A youth dance is being held at the Crapaud Curling Club on Friday September 4, from 8-11pm. Music provided by Amped entertainment DJ. Admission $5. Snacks and soft drinks available.
The Adam Casey team from PEI is one of the rinks competing in Tier 1 of the Tour Challenge Grand Slam of Curling event, September 8 – 13, 2015 at the Paradise Double Ice Complex in Paradise, NL. Click for event website. Here’s a profile of the team from the Grand Slam of Curling website:
Hometown: Charlottetown/Summerside, P.E.I. | Twitter:@teamadamcasey
| SKIP | THIRD | SECOND | LEAD |
 Adam Casey |  David Mathers |  Anson Carmody |  Robbie Doherty |
| Birthdate: Aug. 28, 1989 Birthplace: Seven Mile Bay, P.E.I. Resides: St. John’s, N.L. | Birthdate: May 12, 1991 Birthplace: Ottawa, ON Resides: Charlottetown, P.E.I. | Birthdate: Nov. 29, 1989 Birthplace: Summerside, P.E.I. Resides: Summerside, P.E.I. | Birthdate: Aug. 6, 1988 Resides: Charlottetown, P.E.I. |
| – P.E.I. Tankard champion (2015) – Three-time Newfoundland & Labrador Tankard champion (2012, 2013 & 2014) – World junior silver medallist (2009) – Canadian junior champion (2009) – Canada Winter Games bronze medallist (2007) | – Players’ Championship winner (2012) – World Cup of Curling finalist (2011) – Ontario Tankard champion (2015) – Canadian junior silver medallist (2011) | – Two-time P.E.I. Tankard champion (2013 & 2015) – World junior silver medallist (2009) – Canadian junior champion (2009) – Canada Winter Games bronze medallist (2007) | – P.E.I. Tankard champion (2015) – Canadian Mixed Curling Championship winner (2011) |
Adam Casey played third for Brett Gallant’s team in junior, winning five consecutive P.E.I. junior titles from 2006-10 and the 2009 Canadian Junior Curling Championship. He joined Team Brad Gushue in St. John’s, N.L., in 2011 where he won three consecutive provincial titles. Casey formed a new team based in his home province for the 2014-15 season.
Casey reunited with former junior teammate Anson Carmody, who threw second stones on Team Gallant.
David Mathers reached the 2011 Canadian junior final on Team Ontario, skipped by Mat Camm. He joined Team John Epping for the 2011-12 season and was a finalist at the World Cup of Curling (now known as the Masters). Team Epping capped the season winning the 2012 Players’ Championship as Mathers earned his first career Grand Slam title. Mathers played for Team Mark Kean in 2014-15 and won the Recharge with Milk Tankard to represent Ontario at the 2015 Brier. This is his first season playing third for Team Casey.
Robbie Doherty won the New Brunswick junior curling title in 2009. He captured the 2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship playing second for Team P.E.I.
Team Casey claimed the 2015 P.E.I. Tankard but needed to play in the pre-qualifier round at the Brier. They finished with a 1-1 record and edged Team Yukon 7-6 in the extra end of the final to reach the main draw. Casey posted a 5-6 record in the round robin and missed the playoffs.
| Event | Round | Opponent | Result |
| National | RR | Howard | L 8-4 |
| RR | Jacobs | W 5-4 | |
| RR | Epping | L 5-4 | |
| RR | Blandford | L 5-2 | |
| RR | Kean | W 9-2 | |
| Canadian Open | A | McEwen | L 7-6 |
| B | Edin | L 7-6 | |
| C | Michel | W 7-3 | |
| C | Morris | L 7-5 |
Legend: RR = Round Robin | TB = Tiebreaker | QF = Quarterfinals | SF = Semifinals | F = Final | A/B/C = Triple knockout round
Source: http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/team-adam-casey/
Here’s Team Casey’s schedule at the Tour Challenge (subtract half an hour for PEI time):
| Draw | Team | Game |
| 4 | vs. Carruthers (MB) | Sep 9, 04:30pm NT |
| 7 | vs. Murdoch (SCO) | Sep 10, 01:00pm NT |
| 9 | vs. Gushue (NL) | Sep 10, 08:00pm NT |
| 10 | vs. Edin (SWE) | Sep 11, 09:30am NT |
The next Curl Atlantic Championship will be held in September 2016. The event is being postponed for one year due to the Tour Challenge Grand Slam of Curling event being held in Paradise NL on the same weekend this year (Sept. 8-13). The event returns to Charlottetown in 2016.
The Brad Gushue team, which includes PEI native Brett Gallant, is one of the rinks competing in Tier 1 of the Tour Challenge Grand Slam of Curling event, September 8 – 13, 2015 at the Paradise Double Ice Complex in Paradise, NL. Click for event website. The rink of Gushue, Mark Nichols, Gallant, and Geoff Walker captured two Grand Slam titles last season winning the Masters and Canadian Open events. Here’s a profile of the team from the Grand Slam of Curling website:
Hometown: St. John’s, N.L. | Club: Bally Haly Country Club | Website:teamgushue.ca | Twitter:@TeamGushue
| SKIP | THIRD | SECOND | LEAD |
 Brad Gushue |  Mark Nichols |  Brett Gallant |  Geoff Walker |
| Birthdate: June 16, 1980 Birthplace: St. John’s, N.L. Resides: St. John’s, N.L. Occupation: Entrepreneur/Business Owner | Birthdate: Jan. 1, 1980 Birthplace: Labrador City, N.L. Resides: St. John’s, N.L. Occupation: Director of Fitness, The Energy Company | Birthdate: Feb. 18, 1990 Birthplace: Charlottetown, P.E.I. Resides: St. John’s, N.L. Occupation: Student | Birthdate: Nov. 28, 1985 Birthplace: Beaverlodge, Alta. Resides: Mount Pearl, N.L. Occupation: Curler |
| – Olympic gold medallist (2006) – National champion (2010) – Masters champion (2014) – Canadian Open champion (2014) – 12-time N.L. Tankard champion (2003, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015) – Two-time world junior champion (1998 & 2001) – Canadian junior champion (2001) | – Olympic gold medallist (2006) – Two-time National champion (2010 & 2013) – Masters champion (2014) – Canadian Open champion (2014) – Nine-time N.L. Tankard champion (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2015) – Two-time Safeway Championship winner (2013 & 2014) – Canada Cup winner (2012) – Canadian mixed champion (2005) – World junior champion (2001) – Canadian junior champion (2001) | – Masters champion (2014) – Canadian Open champion (2014) – Three-time N.L. Tankard champion (2013, 2014 & 2015) – World junior silver medallist (2009) – Canadian junior champion (2009) – Canada Games bronze medallist (2007) | – Masters champion (2014) – Canadian Open champion (2014) – Four-time N.L. Tankard champion (2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015) – Two-time world junior champion (2006 & 2007) – Canadian junior champion (2006) |
Brad Gushue reunited with 2006 Olympic championship teammate Mark Nichols this past season and the results were golden on tour. Team Gushue captured two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles — taking home the Masters and Canadian Open championships — and finished third overall in the 2014-15 Rogers Grand Slam Cup standings.
Gushue and Nichols have played together since their teens and won the Canadian junior and world junior titles in 2001. The duo captured their first career Grand Slam of Curling title together at the National in 2010.
Nichols played for Jeff Stoughton’s Winnipeg-based rink for two seasons and captured the Safeway Championship both years to represent Manitoba at the 2013 and 2014 Tim Hortons Brier. He also claimed his second National Grand Slam of Curling title with Team Stoughton in 2013.
Geoff Walker joined Team Gushue in 2011 after Nichols originally left the rink while Brett Gallant came on board the following season.
The four members of Team Gushue also had success at the junior level with all of them winning the Canadian junior title early in their careers. Gallant also holds the record for most wins as a skip all-time at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships with 48 victories.
Gushue made his Grand Slam of Curling debut during the inaugural season of the series playing in the 2002 Masters in his home province.
| Event | Round | Opponent | Result |
| Masters | RR | Stoughton | L 5-3 |
| RR | Ulsrud | W 6-4 | |
| RR | Howard | W 5-2 | |
| RR | Epping | W 7-3 | |
| QF | Stoughton | W 5-4 | |
| SF | Epping | W 6-5 | |
| F | McEwen | W 8-6 | |
| National | RR | Bottcher | L 7-4 |
| RR | Rumfeldt | W 8-3 | |
| RR | Carruthers | L 6-4 | |
| RR | De Cruz | L 9-2 | |
| RR | Koe | W 4-3 | |
| Canadian Open | A | Cotter | W 7-6 |
| A | Howard | W 6-3 | |
| A | McEwen | L 7-3 | |
| B | Jacobs | L 7-3 | |
| C | Morris | W 6-4 | |
| QF | Jacobs | W 7-5 | |
| SF | Koe | W 5-4 | |
| F | Laycock | W 6-5 | |
| Elite 10 | RR | Epping | W 3 & 1 |
| RR | Jacobs | W 2 & 1 | |
| RR | Michel | W 1-up | |
| RR | Koe | L 3 & 2 | |
| QF | McEwen | L 4 & 3 | |
| Players’ Championship | RR | Koe | L 8-2 |
| RR | Michel | W 7-2 | |
| RR | Edin | W 6-4 | |
| RR | Bottcher | W 5-4 | |
| RR | McEwen | L 6-4 | |
| QF | Bottcher | L 6-4 |
Legend: RR = Round Robin | QF = Quarterfinals | SF = Semifinals | F = Final | A/B/C = Triple knockout round
Source: http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/team-brad-gushue/
Here is Team Gushue’s schedule at the Tour Challenge (subtract half an hour for PEI time):
| Draw | Team | Game |
| 1 | vs. Carruthers (MB) | Sep 8, 07:30pm NT |
| 5 | vs. Murdoch (SCO) | Sep 9, 08:00pm NT |
| 9 | vs. Casey (PEI) | Sep 10, 08:00pm NT |
| 12 | vs. Edin (SWE) | Sep 11, 04:30pm NT |
Island curlers, get ready to dust off your brooms.
The Crapaud Curling Club will open for the season, one week late.
The club was facing closure this week after a key piece of equipment that keeps the ice surface cold broke as the club was putting in the ice for a new season.
When Calvin Smith tried to put in the ice at the Crapaud Curling Club this year, a key piece of machinery broke. (CBC)
The repair bill came to $3,000, which was too steep for the cash-strapped club.
The club members launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $1,800. Then late Friday, the board received a surprise additional donation of $1,500 from South Shore Pharmacy.
(by Jason Malloy)
The Crapaud Community Curling Club will open in September.
“We got some great news today,” board member Calvin Smith said late Friday afternoon.
Crapaud Curling Club – Jason Malloy photo
A seal blew in the club’s ice plant when it was started up on Monday, leaving the club with a $3,000 repair bill it could not afford. It went public with its situation and $1,780 had been donated to an online campaign.
The South Shore Pharmacy donated $1,500 to the cause on Friday to enable the board to move ahead with the repairs.
“I’ve got no words for it really,” Smith said. “I’m still in a bit of a shock. . . Four days ago we were pretty sure we were closing the place. Now, we’re looking like we have a future ahead.
“It’s just amazing. . . Curling is the greatest sport in the world because we care.”
The cost for the ice plant repair at the Crapaud Curling Club has been covered with the help of a generous $1500 donation from the South Shore Pharmacy, so the plant can now be repaired. The Club still needs to raise $80,000 for outstanding debts left over from Club renovations a few years ago, and they are continuing with their GoFundMe account at http://www.gofundme.com/
Board members and volunteers are meeting at noon on Sunday to clean the club to be ready for the Teen dance on Friday September 4th.
Pre-Season curling, originally scheduled for Sept 4, will be delayed by one week. A week will be added on the end to make up for it.
The Crapaud Community Curling Club’s board has gone public with a plea to save the facility.
© Jason Malloy/TC Media
Crapaud Community Curling Club board members Bobbi-Jo Crossman, left, and Jonathan Ramsay enjoy spending time watching curling at the club.
“We’re determined to save this place,” said board member Calvin Smith.
“I started curling here in 1986 and I don’t want this place to close. It’s basically my second home.”
The club has about $80,000 in outstanding debt, board members said, much of which dates back to overruns for needed renovations about five years ago. The club was built in the late 1960s.
Most of its board members are new this year and have taken steps to pay off some of the debt. It raised $2,400 during two fundraisers in the past month. It has more plans to help get the club back on a more stable financial footing, but first it needs the plant operational.
“It’s basically the nail getting hammered into the coffin and taking away our moneymaker,” Smith said. “It’s a curling club, you need ice to make money.”
The club was aiming for a Sept. 4 start for pre-season curling, which allowed competitive curlers to be ready when they go to off-Island bonspiels before most clubs in the province are open for the season.
First-year president Susan Hubley said if the roughly 40 curlers, who said they were interested in the pre-season paid, the parts could be ordered. Board members said there is some doubt in the curling community if the rink will open this year and some people were reluctant to pay.
Smith said the parts would take four days to arrive and another day would be needed to get the plant up and running.
On Monday, August 24, the Crapaud Curling Club’s plant went down due to a bearing failure, and they have been working to get the $3,000 required to fix the plant and get started with their Pre-Season curling. They are looking for everyone coming for the Pre Season curling to get their money in this week, as it will more than cover the expense of fixing the plant and will only put them a week behind in getting going. As was mentioned previously, they have started a GoFundMe account at http://www.gofundme.com/db2panm9# to help pay down the $80,000 in outstanding debts from the renovations they did several years ago. The club wants to ensure that all their debts get paid so they can continue to operate into the future. As of this morning, over $1000 has been raised.
CBC interviewed Calvin Smith and Taya Ray Crossman, which aired on the Maritime Late night news on August 26th and Compass on August 27. There is a story from sports editor Jason Malloy on the front page of The Guardian today, and page 2 of the Journal Pioneer, that Calvin, Bobbi Jo Crossman, Jonathan Ramsay, and Susan Hubley took part in. The board members of the curling club want to continue into the future and are determined to pull out all the stops to do so.
Pre-Season Curling
They are planning to go ahead with Pre-Season curling and, if everything goes as planned, and the money comes in within the next few days, are looking at being about a week behind, starting Pre-Season curling on the 14th of September. They are going to extend the Pre-Season by one week to make up this difference for starting late.
If others are interested in joining the Pre-Season curling, the cost is $100 plus HST per person and includes league play and practice time. There will be two nights of league play on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and teams can curl both nights or one night. The practice times must be booked and times will be Friday 7 pm until Sunday. Anyone interested in the Pre-Season can contact Calvin Smith at 902-628-7019 or email the club at [email protected]. If you are looking to pay the early curling registration fee, members will be at the Curling Club on Sunday from noon til 2:30 cleaning to be ready for the teen dance on Friday, September, 4th.
Teen Dance
On September 4th, the curling club will be holding a teen dance as a fundraiser for the club. If the interest is there they may hold more dances in the future. Cost is $5 and we will have pop, water, chips and bars available for purchase.
Car Rally
On October 24th, there will be a Car Rally starting and ending at the curling club. The cost is $20 per person or $100 per team. To register call 902-940-3315 or visit the Crapaud Curling Club on Facebook.
File photo: Crapaud Curling Club
When Calvin Smith tried to put in the ice at the Crapaud Curling Club this year, a key piece of machinery broke. (CBC)
The Crapaud Curling Club faces closure because it has no money to repair a key piece of equipment.
The device helps keep the ice surface cold, and it broke as the club was putting in the ice for a new season this week. Fixing it will cost $3,000.
‘If we don’t get it going we’re just going to have to close.’ – Calvin Smith, Crapaud Curling Club
“We’re practically zero in our bank account right now and we have no way to recover,” said board member Calvin Smith.
The club is already $80,000 in debt from renovations that went over budget a few years ago, and it’s been unable to catch up financially.
The club has set up a gofundme campaign online, hoping enough donations will come in to save the rink. Link: http://www.gofundme.com/db2panm9
Natalia Goodwin will have a story on the Crapaud Curling Club on the 11 pm CBC Atlantic News this evening. The club is currently experiencing ice plant startup problems, and financial difficulties, and is planning a youth dance on Sept. 4 and a car rally on Oct 24 to help raise funds. They also have created a GoFundMe account as a way to help get their debts paid. To contribute, go to: http://www.gofundme.com/db2panm9
CBC Photo: Crapaud Curling Club
If sufficient repair funds are obtained by Friday, and no further problems occur, this will result in a week’s delay in Pre-Season curling startup, originally scheduled to begin Sept. 4. The Club plans to extend Pre-Season curling by a week to cover the delay.
The Club is also trying to pay down outstanding debt from previous seasons, and has created a GoFundMe account as a way to help get their debts paid. To contribute, go to: http://www.gofundme.com/db2panm9
Reigning PEI Scotties champs, the Suzanne Birt rink, hit the ice last evening at the APM Centre in Cornwall. In just two weeks, they will be competing in their first event of the year, the Tour Challenge Grand Slam of Curling event, at the Paradise Double Ice Complex in Paradise NL, which runs from Sept. 8 -13. The Birt rink are competing in Tier 2 of the event, while PEI’s Adam Casey foursome and NL’s Brad Gushue team, which includes PEI native Brett Gallant, will be in Tier 1 (we’ll be profiling these teams in the next few days).
Event info at: http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/tour-challenge/about-the-gsoc-tour-challenge/
Photo from Team Suzanne Birt Facebook page: Team Birt at the APM Centre last night
This year’s Birt rink includes third Robyn Green, second Meaghan Hughes, and lead stone Marie Christianson, who has moved to PEI.
Journal Pioneer story on New Team: http://www.journalpioneer.com/Sports/Curling/2015-04-10/article-4107593/New-team/1
Photo (L-R): Suzanne Birt, Robyn Green, Meaghan Hughes, Marie Christianson
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling sweeps into Truro, N.S. with the Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
Val Sweeting at the 2014 Masters in Selkirk, Man. (Photo: Anil Mungal)
The Masters is the second stop on the expanded seven-event 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule and features 15 of the top men’s and 15 of the top women’s curling teams from around the world. Last season’s Masters event saw Brad Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., defeat Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen in a thrilling men’s final and Edmonton’s Val Sweeting beat Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden to capture her first career Grand Slam title.
Don’t miss a moment of this must-see tournament and purchase your all-event pass today giving you access to every draw from the opening ceremonies through to the men’s and women’s finals.
Weekend passes (Friday night round-robin draw plus all playoff rounds) and single draw tickets are also available.
Purchase your passes today at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre, online at ticketpro.ca, or by phone at 1-888-311-9090.
For more info on the Masters, visit: http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/masters/
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(by Jonathan Brazeau) Brad Gushue will open the all-new Tour Challenge event in his home province when the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling begins its 2015-16 season Sept. 8 in Paradise, N.L. Brad Gushue fires a stone at the 2015 … Continue reading
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The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, on behalf of the Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State (ACOA), announced recently that funding has been provided to a number of rural communities in PEI for upgrading of key infrastructure … Continue reading