The Veronica and Tyler Smith rinks, both from the Cornwall Curling Club, are heading north and west, to Fort McMurray Alberta, for the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, Feb. 2-10 at the Suncor Community Leisure Centre at MacDonald Island Park in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Photo: Veronica and Tyler Smith
Follow the action here:
http://www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/
Veronica Smith rink: Front (L-R): Chloe McCloskey, Sabrina Smith, Katie Fullerton, Veronica Smith; Back (L-R): coaches Bill Hope, Paul Smith
Tyler Smith rink (L-R): Tyler Smith, Alex Sutherland, Alex Jenkins, Jonathan Schut, coach Allan Campbell
The Tyler Smith rink opens against the Yukon Saturday at 1 pm and plays Saskatchewan at 6:30 pm, while the Veronica Smith team’s opener is against Manitoba at 6:30 pm. All times MT – add 3 hours for Atlantic.
PEI Round robin schedule
Saturday Feb 2: 1 pm Men vs YT; 6:30 pm Women vs MB, Men vs SK
Sunday Feb 3: 1 pm Men vs NU; 6 pm Women vs QC
Monday Feb 4: 9 am Women vs NO; 2 pm Men vs On; 7 pm Men vs BC, Women vs NT
Tuesday Feb. 5 1 pm Women vs NS, Men vs AB; 6 pm Women vs ON
Full draw schedule:
http://www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/scores-and-standings/draw-schedule/
There is a new draw format this year in order to accommodate the 14 men’s and 14 women’s teams, including newcomer Nunavut (NU), representing the Canadian Curling Association’s Member Associations (provincial/territorial).
For each gender, the teams have been seeded, based on the won-loss records of the provinces/territories at the Juniors for the past three years, and then placed into two Pools — A & B.
The teams will play a round robin within their Pool (six games), after which the top four in each advance to the Championship Pool beginning Wednesday for a four-game round robin against teams from the other Pool, with their won-loss records carried forward.
At the completion of the Championship Pool for each gender on Friday, Feb. 8, the teams with the best won-loss records advance to their respective finals, while the second- and third-place finishers meet in semifinals to determine the other finalists.
The team that didn’t qualify for the Championship Pool will contest a similar round robin in the Seeding Pool, beginning Wednesday as well, so that by Friday all teams will have played at least nine games and will be ranked by their won-loss records to determine provincial/territorial seeding for next year’s event in Liverpool, N.S. In addition, there will be a two-day Mixed Doubles competition on the final weekend involving curlers from the non-playoff teams.
Round-robin games will be played at both the CNRL Arena 2 (Sheets A-E) and the Oilsands Curling Club (Sheets F-K).
TSN, the official broadcaster of the CCA’s Season of Champions, will provide live coverage across Canada of the men’s and women’s finals from the CNRL Arena 2. The men’s final is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT Saturday, Feb. 9, while the women’s final goes Sunday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. MT as well.
The winners of the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors will represent Canada at the World Juniors, Feb. 28-March 10, 2013, in Sochi, Russia, which will serve as a test event for the 2014 Winter Olympics curling competition.
(with info from the CCA)