Draw Two action from Canadian Seniors

The men took to the ice Saturday night for their first games in the round robin of the 2014 Canadian Seniors Curling Championships. In the Yellowknife Curling Centre, Team MB (Robertson), a former Canadian Senior champion, dominated Team NB (Armstrong) 12-5. In the second tilt at the YKCC, Team Ontario (Mellor) and Team Quebec (Laflamme) played it very close to the vest with Ontario coming out on top by a score of 6-4 in an extra end. At the Yellowknife Community Arena, the quartet from Northern Ontario (Gordon) matched skills with the home town squad (Hudy). Team Saskatchewan (McKee) drew Team British Columbia (Craig). In an Atlantic Canada battle, Team Nova Scotia (O’Leary) squared off with Team Prince Edward Island (MacFadyen). Team Alberta (skipped by former Canadian and World Senior Champion, Mark Johnson) dueled with Team Yukon (Hilderman), one of the pre-qualifying teams. In the NO vs NT contest, a score of three by the Sudbury foursome midway through the game proved to be the fatal blow to their counterparts from Yellowknife, resulting in a final score of 10-3. The same was true in the SK vs BC engagement. This time Team SK kicked its “field goal” in end six, which was matched by the west coasters in end nine. BC forced the prairie four to one in the last end of regulation play but the Nutana CC representatives sole the 11th end to secure the victory. The Bluenosers from the Mayflower CC in Halifax scored often on the crew from the Sliver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, posting a 9-3 final score. The other pre-qualifier hailing from Whitehorse gave the experienced team from AB all it could handle, but with the Wild Roses posting scores in three consecutive ends midway through the contest, the blue and gold four put one in the win column with a 6-3 tally. Play continues on Sunday with draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The winners of the 2014 Canadian Seniors will represent Canada at the 2015 World Senior Curling Championships, at a site and date to be announced by the World Curling Federation. Last year’s Canadian champions, skipped by Colleen Pinkney of Truro, N.S., and Wayne Tallon of Fredericton, N.B., are competing in this year’s World Seniors, April 23-30 at Dumfries, Scotland. Since the World Seniors began in 2002, Canada has won eight men’s and nine women’s titles. Draw results for the 2014 Canadian Seniors will be instantly available at www.curling.ca. For information about the event, including team rosters and event schedules, visit www.curling.ca/2014seniors-en. (Story by Bill Tschirhart)