Cornwall Curling Club

Photo (L-R): Shirley Lank (President, PEI Curling Association), Leigh Armstrong (The Dominion),  Susan McInnis (local organizer)

Leigh Armstrong of The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company was in Charlottetown today to officially announce that the City of Charlottetown and the Town of Cornwall will co-host The Dominion Curling Club Championship, Canada’s first-ever national championship for club curlers, from November 23-28 2010 at the Charlottetown and Cornwall curling clubs.

This will be the event’s second year, following last month’s inaugural competition in Toronto, which welcomed twenty-eight men’s and women’s teams representing each of the country’s provinces and territories, along with a guest list that included World Champion curler Glenn Howard and 1998 Olympic silver medallist Mike Harris. The 2010 event will continue the format over four days of tournament play, followed by playoffs to declare new men’s and women’s Canadian Champions.

All profits from The Dominion Curling Club Championship go to the Canadian Paraplegic Association, and to curling initiatives in communities across the country. On hand for the announcement were Charlottetown Deputy Mayor Stu MacFadyen, Wayne Long, City Events Development Officer, Tourism Charlottetown President Doug Newson, and Suellen Clow of Tourism Charlottetown, along with Susan McInnis of local “The Dominion” representatives Peake and McInnis Insurance, who will be coordinating the event on PEI, and Shirley Lank, President of the PEI Curling Association. Also in attendance were members of the 2009 PEI teams at The Dominion, the Vanessa Hamming and Louis Walsh rinks, and Cornwall Curling Club President John Deluca.

While on PEI, Armstrong will be touring the two clubs, and finalizing the event details.

The 2010  ”The Dominion” provincial championship will take place March 18-21 in Cornwall.

Play gets underway Friday morning in the triple-knockout Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships, for curlers age 20 and under, at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, with seven junior men’s teams, and six junior women’s rinks taking part.  Three Cornwall teams are entered, all on the junior women’s side.

Defending junior men’s champ Brett Gallant will be looking for his fifth consecutive title, and his sixth overall. Gallant, who also won the Canadian championship and the world silver medal last season,  is back with long-time teammates Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, and Alex MacFadyen. Other contenders include host club favourites Parker Clements, and Matthew MacLean, winner of the 15 and Under championships last year, and a participant in the recent PEI Canada Games Trials. Also in the running are Shawn and Spencer Pitre, from the Alberton area, with Spencer skipping a team out of the Charlottetown Curling Club, and Shawn skipping a team from the Western Community club.  Summerside’s Sam Ramsay, last year’s runner-up, is back with a combined Charlottetown/Silver Fox team. Cody Dixon from Montague rounds out the junior men’s field.

There will be a new junior women’s champion this year, as defending champion Erin Carmody has graduated from the Junior ranks. Last year’s runner-up, Anita Casey, is back, with a new team out of the Charlottetown Curling Club, including former New Brunswicker Abby Burgess at third, Hillary Thompson of Charlottetown at second, and Jessica van Ouwerkerk, who was formerly with the Carmody rink, at lead stone. Cornwall’s Sarah Fullerton rink, three time 17 and Under champs, are entered, along with last year’s PEI women’s representatives at the CIS/CCA university championships, the Sarah Clow rink, also from Cornwall.  The Tricia Sanderson rink rounds out the Cornwall entries. The host Maple Leaf club has two teams entered on the Junior Women’s side, including the Amanda MacLean rink, PEI’s 2011 Canada Games women’s curling representives, along with the Tiffany Sweet team.

End-by-end results will be available at peicurling.com/juniors

Draws go Friday at 10 am and 1, 4:30, and 8 pm, Saturday at 9:30 am and 1, 4:30, and 8 pm, Sunday at 10 am and 1 and 6 pm, Monday at 1 and 6 pm, and Tuesday at 3 pm. If the same team sweeps all three sections of the triple-knockout draw, they would win the championship, and the  two championship round draws in their section would not be needed.

The winning junior men’s and women’s rinks will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Championships, January 16-24 in Sorel-Tracy Quebec.

Team Rosters (skip to lead, coach-team)

 Junior Men:

Brett Gallant, Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, Alex MacFadyen, Kathie Gallant (coach), Peter Gallant (coach)- Charlottetown
Shawn Pitre, Daniel McCarthy, Jeff Duggan, Colton Griffin, Roger Gavin (coach)- Western
Spencer Pitre, Billie Lewis, Connor MacPhee, Sean Noonan, Jean Sinclair (coach)- Charlottetown
Parker Clements, Mitch Rowley, Brandon Clements, Mark Cousins, Keith Rowley (coach),
Reggie Clements (coach)- Maple Leaf
Sam Ramsay, Justin Richard, Eric Pidgeon, Corey Miller, Peter Pidgeon (coach)- Ch’town, Sil. Fox
Matthew MacLean, Marshall Smallman, Kevin Gallant, Alan MacLean, Glen MacLean (coach), Shannon Smallman (coach)-Maple Leaf
Cody Dixon, Adam Nabuurs, Bennett Crane, Joey Collier, Brent MacDonald (coach)-Montague

Junior Women

Anita Casey, Abby Burgess, Hillary Thompson, Jessica van Ouwerkerk, Jeff Wilson (coach)- Charlottetown
Sarah Clow, Brielle Quilty, Christina Hennessey, Monica LeBlanc, Angela Hodgson (coach)-Cornwall
Sarah Fullerton, Michelle McQuaid, Sara MacRae, Whitney Young, Brenda MacMillan (coach)-Cornwall
Tiffany Sweet, Chantal Clements, Kathleen O’Meara, Laura O’Meara, Clair Sweet (coach), Ralph Sweet (coach)-Maple Leaf
Amanda MacLean, Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty, Glen MacLean (coach), Shelley Gray (coach)- Maple Leaf
Tricia Sanderson, Amanda Holm, Krystal Petersen, Victoria Evans, Pat Quilty (coach)-Cornwall

Opening Triple-Knockout Draws:

Junior Women

Friday December 18th at 10 AM: Sarah Fullerton (Cornwall) vs Sarah Clow (Cornwall), Tricia Sanderson (Cornwall) vs Tiffany Sweet (Maple Leaf)

Friday December 18th at 4: 30 pm: Amanda MacLean (Maple Leaf) vs winner Sanderson/Sweet game, Anita Casey (Charlottetown) vs winner Fullerton/Clow game.

Junior Men

Friday December 18th at 1 pm: Matthew MacLean (Maple Leaf) vs Shawn Pitre (Western), Parker Clements (Maple Leaf) vs Brett Gallant (Charlottetown), Spencer Pitre (Charlottetown) vs Sam Ramsay (Charlottetown/Silver Fox)

Friday December 18th at 8 pm:  Cody Dixon (Montague) vs winner MacLean/Shawn Pitre

The Cornwall Curling Club team skipped by eleven-year-old Tyler Smith edged our their clubmates, the Jeff Taylor foursome, by a 7-6 score this afternoon to cap off an extremely close junior men’s event at the Canada Games Curling Trials at the Charlottetown Curling Club, and advance to the Canada Games, February 11-27 2011 in Halifax. Smith, with hammer, opened the scoring with a deuce in the first end. Taylor blanked the second, and took the lead with a triple in the third end. Smith came back with three of his own in the fourth. The teams traded singles in five and six, and Taylor tied the game at six-all with a deuce in the seventh end. Smith scored a single point in the eighth for the win.

Photo (L-R): Tyson Smith, Noah O’Connor, Parker O’Connor, Tyler Smith, Kevin Smith (coach)

The Smith rink join the Amanda MacLean team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, who earned the junior women’s berth on Sunday.

Other members of the winning Tyler Smith rink are Parker and Noah O’Connor, and Tyson Smith, with coach Kevin Smith. Alex Sutherland, Alex Jenkins, and Jonathan Schut, with coach AJ Campbell, round out the runner-up Jeff Taylor foursome.

All four teams in the junior men’s section had identical 3-3 win-loss records in the double round robin competition. The teams were ranked by draw to the button results, and competed in a tiebreaker round, with second-ranked Smith winning over top-ranked Taylor by an 8-4 score in the 1st vs 2nd place game on Sunday afternoon, earning a bye to today’s final. Taylor then played off against third-ranked Matthew MacLean of O’Leary, this morning. MacLean beat Tony Nabuurs’ Montague/Charlottetown rink in the 3rd vs 4th tiebreaker game on Sunday, by an 8-3 score, after taking five points in the seventh end.

In this morning’s game, Taylor edged MacLean 6-5 in an extra end to advance to this afternoon’s final against Smith.

It’s an all-Cornwall final in the Junior Men’s section of the PEI Canada Games Trials, beginning at 1:30 this afternoon at the Charlottetown Curling Club. In tiebreaker play this morning, Cornwall’s Jeff Taylor rink edged the Matthew MacLean foursome from O’Leary 6-5 in an extra end to advance to this afternoon’s final against Cornwall’s Tyler Smith rink.

Yesterday, Cornwall’s Veronica Smith rink lost out to O’Leary’s Amanda MacLean team in the junior women’s final.

In this morning’s game, Taylor blanked the first end, recorded a double in the second, and stole a single in the third to lead 3-0. MacLean tied it up with a deuce in the fourth, and stole a single in the sixth. Taylor moved ahead with a pair in the seventh, and MacLean came back with two of his own in the eighth to tie the game at 5-all, and force an extra end, where Taylor, with hammer, scored the winning point.

The winner of this afternoon’s game will advance to the Canada Games,February 11-27 2011 in Halifax. The Mayflower Curling Club is the curling venue.

The Amanda MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary doubled Cornwall’s Veronica Smith foursome by a 6-3 score this afternoon to win PEI’s Junior Women’s curling berth in the 2011 Canada Games, February 11-27 2011 in Halifax. The MacLean rink, which includes third Kassinda Bulger, second stone Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty, with coaches Glen MacLean and Shelley Gray, followed a single in the first end with a stolen deuce in the second. Smith responded with singles in ends three and four, but MacLean came back with a pair in the fifth, for a 5-2 lead. The teams traded singles in six and seven, and MacLean ran Smith out of rocks in the eighth.

L-R: Aleya Quilty, Emily Gray, Kassinda Bulger, Amanda MacLean, Shelley Gray (coach), Glen MacLean (coach)

MacLean finished double round robin play in first place, with a 5-1 win-loss record, and advanced to the final against Smith, who ended round robin play in second place at 4-2. Jenny MacLean of Summerside finished at 2-4, while Leah Deveau from Montague ended play at 1-4. In the final round robin draw on Sunday morning, Smith doubled Jenny McLean 6-3, and MacLean beat Deveau 7-4. Other members of the runner-up Smith team are Katie  Fullerton, Sabrina Smith, and Chloe McCloskey, with coaches Sarah Fullerton and Paul Smith.

In the Junior Men’s section, the Cornwall rink skipped by 11 year old Tyler Smith, with third Parker O’Connor, second Noah O’Connor, and lead Tyson Smith, with coach Kevin Smith, defeated their clubmates, the Jeff Taylor team, by an 8-4 score in this afternoon’s tiebreaker between the first and second place teams, earning a bye to the Junior Men’s final, Monday at 1:30 pm. Matthew MacLean of O’Leary beat Tony Nabuurs of Montague 8-3 in the tiebreaker between the third and fourth place teams. MacLean now plays Taylor at 9 am Monday, with the winner facing Smith in the final.

The tiebreaker rounds were needed because all four junior men’s teams finished the double round robin with identical 3-3 win-loss records, and PEI Curling Association rules dictate that a team cannot be eliminated from the championship round solely on round robin results. Draw to the button results were then used to rank the teams for the tiebreaker round, with Taylor awarded first place, followed by Smith at second, MacLean at third, and Nabuurs ranked in fourth position.

The defending champion Mel Bernard rink from the host Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club stole a single in the first end, and a deuce in the second to grab an early lead, and went on to defeat Montague’s Donald Clarey foursome by a 7-3 score to win the fourth annual Provincial Senior Mixed Curling Championships this afternoon. Bernard, with teammates Jeanne Duffenais, Earle Proude, and Paula Baglole, advanced to the championship game by winning this morning’s semi-final against clubmate and last year’s runner-up Blair Jay, also from the Fox, by a 5-4 score. Clarey, Bernard, and Jay all finished round robin play with 3-1 records, but the draw to the button results gave first place, and the bye to the final to Clarey. Other members of the runner-up Clarey foursome are Kathy Clarey, Ross Petrie, and June Moyaert, while Lana Fraser, Douglas Simmons, and Debbie MacMurdo round out the third place Jay team.

Finishing out of the playoff round were the Harry Williams rink of Summerside, with a 1-3 win-loss record, and Cornwall’s John DeLuca team, who did not manage to pick up a win.

The final got underway at 2 pm in the Junior Women’s section of the Canada Games Trials, at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The Amanda MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf club in O’Leary finished double round robin play in first place, with a 5-1 win-loss record, and advanced to the final against the second place Veronica Smith rink from Cornwall, who ended round robin play at 4-2. Jenny MacLean of Summerside finished at 2-4, while Leah Deveau from Montague ended play at 1-4. In the final round robin draw on Sunday morning, Smith doubled Jenny McLean 6-3, and Amanda MacLean beat Deveau 7-4.

Two tiebreaker rounds are needed before the finals in the Junior Men’s section, with all four teams finishing the double round robin with identical 3-3 win-loss records. Draw to the button results were used to rank the teams coming out of the round robin, with Jeff Taylor of Cornwall awarded first place, followed by his clubmate Tyler Smith at second. Third went to Matthew MacLean of O’Leary, with Tony Nabuurs of Montague ranked fourth.

As PEI Curling Association rules dictate that a team cannot be eliminated from the championship round solely on round robin results, a tiebreaker round is necessary. First and second-ranked teams Taylor and Smith will play off at 2 pm, as will third and fourth-ranked teams MacLean and Nabuurs. The winner of the 1 vs 2 game will advance directly to the 1:30 pm Monday final, with the loser of the 3 vs 4 game eliminated from further play, and the winner facing the loser of the 1 vs 2 game Monday at 9 am. The winner of that game will play the 1 vs 2 winner in the 1:30 pm Monday final.

The winners of the Trials will advance to the Canada Games, February 11-27, 2011 in Halifax, at the Mayflower Curling Club.

Three Cornwall teams, skipped by Jeff Taylor,  Veronica Smith, and Tyler Smith, are competing in the Canada Games Trials, which get underway at 9 am in Charlottetown, and will pick PEI’s curling representatives in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax.

Follow the action at peicurling.com/canadagames, or drop by the Charlottetown Curling Club for some great junior curling.

In Summerside, play gets underway at 5 pm in the Provincial Senior Mixed curling championships, with five teams taking part. Cornwall has one entry, skipped by Club President John DeLuca.

Results will be available at peicurling.com/seniormixed.

Good luck to all four Cornwall teams!

CORNWALL
WAYNE THIBODEAU
The Guardian
(http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=310025&sc=98)

 Construction of a new curling club here will not happen until 2011 at the earliest. 

October and November Board of Directors minutes are now available in the members section of Cornwallcurling.com.