Curling’s ch’ship week begins today, with PEI Scotties and Tankard opening ceremonies and 1st draw (Journal)
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SUMMERSIDE – It’s a big week for curling on Prince Edward Island.
Curl P.E.I.’s two showcase events – Scotties and Tankard provincial women’s and men’s championships – will take place at the same venue and time as part of a pilot project. It is hoped this will increase interest in the Olympic sport.
Blair Jay of the host Silver Fox is skipping one of the eight entries in the Tankard provincial men’s curling championship in Summerside this week. Play begins Wednesday evening.
The location will be the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Community Complex in Summerside, which features six sheets of ice. The action gets underway on Wednesday, with the on-ice opening ceremony scheduled for 5:45 p.m., and the opening draw beginning at 6:30 p.m.
A total of 12 teams – eight men and four women – will compete in the five-day event. There will be two new champions crowned as last year’s women’s winner Suzanne Birt has taken this season off, and 2016 men’s champion Adam Casey is now curling in Saskatchewan.
Fields
The women’s field features three rinks from the Charlottetown Curling Complex, skipped by Lisa Jackson, Robyn MacPhee and Veronica Smith, along with Tammy Dewar’s foursome from the Montague Curling Rink. This year’s champion will wear P.E.I.’s colours at the national Scotties in St. Catharines, Ont., from Feb. 18 to 26.
Robert Campbell (Charlottetown/Silver Fox), Phil Gorveatt (Charlottetown), Tyler Harris (Charlottetown/Western), Blair Jay (Silver Fox), Eddie MacKenzie (Charlottetown), Jamie Newson (Charlottetown), Calvin Smith (Silver Fox) and Dennis Watts (Charlottetown) are skipping the men’s entries. The winning rink will represent P.E.I. at the Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s, N.L., from March 4 to 12.
Formats
Both championships will feature modified triple-knockout formats, where the winning team from each section also gets to compete in the other two sections.
A team that wins all three sections will be declared champion without having to play a championship round.
If a team wins two of the three sections, they will advance to the championship round against the winner of the other section. The team with two wins will only need one win to be declared champion, but the team with one win would need to defeat the two-win team twice.
If three different teams win each division, the team that played the most section finals will earn a bye while the other two teams will play for the right to advance to the final.
Futures
Also being held in conjunction with the provincial championships is the Future Scotties and Tankard development event for curlers under the age of 21. The goal of this event is to introduce young curlers to the Scotties and Tankard experience.
Six junior women’s teams and two junior men’s teams will take part. Each rink will play three games.
Six of the eight junior teams entered are from the Cornwall Curling Club. They are skipped by Alexis Burris, Lauren Ferguson, Clara Jack, Rachel MacLean, Bailey O’Grady and Chase MacMillan. The Katie Shaw rink is from Charlottetown, and the Cruz Pineau foursome represents the host Silver Fox.
