Mary Fay and Karlee Burgess will need an extra closet to store all of their Team Canada gear from this season.

Canadian champs! From left, Mary Fay, Andrew Atherton (coach), Kristin Clarke, Karlee Burgess and Janique LeBlanc. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

Already bound for the Youth Winter Olympics next month in Lillehammer, Norway, the skip and second respectively for Team Nova Scotia will also wear the Maple Leaf at the World Junior Curling Championships after winning gold Sunday at the 2016 Canadian Juniors, presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario.

The Nova Scotia squad from Chester — rounded out by third Kristin Clarke, lead Janique LeBlanc and coach Andrew Atherton — beat B.C.’s Sarah Daniels 9-5 in the women’s final gold-medal game at the Stratford Rotary Complex.

Team Nova Scotia celebrates its gold-medal victory on Sunday. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

A clutch eighth-end draw by the 17-year-old Fay quelled a furious B.C. comeback from what had been a 5-2 Nova Scotia lead through four ends, and propelled Nova Scotia to its fourth Canadian junior women’s title, and first since Jill Brothers (Mouzar) won in 2004.

“I can’t even put it into words,” said Fay. “It’s the most amazing feeling ever. I don’t even know if it feels real yet. It’s just so hard to believe.”

B.C. had tied the game with a single point in the fifth end, and stolen singles in the sixth and seventh ends, but a marvellous peel-weight takeout from Clarke in the eighth end cleared the front of the house, and set the stage for Fay to make her crucial draw.

“It felt great to make that draw,” said Fay. “Whenever I’m throwing a draw, I always feel confident because I have Karlee and Janique sweeping for me. They have the hard job; it’s not to too hard to throw it, but to judge the weight? But I have two amazing sweepers and I’m confident in them.”

A stolen pair in the ninth added some insurance, and Nova Scotia ran B.C. out of rocks in the 10th.

“Holy. I don’t even know how to explain it,” said an ecstatic Burgess. “Going into the last end, we knew we just had to throw clean shots and Mary would have an open shot at the end. When we finally got there? Wow, it was unbelievable.”

B.C. skip Sarah Daniels watches her shot during Sunday’s final. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

The B.C. team from New Westminster — Daniels is backed up by third Marika Van Osch, second Dezaray Hawes, lead Megan Daniels and coach Katie Witt — took home silver.

“We’re all really proud of each other,” said Sarah Daniels, 16. “I know there will be tears because it sucks to lose, but we’re really happy for Mary’s team because they’ve worked so hard, and they’ve waited for this for so long. We’re just going to take away everything we can from this. We’ve learned so much from this competition, and we’ll push harder to get better next year.”

Atherton started working with Fay when she was just eight years old, so Sunday’s victory was especially sweet from a coaching standpoint.

“A long time ago. A lot of rocks, a lot of practices with just the two of us,” said an emotional Atherton. “I’m pretty proud of her.”

Fay and Burgess will be joined by Tyler Tardi (who skipped the B.C. men to a bronze medal here) and Sterling Middleton at Youth Olympics next month. Then, she’ll turn her sights to the 2016 World Juniors, March 5-13 in Taarnby, Denmark.

“It’s going to be amazing,” said Fay. “It’s a dream come true to be able to represent Canada, and to be able to do it twice? It’s beyond words.”

STRATFORD, Ont. — He started the run in 2013, and he extended it in 2016.

Matt Dunstone and his team from Winnipeg claimed Manitoba’s fourth consecutive men’s gold medal at the 2016 Canadian Junior Curling Championship, presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario, Sunday in Stratford, Ont., beating Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan (Copper Cliff) 11-4 in the final.

Your Canadian junior men’s champs, from left, Matt Dunstone, Colton Lott, Kyle Doering, coach Calvin Edie and Rob Gordon. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

Dunstone won gold in 2013 at Fort McMurray, Alta., and watched from home as fellow Manitoban Braden Calvert prevailed in 2014 and 2015.

But Sunday’s victory was worth the wait, said the 20-year-old skip.

“It’s just as satisfying, for sure,” said a jubilant Dunstone, whose team is rounded out by third Colton Lott, second (and vice-skip) Kyle Doering, lead Rob Gordon and coach Calvin Edie. “It doesn’t change; this is awesome. I’m so proud of these guys; they worked so hard for this, and we couldn’t be happier, obviously.”

Team Manitoba celebrates its Canadian junior men’s title on Sunday. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

Lott was a member of the 2013 team as well, and a year earlier he and Doering were teammates on a Manitoba team that won bronze at the 2012 Canadian Juniors in Napanee, Ont.

Sunday’s gold was nailed down early. Northern Ontario — Horgan’s team included third (and younger brother) Jake Horgan, second Nick Bissonnette, lead Maxime Blais and coach (and the Horgans’ dad) Gerry Horgan — opened the game with a first-end deuce.

But Dunstone made two pistols in the second end — the first, a precision long runback takeout to sit two, and when Tanner Horgan missed his final shot, Dunstone coolly drew to bite the button for a go-ahead three.

“Those were such a great pair of shots,” said Lott. “Especially after I crashed on a guard on my shot. It was phenomenal; Matt played great. I wouldn’t want another skip in the world to throw those shots.”

Manitoba would add a stolen three in the third end on another Horgan miss, and then made a wonderful in-off takeout in the sixth end for a third three-ender.

It was that kind of day for Northern Ontario skip Tanner Horgan, but his future is very bright. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

“I don’t think they missed. They’re an amazing team; how are they a junior team? They’ll do just fantastic at the worlds,” said the classy Horgan, 17, who’ll play in the Northern Ontario men’s championship, with his first game against none other than 2014 Olympic gold-medallist Brad Jacobs. “I think there’s lots of room for growth with our team. We’re so young, we have so many more years ahead and I’m excited to see what we can do in a few years.”

Dunstone’s team will head to Taarnby, Denmark, for the 2016 World Juniors, March 5-13, looking to make it back-to-back gold medals for Canada after Calvert’s victory last year in Estonia, and to improve on the bronze medal Dunstone and Lott won in 2013.

“Going back three years ago, we felt robbed, for sure,” said Dunstone. “We have gold on our minds, and if we keep playing like we did in this playoff round, we should be right there.”

Manitoba’s four straight wins matches the Saskatchewan record of four in a row, set between 1949 and 1952. It was the province’s 12th Canadian junior men’s crown.

“We have such a strong junior program from head to toe,” said Dunstone. “We all make each other better; Braden makes us better, we make Braden better, and there are a lot of other guys that you have to work to be better than. We just all feed off each other.”

The gold medals three years apart for Dunstone and Lott match a record held by Alberta’s Scott Pfeifer for longest gap between Canadian junior titles.

The 2017 Canadian Juniors will be played in Victoria.

The Adam Casey rink from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club and the Charlottetown Curling Complex are just one win away from repeating as PEI Tankard provincial men’s champions, and they will have three opportunities to do it. After winning the A and B finals of the modified triple knockout, both against Charlottetown’s Jamie Newson, they beat the young Tyler Smith rink by an 8-2 score in five ends this afternoon  to advance to the C final.

Photo: Adam Casey

Their opponent in that final will, once again, be Jamie Newson, who beat the Tyler Harris team 7-1 in only four ends this afternoon, The “C” final goes at 1 pm Monday. If Casey wins that game, he takes the championship. If not, Casey and Newson then advance to a two game championship round, at 6 pm Monday and 4 pm Tuesday. Casey will win the title if he takes either game, while Newson would have to win both.

Other members of the Adam Casey team are third David Mathers, second Anson Carmody, and lead Robbie Doherty, with coach Lincoln Peters. Rounding out the Newson squad are John Likely, Mark O’Rourke and Mark Butler, with alternate Andrew Robinson. The winning rink will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 5-13, 2016 at TD Place in Ottawa Ontario.

End by end Tankard scoring is available at PEICurling.com

The two team Future Tankard Under 21 developmental event wrapped up this afternoon, with the older of the Schut brothers, Devin, beating his brother Mitchell, who was playing with only three players today, by a 7-5 score, in the only game of the afternoon that went the full length. Mitchell won the opening game of the series, with Devin taking games two and three. The teams were also invited to breakfast with the Adam Casey team during the event.

Defending champion Adam Casey and his team from the Silver Fox and Charlottetown clubs are well on their way to repeat as PEI Tankard champs, after capturing the second of three section finals in the six team modified triple knockout provincial men’s championship at the Charlottetown Curling Complex.

Photo: Adam Casey, right, calls for sweeping from Robbie Doherty (left) and Anson Carmody

The B qualifier, like the A, was against Charlottetown’s Jamie Newson rink, but was much closer than the 11-3 score in the A game. In the B, the score was tied 6-6 coming home, but Casey had the last rock advantage, and scored a single for a 7-6 win. Newson, who had last rock advantage in the opening end, scored first in today’s game, with a second end single. Casey took a triple in end three, and the teams exchanged deuces in four and five to give Casey a 5-3 lead at the 5th end break. He then stole 1 in the sixth, but Newson came back with a single and a stolen deuce to tie the game 6-all after 8. Casey blanked the 9th to retain last rock advantage in the 10th end, and scored a single for the win.

In other games this morning, the young Tyler Smith rink from Crapaud and Montague eliminated Tankard veteran Robert Campbell with a 7-6 win, while Tyler Harris and his Charlottetown and Montague team knocked out three time Tankard winner Eddie MacKenzie by an 8-7 score.

At 4 pm today, Casey plays Smith, with Newson taking on Harris, with the winners advancing to the C final, Monday at 1 pm. Also at 4 is the final game in the U21 Future Tankard developmental event, with the Schut brothers tied at 1 game apiece.

Winning two sections puts the Casey rink in a very good position. If they win their C semi-final this afternoon against Smith, a win in any one of their next three games (the C final or the two championship round games, at 6 pm Monday and 4 pm Tuesday) would give them the championship, while their opponent would have to win all three of their games. If they lose against Smith, they would still advance to both championship round games (against the C winner), and would take the title if they won either game, while their opponent would have to win both.

The eventual Tankard winner will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 5-13, 2016 at TD Place in Ottawa Ontario.

End by end Tankard and Future Tankard scoring is available at PEICurling.com

Video of the Newfoundland and Labrador men’s championship final game between Gushue and Thomas is being streamed live here: http://bit.ly/1KPhSmv 

STRATFORD, Ont. — The all-stars and other award winners at the 2016 Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships, presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario, were announced on Friday at the awards banquet at the Stratford Rotary Complex.

PEI’s Chloé McCloskey, who won the Joan Mead award and scholarship last year, won the women’s Ken Watson Sportsmanship award this time, as voted on by the players, while Aleya Quilty won the Balance Plus Fair Play award for the women’s lead position, as voted on by the officials.

Ken Watson Sportsmanship Award winners (L-R): Chloé McCloskey (PEI), Arthur Siksik (Nunavut), Curling Canada Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors, Peter Inch

Photo: Balance Plus Fair Play award women’s winners. Aleya Quilty is 2nd from right in front row

Here is the full list of winners:

ALL-STARS
(determined by shooting percentages during the round robin)

Women
First Team

Skip — Sarah Daniels, B.C. (81 per cent)
Third — Marika Van Osch, B.C. (86 per cent)
Second — Megan Moffatt, Alberta (85 per cent)
Lead — Sara Oliver, Manitoba (84 per cent)

Second Team

Skip — Selena Sturmay, Alberta (80 per cent)
Third — Kristin Clarke, Nova Scotia (85 per cent)
Second — Melissa Gordon, Manitoba (84 per cent)
Lead — Hope Sunley, Alberta (84 per cent)

Men

First Team
Skip — Matt Dunstone (90 per cent)
Third — Colton Lott, Manitoba (88 per cent)
Second — Kyle Doering, Manitoba (89 per cent)
Lead — Nick Neufeld, Saskatchewan (86 per cent)

Second Team
Skip — Tanner Horgan, Northern Ontario (89 per cent)
Third — Jason Camm, Ontario (85 per cent)
Second — Matthew Hall, Ontario (87 per cent)
Lead — Curtis Easter, Ontario (87 per cent)
* In the case of a percentage tie, the all-star position goes to the player with the highest plus/minus for the week (a player receives a +1 for every game in which he/she outcurls the positional opponent by five per cent or more). Should they still be tied, the pre-event draw to the button results are used to determine the all-star.

KEN WATSON SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS
(voted by the players)

Women – Chloé McCloskey, Prince Edward Island
Men – Arthur Siksik, Nunavut

BALANCE PLUS FAIR PLAY AWARDS
(selected by the officials)

Men
Lead — Rob Gordon, Manitoba
Second  — Kyle Barron, Newfoundland/Labrador
Third — Daniel Wenzek, B.C.
Skip — Karsten Sturmay, Alberta
Coach — Benoit Forget, Quebec

Women
Lead — Aleya Quilty, Prince Edward Island
Second — Dez Hawes, B.C.
Third — Christianne West, Nunavut
Skip — Courtney Auld, Ontario
Coach — Michel St-Georges, Quebec

ASHAM NATIONAL COACHING AWARDS
(voted by the coaches)

Women – Michel St-Georges, Quebec
Men – Benoit Forget, Quebec

JOAN MEAD LEGACY AWARDS
(selected by the event officials)
($500 scholarship)

Women – Gabby Molloy, Newfoundland/Labrador
Men – Karsten Sturmay, Alberta

Click to read at Curling Canada website

The defending champion Adam Casey rink from Summerside’s Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club and the host Charlottetown Curling Complex have won the first of the three modified triple knockout sections in the PEI Tankard provincial men’s curling championship, scoring six points in the sixth end this afternoon to bring their “A” section final against Charlottetown’s Jamie Newson foursome to a speedy, 11-3 conclusion.

Photo: Handshakes after Casey hits for six in the sixth

Casey scored a deuce in the first end with last rock advantage, kept Newson to one in the second, and then took  a triple in the 3rd end, to lead 5-1. Newson narrowed the gap to 5-3 with a fourth end deuce, and the fifth end was blanked.

The other two Tankard games this afternoon were also won by lopsided scores, with Robert Campbell downing Charlottetown clubmate Robert Campbell 9-3, and Tyler Harris and his Charlottetown and Montague rink beating the young Tyler Smith foursome from Crapaud and Montague 10-2, with Smith scoring both of his points with opening end hammer.

The closest game of the afternoon was the Future Tankard under 21 developmental series match between brothers Devin and Mitchell Schut from the Cornwall Curling Club. The eight end game was tied 3-all after six ends, when the younger Mitchell Schut made a hit for four points. A series of misses in the final end by the Mitchell Schut foursome left three Devin Schut counters in the rings, giving the older brother a last rock draw to tie the game and force an extra end. He was a bit light, and his rock stopped a few inches short of the rings, handing the Mitchell Schut rink a 7-6 win.

The next draw goes at 6 pm, with Casey taking on Harris and Newson facing Campbell in the “B” semi-finals. The winners advance to the “B” final at 11 am Sunday, If Casey is in that final and wins it, he will have a “double life” in the championship round on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and would win the championship if he took either game, while his opponent would have to win both. If Casey happened to win all three section finals, a championship round would not be required.

Also on at 6 this evening is the second Future Tankard game between the Schut brothers.

The winning Tankard team will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 5-13, 2016 at TD Place in Ottawa Ontario.

End by end Tankard and Future Tankard scoring is available at PEICurling.com

Here’s a video of the piping in of the teams at this evening’s PEI Tankard Opening Ceremonies at the Charlottetown Curling Complex

Here is a gallery of photos from the PEI Tankard opening ceremonies and Draw 2 this evening at the Charlottetown Curling Complex.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge, and use arrows to go ahead/back.

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