The Bill Hope rink from the Cornwall Curling Club kicked off a very busy few weeks this past weekend, winning the men’s division of the  Maritime Masters Curling Championships at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow NS. The team normally includes Craig Mackie, but Edgar Coffin substituted for Mackie, who had work commitments, at this event. They won their final game by a 4-2 score.

Shelley Ebbett photo (L-R): David Murphy (second), Edgar Coffin (lead), Bill Hope (skip), Peter Murdoch (third)

The runner-up Men’s team was the Peter Myers foursome from the Riverside Country Club in Rothesay, New Brunswick The winner of the Women’s was Andrea Saulnier and her team from the Glooscap Curling Club in Kentville NS, while the runner-up was the Nancy Steele foursome from the Carleton Curling Club in Saint John NB. Masters curlers are age 60 and over.

Photo (L-R): Hope, Murdoch, Murphy, Coffin

Next up,  the Hope rink (with Mackie) will be joining their clubmates the Shirley Berry team at the 2018 Everest Canadian Senior Curling championships (for curlers age 50 and over) in Stratford Ont., with first games on Saturday morning and the finals set for Thursday the 29th. Other members of the Berry foursome are third Janice Murdoch, second Arleen Harris, and lead Kim Nicholson.

Following this, it’s on to the Canadian Masters Curling Championships in Surrey/Whiterock BC from April 1st to 8th, where the Hope team will be joined by the PEI women’s Masters Champions, skipped by Bill’s wife, Sandy, with third Shelley Ebbett, second Debbie Rhodenhizer, and lead Arleen Harris.

You can follow Team Bill Hope’s progress at both of these events on their Facebook page 2018 PEI Men’s Masters Curling Team.

And the season doesn’t end there for Team Bill Hope member David Murphy — he’ll be coaching the PEI Girl’s team, skipped by Lauren Ferguson, at the 2018 Canadian Under 18 Boy’s and Girl’s Curling Championship in Saint Andrews NB, which runs from April 9-14. While Bill Hope is one of two coaches of the PEI Boy’s team skipped by Mitchell Schut,  their other coach, Lori Robinson, will handle this event.