One men’s draw was played last night as the 6th annual Molson Canadian Hub City Shootout cashspiel got underway at Moncton’s Beaver and Beausejour clubs.

Six of the 21 men’s teams entered are from PEI, skipped by Eddie MacKenzie, Rod MacDonald, Jamie Newson, Mike Gaudet, Robert Shaw and Blair Weeks. Island rinks comprise three of the eight women’s entries, and are captained by Suzanne Birt, Tammy Dewar, and Kathy O’Rourke.

In the opening draw of the triple knockout men’s section, Charlottetown’s Eddie MacKenzie rink picked up a 7-2 win over Nova Scotia’s Brent MacDougall foursome, which includes Summerside native Neil Gallant at lead. MacKenzie brought the game to a speedy conclusion  with a five point sixth end.

In other games, Rod MacDonald and his rink, who recently won Canada’s Best cashspiel in Charlottetown and were finalists in the Journal Pioneer Silver Fox cashspiel, lost 5-2 to the Paul Dobson foursome from New Brunswick, Blair Weeks and his Charlottetown team lost a 6-5 extra end decision to Mark Kehoe of Nova Scotia, and Robert Shaw fell 9-3 to Mark Dacey of Halifax, who picked up a five-ender in the sixth to end the game early.

Mike Gaudet and Jamie Newson see action in the 8:30 Friday morning draw. The first women’s round robin game is at 6:30 pm, with Kathy O’Rourke taking on New Brunswick’s Sandy Comeau.

The women’s final is Sunday at 12 noon, with the men’s following at 3:30.

Live results are available at http://playdowns.com/nbca/draw-sched.php?id_cmp=54

Event website: http://www.curling.monctonut.com/