Road to the Roar Pre-Trials start Tuesday in Prince George

The Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, presented by Monsanto, get underway Tuesday at the CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia. Twelve men’s and 12 women’s teams will compete in a triple knockout format, which will qualify four men’s and four women’s teams for the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials, December 6-13 in Edmonton, when Canada’s representatives for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver will be determined. The winners of the A, B and C finals in Prince George will advance to Edmonton to join eight teams which have already qualified: Jennifer Jones, Shannon Kleibrink, Cheryl Bernard, Stefanie Lawton, Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Kevin Koe and Randy Ferbey. TSN will provide live coverage of the women’s and men’s A finals on Thursday, the B finals on Friday and the four C finals on Saturday, November 14.  Curltv (www.curltv.com) will also offer its subscribers live coverage of each draw. The women’s line-up is headed by number one-seeded Kelly Scott of Kelowna, the 2007 world champion and 2005 Trials runner-up, second-seeded Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ontario, Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche of St-Romuald, the number three seed and Regina’s Michelle Englot, who is seeded fourth. Joining them are Calgary’s Heather Rankin (#5), Rachel Homan  (#6) of Ottawa, Crystal Webster (#7) of Calgary, 1998 Scotties Tournament of Hearts winner Cathy King (#8) of Edmonton, Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville (#9), Amber Holland (#10) of Kronau, Saskatchewan, Eve Bélisle (#11) of Montreal and Sherry Anderson (#12) of Saskatoon, who was the runner-up at the 2001 Trials. Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton, a two-time Brier winner, 1996 world champion and 2005 Trials runner-up, is the number one men’s seed.  Toronto’s two-time world champion Wayne Middaugh is the second seed, followed by the reigning Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, who is seeded third, and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen, the fourth seed. They are joined by Kerry Burtnyk (#5) of Winnipeg, a two-time Brier winner, 1995 world champion and 2001 Trials runner-up, Joel Jordison (#6) of Moose Jaw, 2006 Brier winner Jean-Michel Ménard (#7) of St-Romuald, Quebec, Edmonton’s Ted Appelman (#8), Kelowna’s Bob Ursel (#9), Pat Simmons (#10) of Davidson, Saskatchewan, 2000 world champion Greg McAulay (#11) of Richmond, British Columbia and Jason Gunnlaugson (#12) of Beausejour, Manitoba. The media room phone number, for results and other requests, is (250) 562-3870 and will be operational as of Monday, November 9. The Road to the Roar Pre-Trials begin with four draws on both Tuesday and Wednesday at the 4,500-seat CN Centre.   Draw results will be instantly available throughout the event on the Canadian Curling Association’s website (www.curling.ca). Full Event passes, mini-packs and individual draw tickets can be purchased by visiting www.Ticketmaster.ca , by phoning (250) 614-9100 or in person at the CN Centre Box Office.  For other information, please contact the Pre-Trials Event Office at (250) 562-8772. 2009 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, presented by Monsanto November 10-14, 2009, CN Centre Prince George, British Columbia MEN’S TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead, alternate and/or coach) Team Appelman – Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, AB Ted Appelman, Tom Appelman, Brandon Klassen, Brendan Melnyk, Don Bartlett (alternate) Team Burtnyk – Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club, Winnipeg, MB Kerry Burtnyk, Don Walchuk, Richard Daneault, Garth Smith, Rob Meakin (coach) Team Gunnlaugson – Beausejour Curling Club, Beausejour, MB Jason Gunnlaugson, Justin Richter, Braden Zawada, Tyler Forrest, Calvin Edie (coach) Team Gushue – Bally Haly Golf & Curling Club, St. John’s, NL Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Ryan Fry, Jamie Korab, Glenn Goss (coach) Team Jordison – Bushell Park Curling Club, Moose Jaw, SK Joel Jordison, Scott Bitz, Aryn Schmidt, Dean Hicke, Troy Robinson, Ron Meyers (coach) Team McAulay – Richmond Curling Club, Richmond, BC Greg McAulay, Ken Maskiewich, *Dean Joanisse*, Aaron Watson, Brett Kury, Joel Berglund (coach) *replaces Deane Horning* Team McEwen – Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club, Winnipeg, MB Mike McEwen, BJ Neufeld, Matt Wozniak, Denni Neufeld, Chris Neufeld (coach) Team Ménard – Etchemin Curling Club, St-Romuald, QC Jean-Michel Ménard, Martin Crête, Éric Sylvain, Jean Gagnon, Michel St-Onge (coach) Team Middaugh – St. George’s Golf and Country Club, Toronto, ON Wayne Middaugh, Jon Mead, John Epping, Scott Bailey, Trevor Wall (alternate) Team Simmons – Davidson Curling Club, Davidson, SK Pat Simmons, Gerry Adam, Jeff Sharp, Steve Laycock, Warren Jackson, Barry Fiendell (coach) Team Stoughton – Charleswood Curling Club, Winnipeg, MB Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Park, Rob Fowler, Steve Gould, Norm Gould (coach) Team Ursel – Kelowna Curling Club, Kelowna, BC Bob Ursel (third stone), Jim Cotter (fourth stone), Kevin Folk, Rick Sawatsky, Jim Ursel (coach) 2009 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, presented by Monsanto November 10-14, 2009, CN Centre Prince George, British Columbia WOMEN’S TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead, alternate and/or coach) Team Anderson – Granite Curling Club, Saskatoon, SK Sherry Anderson, Kim Hodson, Heather Walsh, Donna Gignac, Patty Hersikorn, Jim Orr (coach) Team Bélisle- Town of Mount Royal Curling Club, Montreal, QC Eve Bélisle, Brenda Nicholls, Martine Comeau, Julie Rainville, Bill Tschirhart Team Englot – Tartan Curling Club, Regina, SK Michelle Englot, Deanna Doig, Roberta Materi, Cindy Simmons, Debbie Lozinski, Anita Ford (coach) Team Holland – Kronau Curling Club, Kronau, SK Amber Holland, Kim Schneider, Tammy Schneider, Heather Kalenchuk, Jolene Campbell, Merv Fonger (coach) Team Homan – Ottawa Curling Club, Ottawa, ON Rachel Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk, Lynn Kreviazuk, Earle Morris (coach) Team King – Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, AB Cathy King, Kaitlyn Lawes, Raylene Rocque, Tracy Bush, Marcy Balderston, Ken Bagnell (coach) Team Larouche – Etchemin Curling Club, St-Romuald, QC Marie-France Larouche, Nancy Bélanger, Annie Lemay, Joëlle Sabourin, Chantal Osborne, Camil Larouche (coach) Team McCarville – Fort William Curling Club, Thunder Bay, ON Krista McCarville, Tara George, Kari MacLean, Lorraine Lang, Ashley Miharija, Rick Lang (coach) Team Middaugh – Coldwater & District Curling Club, Coldwater, ON Sherry Middaugh, Kirsten Wall, Kim Moore, Andra Harmark, Heather Nedohin, Andrea Ronnebeck (coach) Team Rankin – Calgary Winter Club and Calgary Curling Club, Calgary, AB Heather Rankin, Lisa Eyamie, Heather Jensen, Kyla MacLachlan, Nikki Smith, John Hamm (coach) Team Scott – Kelowna Curling Club, Kelowna, BC Kelly Scott, Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter, Jacquie Armstrong, Gerry Richard (coach) Team Webster – Calgary Curling Club, Calgary, AB Crystal Webster, Lori Olson-Johns, Sam Preston, Stephanie Malekoff, Desirée Owen, Gord Trenchie (coach) -30-