Things were looking great for the Tyler MacKenzie rink from Charlottetown in the first half of this morning’s C semi-final against their clubmates the Jamie Newson team, with a split on for two in end 1, a draw for three in three, and a single in 5, for a 5-2 lead at the half. However, the tables turned in the next two ends, with Newson hitting and sticking for three in six, and stealing a deuce in seven on a missed MacKenzie hit and stick for two, giving Newson a 7-6 edge. MacKenzie then blanked the next two ends to have hammer coming home, and made a tricky double to pull out an 8-7 win. This puts him in the 3:30 C final against the top-seeded Adam Casey rink from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club and the Charlottetown Curling Complex.
If MacKenzie loses at 3:30 this afternoon he is out of the competition. If he wins the C division of the modified triple knockout, he will advance to the two game championship round on Tuesday. along with A section winner Newson and B section winner Casey. According to the rules, the team who plays in the most section finals would have the bye to the second championship round game at 3:30. That would be Casey, who would have played in all three, while Newson would have played in two, and MacKenzie one. MacKenzie and Newson would play in the 11 am first championship round game, with the winner advancing to play Casey in the final game.
If Casey wins this afternoon, he will have won two sections (B and C), and would win the championship against Newson if he takes either the 11 am or the 3:30 pm game on Tuesday, while Newson would have to win both.
So, win, or lose this afternoon against MacKenzie, Casey has a berth in the final, while Newson has a spot in the semi-final.
The PEI Tankard winner advances to the three team pre-qualifier round for the Tim Hortons Brier, which takes place February 28 – March 8 in Calgary.
Live Curlcast results from the C final at: http://curlatlantic.com/scoreboard/#/competitions/1362-2015-tankard-men-s-curling-championship-pei/scoreboard/Mon-9/draw/8-at-3:30pm
BellAliant Community One livestream at: http://live.streamit.ca/?player=2223&eventid=36937