Skip Eddie MacKenzie follows his shot during Sunday’s winner-take-all final in the Tankard provincial men’s curling championship in Summerside. MacKenzie defeated Phil Gorveatt 8-2. Both rinks curl out of the Charlottetown Curling Complex.
© Jason Simmonds/TC Media
MacKenzie, third stone Sean Ledgerwood, second stone Matt Nabuurs and lead Robbie Doherty defeated their coach Phil Gorveatt 8-2 in a winner-take-all final at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Community Complex on Sunday afternoon. The teams shook hands after eight ends.
“It always feels great to win a provincial (championship),” said MacKenzie, who is a product of the Silver Fox’s junior program and now has five Tankard titles to his credit. “I won my first provincial here as a skip.”
The MacKenzie rink, which will represent P.E.I. at the Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s, N.L., from March 4 to 12, started the five-day provincial championship by winning the A section. That guaranteed them a berth in the championship round. Gorveatt, third stone Kevin Champion, second stone Mike Dillon and lead Mark Butler won the B and C sections.
Early deficit
Things did not start off well for MacKenzie (5-2) in Sunday morning’s draw as Gorveatt (6-3) scored four in the first end.
“I remember Kevin Martin won a Brier final after going down four after one end,” recalled MacKenzie, who lives in Charlottetown. “I told the boys that and there is still lots of game left, but it’s very unusual to come back from that deep of a hole.
“If you are going to give up four, the first end is the best end for it.”
MacKenzie, 44, chipped away, and prevailed 9-7 to force a deciding contest.
Steal points
Team MacKenzie came out strong in the final, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after four ends in the battle between Charlottetown Curling Complex rinks. All of those points were stolen.
“We didn’t want a repeat of the first game (Sunday),” said the 25-year-old Nabuurs, who lives in Cornwall. “We stayed on top of them and didn’t want to give them any chances.”
Anson Carmody was originally scheduled to play third stone, but he’s been sidelined with a knee injury.