-to-be Jones, considered to be the best female skip in the world, was back home in Winnipeg recuperating from knee surgery.

Winning the first spiel of the year is a bonus.

“It definitely is different,” said Lawes, who lost in a semi last year in her only other WCT appearance as a skip.

“Obviously, I wish Jennifer was here.

“She has been super supportive. We’ve phoned her every day. She’s so excited for us and very happy we were in the playoffs and into the final game.”

Click for full story in the Edmonton Sun

The finals of the 2nd annual Curl Atlantic Championship, being played at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre in Sackville NB, got underway at 1:30 this afternoon, and there are two PEI rinks in it, skipped by defending women’s champ Suzanne Birt, and Eddie MacKenzie.

In this morning’s semi-finals, MacKenzie beat New Brunswick’s Mark le Cocq rink 11-9, while Birt, trailing 6-3 after 7 ends of the 10 end contest against previously-undefeated Sylvie Robichaud of NB, won her game 7-6, after scoring a single in eight, and stealing another point in the 9th, followed by a deuce in the final end for the win

In the finals, Birt is playing Stacie Devereaux of St. John’s, while MacKenzie is battling Jamie Murphy of Halifax.

The other PEI rink in the event, skipped by Kathy O’Rourke, returning to competitive play after a year off, finished play with a 1-4 record.

12 of the top men’s and an equal number of the top women’s teams from across Atlantic Canada took part in this second annual event, designed to give Atlantic curlers experience with playing on arena ice, and featuring cash prizes of $3000 for the men’s and women’s winners, $2000 for the runners-up, and $1000 for the remaining semi-finalists.

Live results: http://livecurling.com/index.php?option=com_jumi&fileid=12&draw=14&b_id=123/index.php?/?option=com_jumi&fileid=12&draw=14&b_id=123

The John Epping rink from Toronto beat the Jeff Stoughton foursome from Winnipeg 5-2 in this afternoon’s men’s final of the $40,700 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Curling Classic in Brockville Ont. to repeat as event champion. The Brad Gushue team from St. John’s, which includes PEI natives Adam Casey and Brett Gallant, finished 9th, with a 3-2 win-loss record, just out of the playoffs. On the women’s side, with a $16,400 total purse, Tracy Horgan and her Sudbury rink defeated Scotland’s Eve Muirhead team 5-2 in the final.