The Chad Stevens rink from the Chester Fire Department didn’t have far to travel to win Nova Scotia’s first Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship today, beating Alberta’s Aaron Bartling squad 7-5 in the semifinal game, and doubling the Greg Tarasoff foursome from Saskatchewan 8-4 in the final at the Truro Curling Club.
Stevens, along with third Dennis Stevens, second Dave Richardson and lead Mike Grist, advanced to today’s games by beating BC’s Dean Thulin team 10-4 in the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff game on Friday afternoon. This was Stevens’ eighth firefighters national. The team’s best previous finish was second in Regina in 1998. Alberta lost to Saskatchewan 8-4 in the Page 1-2 game on Friday afternoon, and had a second chance in today’s semi-final, while Sask. advanced directly to the final.
Tarasoff, who had only one loss in round robin play, won the national title in 2013 in Saint John, NB. Saskatchewan has won 12 national titles, including two of the last three.
PEI, skipped by Leo Stewart out of the Summerside Fire Dept., finished out of the playoffs with a 4-6 win-loss record.
(with info from the Truro Daily News)