CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Three names synonymous with their sports are being recognized next week by Sport P.E.I.

Peter Gallant (curling), Eddie MacDonald (rugby) and Joe Ryan (volleyball) are this year’s finalists for the P.E.I. Mutual Insurance Coach of the Year Award. The winner will be announced Feb. 7 during the annual awards ceremony at Holland College.

The P.E.I. Mutual Insurance Coach of the Year Award finalists have been announced. From left are Peter Gallant (curling), Joe Ryan (volleyball) and Eddie MacDonald (rugby). – Submitted

Peter Gallant

That is all about to change.
Gallant took on the position of head coach for a women’s South Korean curling team in 2016 with the task of qualifying for the Olympics. A year later, Gallant and his team achieved the goal and will be representing the Asian nation at PyeongChang.

It will be an Olympic icebreaker for the Gallants, as Peter will hope to achieve nothing short of a podium finish later in February, but chances are we will see more Olympic action from the family in years to come.

Click for story on the other two finalists, recent winners, ticket info at The Guardian

The Canada Winter Games Trials #1, for curlers born after July 1, 2000, take place February 2-4, 2018 at the Silver Fox in Summerside, and will qualify two male and two female teams to be the Canada Winter Games Training Teams. These teams will receive additional training opportunities and will advance to Trials #2 at the Cornwall Curling Club in November. The winning teams from Trials #2 will advance to the 2019 Canada Winter Games, which will take place from February 15 until March 3, 2019 in Red Deer, Alberta.

At the Trials #1, the three boy’s teams will play a double round robin format, while the five girl’s rinks will play a single round robin.

Click for Live Results

Draw and Schedule

(Games are eight ends)

Boys: Double Round Robin format (Light Green background)
Girls: Single Round Robin format (Light Purple background)

Team Rosters
(Click for players)

Team	Coach	Affiliation	Location
M – Team MacMillan	Rob Roberts	Charlottetown Curling Complex	Charlottetown, PE
M – Team Pineau	Shelly MacFadyen	Silver Fox Curling Club	Summerside, PE
M – Team Schut	Bill Hope	Cornwall Curling Club	Cornwall, PE
W – Team Ferguson	David Murphy	Cornwall, Crapaud, Charlottetown	Cornwall, Crapaud, Charlottetown PE
W – Team Howatt	A.J. Campbell	Cornwall Curling Club	Cornwall, PE
W – Team Jack	Aleya Quilty	Cornwall Curling Club	Cornwall, PE
W – Team MacLean	Carl Nicholson	Cornwall Curling Club	Cornwall, PE
W – Team Sanderson	Edgar Coffin	Cornwall Curling Club	Cornwall, PE

Curl PEI – 2019 CWG Trials
Tie Breaking Scenarios

If 2 teams are tied for FIRST: Both teams advance.
If 2 teams are tied for SECOND: 1. Who beat whom determines placement      a. 2 vs 3 to secure the second CWG Training Team spot
If 3 teams are tied for FIRST: 1. Who beat whom determines placement; and then 2. Team Ranking System determines placement:      a. 1 advances without a game      b. 2 plays 3 for the second spot
If 3 teams are tied for SECOND: 1. Who beat whom determines placement; and then 2. Team Ranking System determines placement:     a. 2 advances to a final game     b. 3 plays 4 for the second spot in the final game
If 4 teams are tied for FIRST: 1. There will be two semi-finals.     a. The records against the four teams; plus     b. Team Ranking System determines placement:         i. 1 vs 4        ii. 2 vs 3
If 4 teams are tied for SECOND: 1. The records against the four teams; plus 2. Team Ranking System determines placement:     a. 2 vs 5     b. 3 vs 4Winners play off for final spot
If 5 teams are tied for FIRST: 1. The records against the four teams; plus 2. Team Ranking System determines placement:     a. 4 vs 5, winner advances to play 1     b. 2 vs 3, winner secures first CWG Training Team spot        i. Winner of 4/5 vs 1, winner secures second CWG Training Team Spot
If 5 teams are tied for SECOND: 1. The records against the four teams; plus 2. Team Ranking System determines placement:     a. 5 vs 6, winner advances to play 2     b. 3 vs 4, winner advances to play the winner of the 5/6 vs 2 game        i. Winner of 5/6 vs 2           1. Winner of 5/6-2 vs Winner of 3/4

 

The PEI Masters (age 60+) curling championships wrapped up today in Charlottetown, with Cornwall’s Sandy Hope rink winning the Women’s event during the 10 am draw, and Ted MacFadyen and his team from the Silver Fox winning the  Men’s in the afternoon. Here are pictures from both draws. Click on a picture to enlarge.

10 am Draw:

Here are pictures from the 2 pm draw:

The Sandy Hope team from the Cornwall Curling Club beat their clubmates, the Shirley Berry rink, by a 7-4 score this morning to win the best of five PEI Master’s women’s championship at the Charlottetown Curling Club. It’s Hope’s third consecutive PEI Masters title. Hope won the first two and the fourth game in the series, so game five was unnecessary. In today’s match, Hope scored three in the fourth end to lead 4-2 and scored a deuce in the sixth, while keeping Berry to singles in ends five and seven. Hope had a guard behind cover in the final end, and Berry couldn’t get to it. In the closing ceremonies, Hope announced that they will be attending both the Maritime Masters at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow Nova Scotia, March 16-18 2018, as well as the 2018 Canadian Masters Curling Championships in BC, April 1-8 at Surrey’s Cloverdale Curling Club and White Rock’s Peace Arch Curling Club. The Berry foursome also earned a spot in the Maritime Championships. Other members of the Hope squad are third Shelley Ebbett, second stone Debbie Rhodenhizer, and lead Arleen Harris, with coach Bill Hope, while Linda Fairhurst, Marlene Proude, and Marjorie Matthews round out the Berry team.

Photo (L-R): PEI Masters Women’s Champs Arleen Harris, Debbie Rhodenhizer, Shelley Ebbett, Sandy Hope

Photo (L-R): Master’s Women’s finalists (L-R): Shirley Berry, Linda Fairhurst, Marlene Proude, Marjorie Matthews

On the men’s side, there will be a sudden-death final at 2 pm between the Bill Hope rink from Cornwall and the Ted MacFadyen foursome from the Silver Fox in Summerside. Hope had won two of the three Modified Triple Knockout sections, while MacFadyen took one, so Hope would have  taken the title with a win this morning, but MacFadyen, up 7-1 after five ends, forced the extra game with an 8-3 win in seven ends.

Master’s curlers are age 60 and over.

The rinks skipped by Bill and Sandy Hope will both have two chances to win the PEI Masters Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, on Monday at 10 am and 2 pm at the Charlottetown Curling Club. Their opponents, the defending champion Ted MacFadyen men’s team, and the Shirley Berry women’s foursome would have to win both games to take the championship, while the Hopes each need to win only one game. The MacFadyen rink is from the Silver Fox, while the other three teams playing tomorrow are from Cornwall.

Photo: Shirley Berry (left) and Sandy Hope

The two-team Best of Five women’s event could have been over this afternoon, as two-time defending champion Sandy Hope had won the first two games, but Shirley Berry brought the  series to game four, with a 6-4 win this afternoon, stealing a deuce in the third end  and a single in the sixth, and running Hope out of rocks in the last end. 

Photo: Bill Hope

Photo: Ted MacFadyen

Bill Hope captured his second section in the four-team men’s Modified Triple Knockout draw with a 10-5 win over clubmate Paul Arsenault in the “C” final this afternoon, scoring three of those points in the first and, and four of them in the eighth. Hope also won the “A” section, while defending champion MacFadyen won the B. By winning two sections, Hope has a “double life” in Monday’s two-game championship round against MacFadyen.

Winners and runners-up earn the right to advance to the Maritime Masters Curling Championships, at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow Nova Scotia, March 16-18 2018.  The winning Men’s and Women’s team, or the runners-up should they choose not to attend, also earn the right to compete in the 2018 Canadian Masters Curling Championships in BC, April 1-8 at Surrey’s Cloverdale Curling Club and White Rock’s Peace Arch Curling Club.

Live end-by-end results from the PEI Masters are available at PEICurling.com

The defending champion Ted MacFadyen rink from the Silver Fox club in Summerside won the “B” section final this afternoon of the Men’s Modified Triple Knockout draw at the PEI Masters Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, taking place at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The Bill Hope rink won the “A” section on Friday. Since no team can now win all three sections, there will be a championship round on Monday. 

Photo: Ted MacFadyen directs his team’s rock into the house as Clair Sweet watches

MacFadyen downed the Clair Sweet team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary (with Crapaud’s Dario Zannier subbing for injured second Mike Trudeau) by a 7-1 score this afternoon, with MacFadyen, who calls the game,  Lou Nowlan throwing last rocks, and Earle Proud and Alan Montgomery on front end keeping the  Sweet team off the scoreboard until after the fourth end break, taking a deuce and three consecutive single steals. Sweet was kept to a single in five, but a MacFadyen deuce in six brought the game to handshakes. 

Sweet had a high-scoring second half in an 8-2 come-from-behind win over “A” section champ Bill Hope from Cornwall in the morning “B” semi-finals, with Hope leading 2-1 after four ends. Sweet took charge after the break, scoring a triple, a single steal, and a stolen triple for the win.

MacFadyen handed Cornwall’s Paul Arsenault foursome his second loss in the other “B” semi, getting off to a good start with a four-point first end. Arsenault responded with a pair of deuces to tie the match up after three ends, but MacFadyen picked up a deuce for a 6-4 lead at the fourth end break. Arsenault was kept to singles in ends five and seven, while MacFadyen recorded a deuce in six, and had hammer coming home, but did not have to throw his final stone, winning 8-6.

Hope now plays MacFadyen while Arsenault faces Sweet in “C” semi-final games at 10 am Sunday, with the winners playing off in the “C” final at 2 pm. Hope, MacFadyen, and the winner of the “C” final advance to the championship round on Monday at 10 and 2. If either Hope or MacFadyen win the “C” event, they, as the winner of two sections, will have a “double life” in the Monday round, and win the title if they take either game, while their opponent would have to win both.

Photo: Shirley Berry (left), Sandy Hope

Meanwhile, the first game in the two-team, all-Cornwall women’s division Best of Five competition took place Saturday afternoon, with the defending champion Sandy Hope team beating the Shirley Berry rink 9-4. A couple of missed hits by Berry in the third end gave Hope a 3-1 lead. Hope then stole a single in the fourth to lead 4-1 at the half. Berry came back with a deuce and a stolen single in the next two ends, but a triple in seven and a stolen deuce in eight gave Hope the win.

The next two games in the Best of Five go at 10 and 2 on Sunday. If needed, the final two games are scheduled for Monday at 10 and 2.

Winners and runners-up earn the right to advance to the Maritime Masters Curling Championships, at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow Nova Scotia, March 16-18 2018.  The winning Men’s and Women’s team, or the runners-up should they choose not to attend, also earn the right to compete in the 2018 Canadian Masters Curling Championships in BC, April 1-8 at Surrey’s Cloverdale Curling Club and White Rock’s Peace Arch Curling Club.

Live end-by-end results from the PEI Masters are available at PEICurling.com

PENTICTON, B.C. – Four teams are still at the wheel and four fans from the British Columbia’s Okanagan are along for the ride as the revamped Ford Hot Shots is driven in a different direction for the 24th version of the popular curling skills competition.

And leading the way into Saturday’s final round of the Ford Hot Shots at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s curling championship at the South Okanagan Events Centre (11:15 a.m. PT), was New Brunswick skipped by Sylvie Robichaud.

Instead of an individual skills contest, like the 23 previous years, the Ford Hot Shots has been converted to a team competition (CLICK HERE for more information) at the Scotties and the Tim Hortons Brier in Regina later this year. Instead of receiving a lease on a new Ford vehicle, the winning team will get $15,000 and a lucky fan will win a two-year lease on a 2018 Ford Escape SE 4WD.

In Friday’s preliminary round, all four team members contributed points on four shots designed by Curling Canada. They include shooters attempting to replicate Northern Ontario skip Al Hackner’s famous shot at the 1985 Brier, a difficult around-the-horn triple takeout, a straight raise and a drag-effect double takeout.

New Brunswick was the top point-getter Friday afternoon with 43 followed by Manitoba and Alberta at 40. Nova Scotia tied with Prince Edward Island for the fourth and final spot at 39 points but got the nod on measurement.

“It was really fun,” said Robichaud. “It was our first time trying all those different kind of shots, so it was fun to make some.

“We were close to making the around-the-horn, just by a little hair or two. I haven’t seen someone do it yet, so it’s really hard.”

Robichaud was looking forward to the final because the cash prize could go a long way to defraying expenses for the team from Moncton.

“It’s great to play for money too (instead of a lease),” said Robichaud. “$15,000 can go a long way, so we’re going for it. It’s a lot tougher (to travel to cashspiels). We have full-time jobs, so getting time off is a little harder for us.”

Robichaud and her New Brunswick team will be playing for Cathy Thompson of Oliver. Penticton’s Arlene Kolundzic will be cheering on Jennifer Jones’s Manitoba squad. Blaine Lodomez of Penticton is paired with Alberta, skipped by Casey Scheidegger, while Mary-Anne Arsenault’s Nova Scotia champions will get support from Ray Turner from Kelowna.

The three fan entrants who don’t win will get a $500 donation to a local charity of their choice.

Click to read this story at Curling Canada