Ten teams, eight from the Charlottetown Curling Complex, including the defending champion Eddie MacKenzie rink, along with one team from the host Montague club, and one from Cornwall, will be participating in the 2014 PEI Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling Championship, from February 5-9 at the Montague Curling Rink. The teams will play a triple-knockout round, qualifying four teams for a Page championship round, which will determine the winning team to advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 1-9 at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, BC.
Admission to the provincial event is $3 per draw, or $25 for a full event pass. There will also be a 50×50 draw, with proceeds to the club Junior program.
Four teams were seeded in the event draw, based on cashspiel winnings this season.
#1 Seed: Jamie Newson
#2 Seed: Robert Campbell
#3 Seed: Rod MacDonald
#4 Seed: Blair Weeks
Non-seeded teams are skipped by Donald Clarey, Tyler Harris, Bill Hope, Blair Jay, Eddie MacKenzie, and Kyle Stevenson. Clarey curls out of the host Montague club, Hope is from the Cornwall Curling Club, and the rest are from the Charlottetown Curling Complex (Jay normally curls out of the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, but is replacing John Likely, who is unable to curl due to an eye injury).
Play begins Wednesday at 2 pm, with Hope vs Harris, MacKenzie vs Stevenson, Clarey vs Newson, and Jay vs Campbell.
The opening ceremonies go Wednesday at 6:15 pm.
#3 seed MacDonald and #4 seed Weeks hit the ice in draw 2, Wednesday at 7 pm, with Weeks taking on the winner of the Hope/Harris game, and MacDonald facing the winner of the MacKenzie/ Stevenson match.
Draws go at 2 and 7 pm through Sunday, with the first of four qualifying teams for the Page round being determined with the 2 pm Friday draw, the second qualifier at 7 pm, and the remaining two at 2 pm Saturday. The Page round, where the first two qualifers face off in te Page A vs B game and the third and fourth qualifiers square off in the C vs D, goes at 7 pm Saturday, with the winner of the A vs B going directly to the 7 pm Sunday final, and the loser of the A vs B taking on the winner of the C vs D in the semi-final, Sunday at 2 pm, with the winner of that game going to the final.
Full draw, team rosters, and live end-by-end results available at PEICurling.com/tankard