Cornwall Curling Club

(by Allen Cameron) FORT McMURRAY, Alta. — B.C. skip Corryn Brown didn’t get to the championship round of the 2013 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships without a few fortunate wins along the way.

By her own admission, she got another of them on Wednesday afternoon at the Suncor Community Leisure Centre.

In her opening game of the championship pool round robin, Brown took advantage of an ill-timed miss from Quebec skip Sarah Dumais (St-Romuald) in the 10th end to make an open hit to score four for a 10-8 victory.

With the win, Brown’s team from Kamloops (third Erin Pincott, second Sam Fisher, lead Sydney Fraser, coach Ken Brown) improved its overall record to 6-1 (records from the preliminary round carry over).

“That team (Quebec) deserved to win that one,” said Brown. “We didn’t. The way we played, it was totally their game, but we came out on top. We just weren’t getting our shots in the right spots, ever. We were really fortunate.”

But, she agreed, no team wins Canadian championships without a few lucky victories, and Wednesday’s certainly fit that description.

“We have to take it for what it is,” said Brown. “We just have to be sharper next game and win it outright; we can’t rely on luck. We have to rely more on skill now.”

Quebec dropped to 2-5 with the loss.

In other women’s championship round games, Manitoba’s Shannon Birchard (Winnipeg) remained unbeaten at 7-0 with an 8-7 win over the Yukon’s Sarah Koltun (4-3, Whitehorse); Ontario’s Jamie Sinclair (6-1, Manotick) kept pace with the leaders with a 9-8 win over New Brunswick’s Jessica Daigle (3-4, Fredericton); and Saskatchewan’s Jessica Hanson (4-3, Saskatoon), fresh off a tiebreaker win earlier in the day to stay alive, was an 11-3 winner over Nova Scotia’s Mary Myketyn-Driscoll (3-4, Truro).

The men’s championship round also opened on Wednesday, with two of the top teams from the first round, Alberta’s Thomas Scoffin (Edmonton) and New Brunswick’s Josh Barry (Fredericton), going head to head.

And it was the Alberta veteran — Scoffin is skipping in his seventh straight Canadian Juniors, but his first with Alberta after the previous six with the Yukon — who prevailed, rolling to a 10-4 victory.

Alberta improved to 6-1 with the win while New Brunswick fell to 5-2.

“Step one is complete, we made the championship round, and that was a battle of a game; it was a lot closer than the score indicated,” said Scoffin, whose team is rounded out by third Dylan Gousseau, second Landon Bucholz lead Bryce Bucholz and coach Rob Bucholz. “It’s good to come out with a win against these tough teams from the other pool. We’re looking forward to playing these games; they’re a lot more fun to play, and we’re getting closer to the end.”

In other championship-round men’s play, Ontario’s Aaron Squires (6-1, St. Thomas) beat Quebec’s Félix Asselin (3-4, Montreal); Nova Scotia’s Stuart Thompson (6-1, Halifax) toppled Saskatchewan’s Brady Scharback (4-3, Saskatoon) 9-4; and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (5-2, Winnipeg), shaded B.C.’s Tyler Klymchuk (3-4, Langley/Victoria) 8-7 in an extra end.

The top three teams after the championship round robins conclude on Friday will qualify for the playoffs; the first-place teams will move onto the final, while the second- and third-place teams will meet in the semifinals.

The six teams in each gender that didn’t qualify for the championship round are playing a seeding round robin to determine final rankings for next year’s Canadian Juniors in Liverpool, N.S.

In women’s seeding-pool play, Newfoundland/Labrador’s Carolyn Suley (4-3, St. John’s) edged P.E.I.’s Veronica Smith (1-6, Cornwall), while in men’s play, the Yukon’s Will Mahoney (3-4, Whitehorse) knocked off Daniel Murray of the Northwest Territories (0-7, Yellowknife) 14-2; and Northern Ontario’s Matthew Roberts (3-4, Thunder Bay) was an 8-5 winner over P.E.I.’s Tyler Smith (2-5, Cornwall).

The Canadian Juniors continue on Wednesday with a draw beginning at 6 p.m. MST.

Live scoring and updated standings are available at www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/scores-and-standings/standings-2013-juniors/.

The updated draw, for both the championship pool and the seeding pool, is available at www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/draw-schedule/.

TSN/RDS, the official broadcaster of the CCA’s Season of Champions, will provide live coverage across Canada of the men’s and women’s finals from the CNRL Arena 2. The men’s final is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT Saturday, Feb. 9, while the women’s final goes Sunday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. MT as well.

Click to read this story at the CCA website.

Looks like Lance got a delivery today! Let’s check it out!

It’s a new Ice King NEO ice scraper! Our ice will be even better than ever!

Here’s a video with more info on this sucker:

Here’s some specs:

A big thank-you goes out again to our excellent volunteers for helping out again with our PEI Road Builders banquet:
Derek MacEwen, Paul Durant, Paul Field, Ernie Stavert, Carl Currie, Ruth Stavert, Bernie Field, Myrna Craswell, Shirley Lank, Hélène Lapalme, Gloria Clarke, Carol Sweetapple, Jessie MacPhail, Carlene Peters and of course, Bev, Lance and Al.

Thanks again for making Cornwall Curling Club an awesome place to hold an event.

Karen Currie

Good luck to the Veronica and Tyler Smith rinks, as they head out to Fort McMurray Alberta for the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, Feb. 2-10 at the Suncor Community Leisure Centre at MacDonald Island Park in Fort McMurray, Alta.!

Photo: Veronica and Tyler Smith

Follow the action here:

http://www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/

The Tyler Smith rink opens against the Yukon Saturday at 1 pm and plays Saskatchewan at 6:30 pm, while the Veronica Smith team’s opener is against Manitoba at 6:30 pm. All times MT – add 3 hours for Atlantic.

PEI Round robin schedule

Saturday Feb 2: 1 pm Men vs YT; 6:30 pm Women vs MB, Men vs SK
Sunday Feb 3: 1 pm Men vs NU; 6 pm women vs QC
Monday Feb 4: 9 am Women vs NO;  2 pm Men vs On; 7 pm Men vs BC, Women vs NT
Tuesday 1 pm Women vs NS, Men vs AB; 6 pm Women vs ON

Full draw schedule:

http://www.curling.ca/championships/juniors/scores-and-standings/draw-schedule/

There is a new draw format this year in order to accommodate the 14 men’s and 14 women’s teams, including newcomer Nunavut (NU), representing the Canadian Curling Association’s Member Associations (provincial/territorial).

For each gender, the teams have been seeded, based on the won-loss records of the provinces/territories at the Juniors for the past three years, and then placed into two Pools — A & B.

The teams will play a round robin within their Pool (six games), after which the top four in each advance to the Championship Pool beginning Wednesday for a four-game round robin against teams from the other Pool, with their won-loss records carried forward.

At the completion of the Championship Pool for each gender on Friday, Feb. 8, the teams with the best won-loss records advance to their respective finals, while the second- and third-place finishers meet in semifinals to determine the other finalists.

The team that didn’t qualify for the Championship Pool will contest a similar round robin in the Seeding Pool, beginning Wednesday as well, so that by Friday all teams will have played at least nine games and will be ranked by their won-loss records to determine provincial/territorial seeding for next year’s event in Liverpool, N.S. In addition, there will be a two-day Mixed Doubles competition on the final weekend involving curlers from the non-playoff teams.

Round-robin games will be played at both the CNRL Arena 2 (Sheets A-E) and the Oilsands Curling Club (Sheets F-K).

For those of us who won’t be making the trek to Fort Mac, TSN, the official broadcaster of the CCA’s Season of Champions, will provide live coverage across Canada of the men’s and women’s finals from the CNRL Arena 2. The men’s final is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT Saturday, Feb. 9, while the women’s final goes Sunday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. MT as well.

The winners of the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors will  represent Canada at the World Juniors, Feb. 28-March 10, 2013, in Sochi, Russia, which will serve as a test event for the 2014 Winter Olympics curling competition.

(with info from the CCA)

Prince Edward Island will be hosting three Stick Curling championships this season, with Provincial, Maritime, and Canadian Open championship titles on the line.

The dates of the Maritime championship in Montague have now been advanced a week, to March 12-14.

Stick Curling, where the curling rock is delivered using a delivery stick rather than the traditional “hack” delivery method, has been growing rapidly on PEI since curlers here first started using “the stick” over 15 years ago. The delivery stick allows curlers with knee problems or other mobility challenges to keep in the game, and has even brought those who never curled before into the sport.

Stick curlers often curl in regular leagues, and also have their own variant of the game, “2 Person Stick Curling” where there are two, instead of four, members per team, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end. The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. No stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end. Games are six ends and take about an hour to play.

Most of the clubs on PEI now have regular “Stick Curling” leagues, and the provincial Stick Curling Championships are now in their seventh year. 2013 will be a big year for PEI stick curling, with the Maritime championship, which rotates among the three Maritime provinces, taking place here, and, for the first time, the Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship will also be hosted here.

The Western Community Curling Club in Alberton is the site of the 2013 Curl PEI/Ferguson Funeral Homes Provincial Stick Curling Championships, which take place February 19-22. Defending champions in the open division are the Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald duo from the Montague Curling Club, who edged the three-time defending champion Walter Callaghan/John Vincent twosome from Western by a 5-4 score in last year’s final. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke rink from the Cornwall Curling Club are three-time defending champions in the women’s division, finishing with a perfect 5-0 record last year. The 2012 runners-up were the team of Audrey Callaghan of Western, and Ann Barwise of the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary.

Entries for the provincial championship closed on January 25, with 16 Open division teams, and three women’s division rinks signed up. Rosters can be viewed at peicurling.com/stick.

The top four open division teams, and the top two women’s rinks from this year’s provincial championships from all three Maritime provinces earn the right to compete in the Maritime Stick Curling Championships, March 12-14 (revised dates) at the Montague Curling Club. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke duo are the defending women’s champs, and also won in 2010. The New Brunswick rink of Grace Donald and Diane Gallant were last year’s runners-up. The Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald rink were runners-up in the open division last year, losing to the Carl Duggan/Keith Bennett team from Nova Scotia in the final.

The top two open division teams from the provincials also earn the right to compete in the 2013 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, April 1-4, here at the Cornwall Curling Club. The defending champs from last year’s event in Regina are the Earl Stephenson and Warren Johnson team from Winnipeg MB. The Montague Curling Club rink of Basil and Sterling Higginbotham won the B consolation prize.

Although this is an “open” event,  entries are reserved for the top two teams from each of BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan. Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. There are 32 spots available for other teams, for a total of 48 teams. Entry fee for this event is $120 per 2 person team, with a pay-per-win format, 5 games guaranteed, plus a banquet, and championship and consolation events. Entry deadline is March 1st. For more info, contact Shirley Lank  at (902) 621-0258 or lankshire.farms@pei.sympatico.ca, or visit StickCurling.ca. To enter the national event, send team roster with cheque to: 2013 PEI-National Stick. 780 Route 225, North Wiltshire, PE   C0A 1Y0.

The men’s rink of Paul Neima, Kevin Arsenault, Mike Lafontaine, and Dwayne McNeill went undefeated to win the men’s division at the Club playdowns for The Dominion Curling Club Championships this weekend. Men’s runners-up were the team of Mark MacDonald, Brad Gardiner, Steve De Wolfe, and Wayne Goodwin.

The team of Lorianne Davies, Morgan Kirkham, Tracy MacDonald, and Lynda Turnbull were the women’s winners. Runners-up were the rink of Shelley Ebbett, Kim Nicholson, Hélène Lapalme, and Marjorie Matthews. Lorianne won 8-7 over Shelley in the exciting final, with the game tied up coming home.

The Neima and Davies teams will now advance to the provincial The Dominion, March 6-10 at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. The provincial winners will then play in the national
The Dominion, Nov. 25-30 at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay.

Thank you to Shirley and John Berry for organizing the event, and for providing lunch for the curlers on Saturday, and good luck to our winning teams at the provincials!

Heres a collection of photos from today’s PEI Masters finals.

[Show as slideshow]

The 12 noon finals are set at the Curl PEI Provincial Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, here at the Cornwall Curling Club.

On the men’s side, it’s an all-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club final, with Mel Bernard, who qualified on the A side of the triple knockout, and then blanked clubmate Bob Maynard 8-0 in the Page 1 vs 2 game to earn a bye to the final, taking on Maynard again.  Maynard defeated the Bill Hope rink from the Cornwall and Silver Fox clubs in this morning’s semi-final, by a 7-1 score, with Maynard stealing a deuce in end four, a single in five, and another deuce in six to wrap things up early,

On the women’s side, the semi-final was a see-saw battle between defending champion Shirley Berry and her combined Cornwall/Silver Fox team, and Carol Sweetapple from the host club. Berry opened with a deuce, but Sweetapple pulled ahead with a single, a stolen deuce, and a stolen single. Berry moved into a 5-4 lead with a triple in the fifth end, and stole a single in the sixth. Sweetapple tied things up with a two point seventh end, and kept things clean coming home. Berry was short on her first draw, and didn’t throw her final rock, as that would have given her only one rock in the house, not enough for a tie. Final score: 7-5 Sweetapple.

Sweetapple now faces undefeated Diane MacKay and her Charlottetown/Cornwall rink in the final.

Ten men’s and six women’s teams began play Monday. Men’s and women’s winners and runners-up earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters Championships, March 7-10 at the Capital Winter Club, in Fredericton NB. The winning teams, or the highest-finishing men’s and women’s rinks that choose to attend, are invited to participate in the Canadian Masters, April 8-14 at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay Ontario.

Here are the opening draws for our Club Playdowns for The Dominion Curling Club Championships.
Five men’s teams and three women’s rinks are taking part. Winners will advance to the provincial The Dominion, March 6-10 at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton.

Here are the team rosters (as copied from the bulletin board on Tuesday – subject to change)

Men’s
Angus Kennedy, Bob MacWilliams, Angus Davies, David Younker
Pat Birtwistle, Trent Hayes, Adam Clark, Ryan Giddens
Paul Arsenault, Ray Biagé, Joe Callaghan, Edgar Coffin
Paul Neima, Kevin Arsenault, Mike LaFontaine, Dwayne McNeill
Mark MacDonald, Brad Gardiner, Steve DeWolfe, Wayne Goodwin

Women’s

Kelly Watts, Lisa Arsenault, Cathy Handren, Paula Ling
Lorianne Davies, Morgan Kirkham, Tracy MacDonald, Lynda Turnbull
Shelley Ebbett, Kim Glydon, Hélène LaPalme, Marjorie Matthews

Curl Atlantic’s annual Whitecap Junior Curling Camp, which has most recently been held in Halifax, will take place on PEI beginning this summer. It was announced during last year’s camp that the APM Centre arena in Cornwall was the successful bidder for the 2013 through 2015 camps, with an option for 2016 as well.

This year’s camp takes place from August 18 to 23rd at the APM Centre, with accommodations at the UPEI campus in Charlottetown.

Here is the registration form (PDF): http://www.dcan-nl.com/CurlAtlantic/wc-registration-form-2013.pdf

There are three categories of curlers, based on age and experience:

(1) Intermediate (age 12-14) – 2-5 years of curling experience with coaching.
-ages 13 and 14 are automatically placed in the Intermediate group.
(2) Advanced (age 15-17) – 4-8 years with coaching, bonspiel and provincial experience
-“new” 15 and 16 year olds can start no higher than “Advanced”
(3) High Performance (age 16-18) – 6 plus years – coaching, provincial, national experience

Cost is $650 including taxes for Atlantic Canadians, and $750 for those who reside elsewhere.

Only 96 spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis, with the exception that last year’s participants have a spot reserved until March 15. For more information on the camp, contact Helen Radford at (902) 497-6655 or curlatlantic2001@gmail.com

PEI was well represented at last year’s camp at the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax, with 21 Juniors from 5 teams attending, as well as 3 staff members who are PEI natives – Brett Gallant, Adam Casey and Pat Quilty.

Photo: 2012 Whitecap Attendees

The Diane MacKay rink from Charlottetown and Cornwall didn’t have to play the second half of their game this morning, after blanking Marg Nowlan and her Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club rink 9-0, and moves into the lead in the women’s division of the PEI Masters Championship being played at the Cornwall Curling Club, with a 2-0 win-loss record.

Photo: Diane MacKay

MacKay picked up a point with hammer in the first end, and stole the next two to lead 3-0 after three ends. She then stole six points in the fourth end, and the Nowlan team called it quits at the half time break.

Carol Sweetapple of Cornwall and Montague’s Sherren MacKinnon bounced back from opening day losses with wins this morning, and join Nowlan and defending champion Shirley Berry  at 1-1. Cornwall’s Ruth Stavert rink were looking good for their first win this morning, up 6-3 after six ends over MacKinnon, but the Montague rink scored a deuce in the seventh, and stole another pair in the final end to win 7-6. Berry and her combined Cornwall/Silver Fox team was also ahead after six, by a 7-6 score, but Cornwall’s Carol Sweetapple rebounded with a deuce and a stolen single for a 9-7 win.

The men took to the ice at 12 noon, and another women’s draw follows at 3 pm.

Here are some photos from this morning’s draw:

[Show as slideshow]

Two men’s and one women’s draw are in the books after opening day at the PEI Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, being played at the Cornwall Curling Club. Both the defending men’s rink, skipped by Mel Bernard of the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, and last year’s winning women’s team, the combined Cornwall/Silver Fox foursome captained by Shirley Berry, won their openers. with Bernard stealing four points in the fourth end on the way to a 7-2 in over Cornwall’s Bob MacWilliams team, and Berry coming back in fine style from a 4-0 deficit after two ends to Sherren MacKinnon and her Montague rink, taking a deuce in the third end, stealing four in the fourth, and grabbing another deuce in end five to move into an 8-4 lead after five ends. The teams traded singles in the next two ends, with Berry running her former teammate out of rocks in the eighth for a 9-5 final score.

Photo (L-R): Cornwall’s Bob MacWilliams (front) and Bill Hope (back right) follow their rocks

Also unbeaten, with 2-0 records, on the men’s side are Paul Arsenault of Cornwall, and Des Arsenault and Bob Maynard, both from the Silver Fox.  Paul Arsenault recorded wins over André Gauthier of Charlottetown and Fred Fall of Crapaud, while Des Arsenault beat Louis Walsh of Summerside and Clair Sweet of O’Leary’s Maple Leaf club. Maynard stole a point in the last end to edge Bill Hope and his combined Cornwall/Silver Fox rink 7-6 in his only game of the day. The record for the shortest match on opening day went to the Hope foursome in the afternoon draw, who picked up five points in the first end, a single in the third and a stolen deuce in the fourth to lead 8-1 at the half, and bring the game to an early conclusion.

Bernard will face Paul Arsenault, with Des Arsenault taking on Maynard at noon on Tuesday, with the winners advancing to the first of four qualifying matches for the championship round. This game, the A qualifier in the triple knockout event, goes Wednesday at three pm.

In the women’s round robin, Berry, along with Cornwall’s Diane MacKay, and Marg Nowlan from the Fox, are all 1-0 after the noon Monday opening women’s draw. Nowlan beat Cornwall’s Carol Sweetapple foursome 7-2, while MacKay edged Ruth Stavert and her Cornwall rink 8-7.

There are two women’s rounds on Tuesday, with Nowlan playing MacKay, Sweetapple taking on Berry, and Stavert facing MacKinnon at 9 am. The 3 pm matchups see Stavert play Berry, Nowlan take on MacKinnon, and Sweetapple face MacKay.

Draws continue at 9 am, 12 noon and 3 pm through Thursday, with the Men’s and Women’s semi-finals Friday at 9, and the finals at noon.

Live results are available at PEICurling.com/masters

Winners and runners-up earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters Championships, March 7-10 at the Capital Winter Club, in Fredericton NB.. The winning teams, or the highest-finishing men’s and women’s rinks that choose to attend, are invited to participate in the Canadian Masters, April 8-14 at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay Ontario.

The Curl PEI Provincial Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, got underway at 9 this morning at the Cornwall Curling Club, with eight of the 10 men’s rinks seeing action, and three of the four wins coming from teams who curl out of the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside.

Photo (L-R): Edgar Coffin, Paul Arsenault, Kimball Blanchard

In the opening men’s triple knockout draw, the Paul Arsenault rink from the host club defeated the André Gauthier team from Charlottetown 7-5, Des Arsenault and his Silver Fox foursome downed their Fox clubmates the Louis Walsh rink 10-3, the defending champion Mel Bernard rink from the Fox stole four points in the fifth end on the way to a 7-2 win over Cornwall’s Bob MacWilliams rink, and another Fox team, skipped by Bob Maynard, stole a single in the last end to get by Bill Hope and his combined Cornwall/Silver Fox team by a 7-6 score.

Here are some pictures from the opening round action:

[Show as slideshow]

The opening women’s draw hit the ice at 12 noon, with all six women’s teams playing a round robin format. Carol Sweetapple of Cornwall is playing Marg Nowlan from the Fox, Sherren MacKinnon from Montague is facing defending champion Shirley Berry and her combined Cornwall/Silver Fox rink, and Ruth Stavert from Cornwall is playing Diane MacKay and her Charlottetown/Cornwall team.

The second men’s draw goes at 3 pm.

Live results are available through the week at peicurling.com/masters.

The Cornwall Curling Club, which recently hosted the Pepsi Juniors Under 21 provincial curling championships, is also hosting the second provincial championship of the season – this time for curlers age 60 and over. Draws in the Curl PEI Provincial Masters Curling Championships, with men’s and women’s divisions, go Monday through Thursday January 21-24 at 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm, with the semi-finals on Friday the 25th at 9 am and the finals at noon. All games are eight ends, with the six women’s teams playing a round robin format, with the second and third place teams squaring off in the semi-final, and the winner facing the first place team in the final. The ten men’s teams will play a triple knockout format, with four rinks advancing to a Page playoff round, where the first two qualifiers from the knockout round will play in the Page 1 vs 2 game, and the third and fourth qualifiers will curl in the Page 3 vs 4. Both games go Thursday at 3 pm. The winner of the 1 vs 2 will advance directly to the final, while the loser of the 1 vs 2 will face the winner of the 3 vs 4 game  in a semi-final match, with the winner also going to the final. Curlers are permitted to use delivery sticks in this event. There is no admission charge to watch the action.

The defending Masters men’s champions, the Mel Bernard rink from the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, and women’s champs, the Shirley Berry foursome from the Cornwall and Silver Fox clubs, are both back this year, as are last year’s runners-up, the Clair Sweet rink from O’Leary’s Maple Leaf Curling Club, and the Ruth Stavert team from Cornwall.

This year’s winners and runners-up will earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters Championships, March 7-10 at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton NB.. The winning teams, or the highest-finishing men’s and women’s rinks that choose to attend, are also invited to participate in the Canadian Masters, April 8-14 at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay Ontario.

Here are the team rosters:

Men (skip to lead-club(s))
Paul Arsenault, Ray Biagé, Kimball Blanchard, Edgar Coffin-Cornwall Curling Club
Des Arsenault, Cliff Poirier, Alan Montgomery, George Power-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Mel Bernard, Blair Jay, Lou Nowlan, Earle Proude-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Fred Fall (throws 3rd), Brian Ellis (throws 4th), Raymond Thomson, Walter Andrews-Crapaud Community Curling Club
André Gauthier, Rick Richard, Julien Gaudin. Leigh Crabbe-Charlottetown Curling Complex
Bill Hope, Ted MacFadyen. Craig Mackie, David Murphy-Cornwall/Silver Fox
Bob MacWilliams, John Berry, Roy Coffin, Jim Farquharson-Cornwall Curling Club
Bob Maynard, Harry Williams, Bruce Montgomery, Spike Martin-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Clair Sweet, Bob Matheson, Muncey Harris, Wayne Arsenault-Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)
Louis Walsh, Doug Waugh, Ivan Baglole, Charles Curry-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)

Women (skip to lead,coaches-club(s))

Shirley Berry, Sandy Hope, Arleen Harris, Evelyn Rogerson, coaches Butch McGee and Bill Hope-Cornwall/ Silver Fox
Diane MacKay, Val MacLean, Lynn Thiele, Donna Boulter-Charlottetown/ Cornwall
Sherren MacKinnon, Marjorie Campbell, Carol Sullivan, Judy Koke-Montague Curling Club
Marg Nowlan, Georgie Coulson, Dawn MacFadyen. Sharon Montgomery-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Ruth Stavert, Myrna Craswell. Elaine Hughes, Hanny MacLeod-Cornwall Curling Club
Carol Sweetapple, Danielle Girard, Carlene Peters, Bernie Field-Cornwall Curling Club

Here is the men’s opening day triple-knockout draw:

Monday January 21 at 9 am:

Ice 1: Paul Arsenault vs André Gauthier
Ice 2: Louis Walsh vs Des Arsenault
Ice 3: Mel Bernard vs Bob MacWilliams
Ice 4: Bob Maynard vs Bill Hope

Monday January 21 at 3 pm:
Ice 1: Loser Walsh/Des Arsenault vs loser Maynard/Hope
Ice 2: Fred Fall vs winner Paul Arsenault/Gauthier
Ice 3: Clair Sweet vs winner Walsh/Des Arsenault
Ice 4: Loser Paul Arsenault/Gauthier vs loser Bernard/MacWilliams

Here is the full women’s round robin draw:

Monday January 21 at 12 noon:
Ice 1: Carol Sweetapple vs Marg Nowlan
Ice 2: Sherren MacKinnon vs Shirley Berry
Ice 3: Ruth Stavert vs Diane MacKay

Tuesday January 22 at 9 am:
Ice 2: Marg Nowlan vs Diane MacKay
Ice 3: Carol Sweetapple vs Shirley Berry
Ice 4: Sherren MacKinnon vs Ruth Stavert

Tuesday January 22 at 3 pm:
Ice 1: Ruth Stavert vs Shirley Berry
Ice 3: Marg Nowlan vs Sherren MacKinnon
Ice 4: Carol Sweetapple vs Diane MacKay

Wednesday January 23 at 12 noon:
Ice 1: Sherren MacKinnon vs Diane MacKay
Ice 2: Carol Sweetapple vs Ruth Stavert
Ice 4: Marg Nowlan vs Shirley Berry

Thursday January 24 at 9 am:
Ice 2: Diane MacKay vs Shirley Berry
Ice 3: Carol Sweetapple vs Sherren MacKinnon
Ice 4: Marg Nowlan vs Ruth Stavert

Full draw, and end-by-end results available at PEICurling.com/masters.

The Strathcona Cup Tour rolled into Cornwall on Saturday, with the Scottish curlers arriving by bus, and being greeted by the Cornwall curlers as they entered the building, with our team holding their brooms up in the traditional “Canopy of Brooms”.

After changing, and singing a couple of rousing songs, the Scots were ready to take to our ice!

The piper was busy today, piping the Scots into the building, piping the teams onto the ice, and later on piping both the head table, and the Haggis into the building for the Robbie Burns dinner.

It was time to “pay the piper”, with Myriam MacLean providing a toast with a “wee dram” of Scotland’s finest to our piper, Brady Singleton.

Gordon Lank, one of the organizers, who had also been on an earlier Scottish tour, threw out the ceremonial first rock, which Jim Farquharson and Roddie MacLean, from the 2009 tour to Scotland were able to sweep to the button.

It was game time, with the Scots quickly adjusting to our ice conditions, which they (as indicated by many of the scores!) found to be excellent.

The tremendous efforts put in by both sides made it necessary to take a “Fireball” break after the fourth end,  before heading back to the ice for the final half.

By the time that the last rocks were thrown, the quality of the Scots’ curling became evident, as we did not manage to win any of the games. Our team on ice 3, skipped by Ernie Stavert, had a chance to win, needing a hit and stick on the last rock to count two, but we didn’t quite make it, and the Scots took the victory.

After changing into our “Sunday best” and drowning our sorrows with a few drinks, everybody got ready for the next event, the “Shuck in”.

Here’s a photo of the team that took on the Ernie Stavert foursome, waiting in anticipation for the oysters:

(L-R) Don Rutherford (lead), Dave Munroe, Willie Nicoll, Alastair Smith (skip).

Here’s the oysters, provided and expertly shucked by Leslie Hardy of Leslie Hardy and Sons Ltd. (he also curled in the event)

Here’s the Smith rink downing their oysters during the Shuck in Ceremony:

Here’s another team, chasing the oysters with a shot of Island Shine. Some of the reactions from some of the teams were priceless (and unprintable!).

None other than the PEI Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Rural Development (and local MLA) Ronnie MacKinley was on hand to present the Scottish curlers with their certificates deeming them to be loyal members of the PEI Oyster Society, along with a T-shirt.

Here’s a shot of event chairman Jim Farquharson, along with oyster provider Leslie Hardy, and the Honourable Ron MacKinley and his assistant Valerie Acorn.

It was now time for dinner, with the Cornwall teams and their opponents lining up at their respective tables. Here’s the Craig Mackie rink and their Scottish counterparts pausing for a photo op.

The head table guests were piped in and took their seats.

The haggis was also piped in.

The important task of Addressing the Haggis fell upon Roddie MacLean, who did a fantastic job. We have a video:

It was time for the meal. First course was a hearty beef barley soup:

The main course included Gordie Lank’s excellent Roast Tenderloin of Prince Edward Island Prime Beef, along with a traditional “Robbie Burns” dinner of the Haggis, PEI Potatoes, and Turnip Puff (“neeps and tatties”), and peas.

Dessert was cake and icecream.

It looks like the head table are enjoying it. Ronnie MacKinley told us that it was “the best meal he’d ever had”!

Before the speeches, Scotsman Keith Henderson did a hilarious comic recitation about a milkman, with the rest of the Scots joining in the refrain.

Welcoming speeches were then given by Minister MacKinley, Cornwall Mayor Glen Fullerton, Curl PEI President George Koke, who is also president of the Montague Curling Club, where the Scots had curled in the morning, and  reportedly won all but one game, and Cornwall Curling Club vice-president Paul Neima.

East Tour Captain Willie Nicoll responded elequently to all the speeches, presenting ties to most of the speakers and “the Quaich,” a traditional two-handled Scottish “friendship” drinking cup to Paul Neima, who then filled it with the appropriate liquid and shared it with the Scots.

Following a few more impromptu speeches, it was time for the entertainment. A woman (who bore a slight resemblance to Shirley Lank) appeared out of nowhere, and told a few jokes.

Everyone then moved to the fireplace area for some entertainment,  led by musicians Todd MacLean (Roddie and Myriam’s son) and Aaron Crane.

A little “olde tyme” PEI dancing ensued:

The Scots then took the stage, and led everyone in the singing of some well-known Scottish songs.

Finally, with Todd on the saxophone, the Scots and the Canadians clasped hands and sang Auld Lang Syne, as the evening wrapped up, and the Scots headed to the bus for another busy day on Sunday in Crapaud and Moncton.

Thanks to everyone who made this event a success, including the curlers from both Canada and Scotland, the Strathcona Cup Tour Organizing Committee, Lance Lowther and the ice crew, the Club staff, the volunteers and local organizers including Jim and Diane Farquharson, Roddie and Myriam MacLean, Gordie and Shirley Lank, the kitchen crew including three generations of the Lank family, Karen Currie, Ruth Stavert and others, the Culinary Institute of Canada/Holland College for preparing the Haggis, Curl PEI for helping out with the event program, and a long list of sponsors including ADL, Countryview Golf Club, Egg Farmers of PEI, Island Abbey Foods (makers of Honibe), Jewelldale Farm, Leslie Hardy and Sons, office of the Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development, Murphy’s Cornwall Pharmacy, PEI Department of Tourism and Culture, Phillips Suzuki, PEI Potato Board, PEI Preserve Co, Sam’s Family Restaurant – Cornwall, the Town of Cornwall, and W.P. Griffin Inc.

Here’s our photo gallery of the event:

Click on a photo to display larger version. Use the arrows to move back and forth between pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

It happened a decade ago, and it’s happening again today – the Cornwall Curling Club men are taking on curlers from Scotland as part of a country-wide competition between Canada and Scotland for the century-old Strathcona Cup. Come on out to our Club to cheer on our curlers in the competition, and have some fun, too. Game time is at 3, but arrive early as there will be a “Canopy of Brooms” ceremony with the 16 Cornwall curlers holding up their brooms in a canopy formation as the Scottish curlers disembark from their bus and head into the building.

This will be followed by a piper leading the players onto the ice and an official opening ceremony. There’s also a “Shuck-in” ceremony (www.peioystersociety.ca) following the games as the Scots are treated to some of PEI’s finest oysters. Come back at 9 pm for some great entertainment, including skits, comedy, and music. It’s all free!

Here are some scenes from the Scots’ last visit, which should give you some idea of what is in store!

https://cornwallcurling.com/photos/?album=all&gallery=85

Here are the Cornwall teams for the Strathcona Cup (skip to lead):

Bob MacWilliams, Roy Coffin, Lew Black, Jim Farquharson

Roddie MacLean, Leslie Hardy, Donald Weeks, Mark MacDonald

Ernie Stavert, Ray Biagé, Paul Durant, Derek MacEwen

Craig Mackie, Danny Kneabone, Kimball Blanchard, Myron MacKay

Click for pictures and bios of the Scottish curlers we’ll be playing

At the moment, the Scots are leading the competition 1174 points to 1014, and are ahead in the Eastern leg 410 to 328, so we’ll need to pull off some big wins today! The winning team is determined by the total number of points scored by each country, not by the number of games won.  In other words, scores are important! Each team will play a full eight-end game and ties will remain unbroken.

Don’t wait another decade – get out to the Club today for the Strathcona Cup competition!

The past two weekends have been good ones for 18 year old UPEI student and Cornwall Curling Club member Veronica Smith. Last weekend, she skipped her rink to a 9-5 win over Cornwall clubmate Amanda MacLean and her team to win the final of the Pepsi Provincial Junior Women’s Curling Championship, and a trip to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, in Fort McMurray Alberta.

Photo (L-R): Veronica Smith, Jane DiCarlo, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty, coach Paul Smith

Curl Atlantic photo

This weekend, she teamed up with three members of last weekend’s runner-up MacLean rink – Jane DiCarlo, playing third, second Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty to represent UPEI at the Atlantic University Women’s Curling Championship at the CFB Halifax Curling Club, and captured one of the two spots in the CIS Championship,  in Kamloops BC March 20 -24. Her rink, coached by Paul Smith, lost their opener 7-5 to Acadia, but won their next two in the double-knockout event, 7-6 in an extra end over Dal, and 6-4 over Acadia to advance to this morning’s B final over defending champion Memorial University, skipped by Carolyn Suley.

In this morning’s game, Team UPEI grabbed an early lead, taking a triple with hammer in the first end, and stealing a single in the second. The teams traded singles to give Smith a 5-1 lead at half-time in the eight-end contest. Smith stole one in five, the teams swapped singles in six and seven, and Smith ran Suley out of rocks in the eighth end for a 7-2 final score and a trip to the nationals.

Atlantic Canada’s other women’s representatives at the CIS Championship will be the Sara Spafford rink from Saint Mary’s, which includes Seven Mile Bay PEI native Anita Casey. They won the A division on Saturday afternoon with a 7-4 victory over Suley. Other members of the Spafford rink are Amanda Colter and MacKenzie Proctor, with coach Marie Christianson.

Photo (L-R): Sara Spafford, Amanda Colter, Anita Casey, MacKenzie Proctor, coach Marie Christianson

Six teams, from Dalhousie,  Acadia, St. FX, UPEI, Saint Mary’s, and Memorial took part in the Atlantic University Women’s Championship.

The Atlantic University Men’s Championship will take place January 25-26, also at the CFB Halifax club, with four teams entered, from Saint Mary’s, Dalhousie, Memorial, and Acadia. The defending champions, the Brett Gallant rink from UPEI are not back this year. The A and B winners  from that event will also advance to the CIS Championships, in Kamloops BC March 20 -24.

Linescores from both Atlantic championships are available at LiveCurling.com

The Scots are coming to the Cornwall Curling Club on Saturday January 19, as part of the century-old Strathcona Cup Tour. Spectators are welcome to attend everything but the dinner.

The Strathcona Cup 2013 Tour (http://strathconacuptour2013.co.uk) is an event with a history of over 100 years and, as such, entails some ceremonial aspects.  Prior to the beginning of the Cornwall game at 3:00 p.m., there will be a “Canopy of Brooms” (comprised of the sixteen Cornwall curlers) outside the Club to welcome the Scottish curlers as they disembark from their bus.  This will be followed by a piper leading the players onto the ice, and an official opening ceremony.

In order to have everyone in place for the official welcome, it is important that the curlers in the event arrive at the Cornwall Curling Club NO LATER THAN 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, January 19.  At the completion of the game, we have arranged a Prince Edward Island Oyster Society (www.peioystersociety.ca) “Shuck In” ceremony for the Scottish curlers, followed by a dinner for the curlers with a Robert Burns theme. After dinner there will be entertainment, and everyone is welcome to attend from 9:00 p.m. onward.  We are hoping for a large crowd to give our Scottish visitors a real PEI party experience!

Here are the Cornwall teams for the Strathcona Cup (skip to lead):

Bob MacWilliams, Roy Coffin, Jamie Ballem, Jim Farquharson

Roddie MacLean, Leslie Hardy, Donald Weeks, Mark MacDonald

Ernie Stavert, Ray Biagé, Paul Durant, Derek MacEwen

Craig Mackie, Danny Kneabone, Kimball Blanchard, Myron MacKay

Between now and January 19, Cornwall skips might want to arrange a practice game to get to know your team.  While this is a “friendly” curling tournament, we are representing Canada and consequently want to make a decent showing.  Since the Strathcona Cup is a Canada versus Scotland event, an aggregate scoring system will be used.  The winning team is determined by the total number of points scored by each country, not by the number of games won.  In other words, scores are important!   Each team will play a full eight-end game and ties will remain unbroken.  When the Tour is completed at the end of January, the Strathcona Cup trophy will be awarded to the country scoring the most points during all the games played across Canada.  Be forewarned that we are aware that the Scots have been practising!

Photo: Gordie Hermann

It was great to see one of our Club founders, Gordie Hermann, around the club today, looking great after major heart surgery (to repair five blockages!) in June.  Gordie tells me that he even played a couple of ends during the daytime curlers Christmas event.

Way back in 1979,  Gordie  was the Cornwall Village councillor in charge of special community projects, and helped bring forward the decision to build a curling rink. In the spring of 1980 the residents of the village of Cornwall gave their support for participation in the program. A committee and then a charter Board of Directors were subsequently formed, with Gordie, and others, including Rupert Sweetapple, Ernie Stavert, Roy Coffin, and Al MacCormac who are still active at the Club, along with a number of others, who have either passed on or are no longer involved. Since then, the village has become a town, and our clubhouse and the entire Cornwall Civic Centre were totally rebuilt last year.