Round robin play ended this afternoon at the 54th Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship, which wraps up Saturday at the Thistle St. Andrew’s Curling Club in Saint John NB. PEI’s Gordon MacFadyen rink, from the Summerside Fire Department, had this morning bye, and won their afternoon game, 6-5 over British Columbia (Doug Marshall from the Saanich FD), but will finish out of the playoffs with a 4-6 win-loss record.

It’ll be the Battle of the Prairies for the Page 1 vs 2 game, and the Battle of Ontario for the Page 3 vs 4.  Saskatchewan’s Gregg Tarasoff rink finished in first place atop the standings after the round robin, with a 9-1 record. Alberta, defending champion Jeff Zechner and his Northern Ontario rink, and Southern Ontario all finished with 7-3 records. Alberta beat both Northern and Southern Ontario in their round robin encounters, and was awarded second place, so the Page 1 vs 2 will see Saskatchewan take on Alberta, with the two Ontario teams facing off in the 3 vs 4. The Page games go Friday at 1 pm. The winner of the Page 1 vs 2 will advance directly to the 1 pm Saturday championship game, while the loser will play the winner of the Page 3 vs 4 in the semi-final, Saturday at 9 am, with the winner of the semi going to the final.

BC ended play at 6-4, with Manitoba and NB joining PEI at 4-6. Quebec went 2-8, while the Northwest Territories did not manage to pick up a win in the event.