Here is a photo gallery from second playoff game and closing presentation at the 2024 PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex.

The Jane DiCarlo rink from the Crapaud Community Curling Club beat Cornwall Curling Club’s Amanda Power twice today to win the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championship, sponsored by Kruger Products, at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex in Summerside.  It is DiCarlo’s first PEI women’s title.  Veronica Mayne, Sabrina Smith and Whitney Jenkins rounds out the the DiCarlo team.

L-R Jane DiCarlo, Veronica Mayne, Sabrina Smith, and Whitney Jenkins

The Scotties finalists, the Power team includes Amanda Power, Sara Spafford, Emily Best, Shelly Bradley and Janique LeBlanc.

L-R Amanda Power, Sara Spafford, Emily Best, Shelly Bradley and Janique LeBlanc

DiCarlo won the A event in the modified triple knockout, while Power took the B and C events.  As Power won two of the three knockout round sections, DiCarlo had to win both the 9am and 2pm games, while Power winning either game would have sealed the event for her.

Both games were extremely close.  The morning game finished 4-2 for DiCarlo, with 6 blank ends.  The afternoon game required an extra end with each team leaving it all on the ice.  DiCarlo’s last-rock-thrower, Veronica Mayne was facing three with one on the button requiring Mayne to make an angle raise for the win.  The final score was 9-8 for DiCarlo.

The DiCarlo team will now advance to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, AB, Feb. 16-25.

SUMMERSIDE – Three was a lucky number this week for skip Tyler Smith and his young Crapaud Curling Club men’s team.

Smith defeated clubmate Jamie Newson 8-3 Saturday night to claim his third consecutive P.E.I. Tankard men’s curling championship.

Smith broke open a tight 1-1 game with three points in the fourth end. After the teams exchanged single points over the next three ends, Smith clinched the outcome with another three in the eighth to bring out the handshakes from the Newson team.

Smith finished the modified triple knockout event with a perfect 6-0 record, winning the A final over Summerside’s Darren Higgins, the B final over Crapaud’s Tyler Harris and then the C final over Newson.

Edward White, Christopher Gallant, Adam Cocks, Tyler Smith

The Smith team included mate Adam Cocks of Halifax, Christopher Gallant at second stone and lead Edward White. Gallant, who replaced Alex MacFadyen at second, is the younger brother of Brett Gallant, who won a Brier with Brad Gushue in 2017 out of St. John’s, NL. and now is in his second year with the Brandon Bottcher rink in Calgary. 

Seven teams started play Thursday at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex. Smith entered the event as the heavy favourite after accumulating a dominating 10.125 CTRS points this season.

The Smith rink will represent P.E.I. at the 2024 Montana’s Brier, Canada’s national men’s curling championship, March 1 to 10 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask.

In 2021, Smith, then just 22, moved up to skip P.E.I. from the third position for a game as skip Eddie MacKenzie was on the bench as the team’s alternate.

Smith was named P.E.I.’s Brier representative in 2022 when he was selected based on points after the provincial playoffs were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Last year, the Smith rink defeated Higgins 9-5 in the final to win the Tankard title at his home Crapaud club, where Suzanne Birt claimed the ladies Scotties crown.

Photos from the event, taken by Mike Schut, can be viewed HERE.

Here’s a photo gallery from Draw 5 of the  2024 PEI Scotties & Tankard at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex.

Here’s a photo gallery from Draw 2 of the  2024 PEI Scotties & Tankard at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex.

The Morrow rink, from the Crapaud Community Curling Club will face Team Power, from the Cornwall Curling Club in the B Final of the 2024 PEI Scotties and Team Tyler Smith, from the Crapaud Community Curling go against clubmates, the Harris rink at 9am Saturday morning at the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex in Summerside.

Schedule, teams, draw and results can be found here: https://peicurling.com/results/#/events/17914.

Draw 3 Recap

In the Scotties in Summerside this morning, Jane DiCarlo was off this morning waiting for the winner of the Melissa Morrow and Tammy Dewar match. DiCarlo already has earned place in the A Final.   Dewar, celebrating her birthday today, scored a big three in the 5th, to go up 5.  Morrow came back with singles in the 6th and 7th.  Dewar settled for one point in the 8th to go up 4.  Morrow scored a deuce in the 9th to close the margin at 7 to 5   Dewar missed a takeout on her first shot in the 10th, forcing her to play a tough draw against two Morrow rocks on her final stone.  Dewar missed her final shot to give Morrow the steal of two.  In the extra end, Dewar, with last rock, opted to guard her shot rock in the four foot on a number of occasions despite Morrow having number two and three frozen to the Dewar rock in the four foot.  Morrow made a great raise double takeout on her first shot leaving her two buried.  Dewar made a great come around takeout of one of Morrow’s stones to leave Morrow lying one on top of the four foot.  Morrow made a a nice guard forcing Dewar to a draw to the side of the four foot with the out turn.  Dewar saved the game and drew to the back four for the win and the berth in the A final.

In other Scotties matchups, White and Blades had a tight match with Blades coming back from 5 down after 5, to get within 1.  In the 8th end. Blades third Ella Lenentine made a great double to get out of trouble but followed with a missed takeout to allow White to set up a steal to tie the game at 7.  Blades made a great shot with her last in the the 9th and posted a deuce for a two point lead in the 10th.  Jackie Reid, the White second, set up a steal opportunity with a come around double but the White team were unable to capitalize. Blades claimed the victory without having to throw her last shot.

In the Tankard matches, played beside the Scotties at the Silver Fox, Blair Jay faced off against Jamie Newson. Despite giving up three in the 3rd.  Newson was three up coming home and finished off the veteran Silver Fox team, 7 to 4.

On Ice 2, the marquee match between the two favourites, Darren Higgins and Tyler Smith, the defending Tankard champion, was 1 up coming home with last rock,  Despite a great come around to the button, by Tim Hockin, Smith was able to pick the Hockin’s rock out for the win and a berth in the A final.

On Ice 3, veteran Tyler Harris, a 2 time Tankard champion, had a tight match with Steve Vanouwerkerk.  After a deuce by Harris in the 1st,  the teams traded singles through the 8th end.  Vanouwerkerk scored a big three in the 9th for a one point lead coming home in the 10th. Harris captured a deuce with a nifty angle tap up to snag the win.

Draw 4 Recap

The Scotties A Final between the Tammy Dewar and the Jane DiCarlo teams was the key game of the draw.  DiCarlo blanked the first three ends and then cracked a three-ender in the 4th followed by a steal of one in the 5th to take a four-point lead. DiCarlo kept her foot to the gas and stole 2 more in the 6th for a 6-point lead.  The game was conceded after the 7th end and DiCarlo captured the A Championship.

A steal of four in the 3rd end by Melissa Morrow erased a two-point deficit and turned into a two-point lead for the team from Crapaud.  Morrow’s opponent, Lauren Ferguson of Cornwall,  made a nice raise for two in the 8th to tie the game.  Ferguson stole two more points in the 9th for a two-point lead coming home.  Ferguson had a good chance to run Morrow out of rocks in the 10th but missed a takeout by a whisker.  Morrow drew for two and forced an extra end with Ferguson having last rock.  Morrow was able to establish a number of guards in the extra end but was not able to bury behind them, leaving Ferguson with an open hit and stay for the win.  Ferguson rolled out leaving a measure at the back 12 foot for the win. Morrow won the measure and stays alive in the B side.

In a battle in the C section between the Blades and Power teams, Blades surged to a 4 to 2 lead after dropping a deuce in the first end.  A big three ender in the seventh brought Powers back to even.  In the 10th, with Powers leading by one, Blades missed her last rock giving the win to the Powers squad.  Shelley Bradley, multi-time Scotties participant for PEI plays lead for Powers.

In the Tankard B semi-final match between Tyler Smith and Jamie Newson, Smith took one in the 1st end and stole a big deuce in the 2nd after making a perfect come around to the four foot.  The Smith draw forced Newson into a tough shot and created the steal of two.  Smith, the defending Tankard champion, extended his lead to 4, with a deuce in the 7th.  Newson had a good end going in the 8th but lost control with his first shot.  Smith put on a guard and Newson was left with a tough shot for one that did not work out.  Newson then conceded the game.

In the C section battle between Blair Jay of the home club and Calvin Smith of Crapaud, Smith scored three in the 4th to go up one.  With the game tied after 8 ends Jay took two in the 9th and managed to keep Smith to one in the 10th, despite a gallant effort by Smith on his last shot.

In the Higgins versus Harris B semifinal, the two teams traded leads until Harris scored a huge 4 ender for a 4-shot cushion. Higgins responded with a double takeout for a deuce in the 8th to move to within two but without last rock.  In the 9th, Harris made a great come around, followed by a great tap back to score two. Higgins conceded the game at that point.

SUMMERSIDE – The retirement of Suzanne Birt has caused a seismic shift inside the Prince Edward Island curling landscape.  The winner of 14 P.E.I. Scotties titles over the past 21 years has stepped back this season. After dominating women’s curling on P.E.I. for most of the past two decades, Birt’s decision has thrown the provincial Scotties field wide open, and with no clear favourite for the ladies crown, this week’s championship is expected to be among the most competitive in years.

A strong field of eight teams has entered the Scotties modified triple knockout playdowns which starts Thursday at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside and wraps up Sunday.  The winner will represent the province at the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada’s national women’s curling championship, February 16 to 25 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alta.

Although she retired last spring, Birt wasn’t quite done on the provincial curling scene this season.  In November, Birt and her 2001 world junior women’s championship team were among the newest inductees into the P.E.I. Curling Hall of Fame. Other members of that world champion team were Robyn MacPhee, Kelly Higgins, Stephanie Richard and coach Paul Power. Carol Webb was the alternate.

Starting in 1998, Birt (then Suzanne Gaudet) skipped provincial junior winning teams for five consecutive seasons, highlighted by 2001 world gold in Ogden, Utah. After winning another Canadian junior title on home ice in Summerside in 2002, Gaudet won bronze at the worlds in Kelowna, B.C. She then graduated into the women’s ranks in 2003 and never looked back. 

There is little doubt that Birt and her powerful women’s teams deserve recognition and re-entry into the P.E.I. hall on their own merits for impressive displays on the national Scotties stage.  Most recently, Birt was joined by teammates Marie Christianson, Meaghan Hughes and Michelle McQuaid to dominate provincial Scotties play, winning P.E.I. titles the past five years. Recent alternates at the nationals with Birt-skipped teams included veteran Kathy O’Rourke and Sinead Dolan.  In 2022, there was no P.E.I. Scotties playdown because of Covid issues and Birt and her team were designated by Curl PEI as its provincial representative. 

Christianson, who played with Birt as an import for the past five years, joined the Heather White / Jill Brothers rink as second stone and helped them win the NS Scotties title on the weekend over defending champion Christina Black in the deciding game. Erin Carmody, of Summerside, is lead stone on the team skipped by Smith but where Brothers throws fourth stones.

Summerside Scotties organizers have announced there will be a small admission fee charged for spectators this week. For non-members of the Silver Fox Curling Club, it’s $5/day or $15 for four days; members of Silver Fox, $3 per day or $10 for four days.

The Scotties is also being held in conjunction with the provincial men’s Tankard championships.

2024 PEI Scotties Teams

This week, newcomer Sophie Blades of Summerside will skip three members of the recently crowned P.E.I. U-18 champions — longtime Cornwall teammates Ella Lenentine, Makiya Noonan and Erika Pater. Reid Hart is the alternate on the team coached by Robbie Lenentine. The Summerside team is young but has lots of provincial and national experience, and is playing on familiar ice.

Skip Tammy Dewar of Montague has assembled a strong team, including import Samantha Crook from the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton, N.B., and two players from Cornwall — second stone Kaleigh MacKay and lead Sarah Doak, who also has lots of N.B. Scotties experience. Dewar’s team is playing in Cornwall’s Tuesday competitive league this season.

Skip Jane DiCarlo, who is also president of Curl P.E.I., has a solid team based out of the Crapaud Curling Club which includes mate Veronica Smith, second stone Sabrina Smith and lead Whitney Jenkins.

Lauren Ferguson, out of the Halifax Curling Club, skips a Cornwall-based team of third Sydney Howatt, second stone Aleya Quilty, lead Rachel O’Connor and alternate Breanne Burgoyne. They are mentored by longtime local coach Pat Quilty. 

Veteran Darlene London, who just finished skipping her team to silver at last week’s provincial Masters at her home Montague club, will be tough to beat. She is joined by mate Robyn MacDonald, second Shelley Rice and lead Gail Greene.

Skip Melissa Morrow is joined by third stone Darcee Birch, second stone Michelle MacIntyre; lead Miranda Ellis, and alternate Kacey Gauthier. The team is affiliated with the Crapaud Curling Club.

Amanda Power is skipping a team out of Cornwall, who also play in the club’s competitive Tuesday night league. Other team members include mate Sara Spafford, second stone Emily Best and alternate Janique LeBlanc. Joining the Power squad for the Scotties is veteran lead Shelly Bradley who skipped her own team at three Scotties — the last in 2001 — and who was a member of several Birt teams, the latest as mate in 2015.

Rounding out the women’s field is Jenny White, who is curling out of the Crapaud Community Curling Club. She is joined by mate Lauren MacFadyen, veteran second stone Jackie Reid, and Alison Griffin-Waddell. 

Schedule, teams, draw and results can be found here: https://peicurling.com/results/#/events/17914.