The End of a L-o-n-g Day!

As the subject line indicates, this was the longest day for all concerned at the 2012 Canadian Senior Curling Championships presented by Raymond James. Tonight’s draw #10 was the fourth of the day and there were some key match ups on the ice at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre. The men from Halifax (Dave McCusker) were the challengers to the unblemished record of Alberta’s Rob Armitage and gave the Red Deer four an honest effort but in the end, the Albertans still sit atop the standings at 5-0 posting a 9-4 score. The Bluenosers are now 2-3. Ontario’s Brian Lewis took it to the lads from New Brunswick by a 12-5 count keeping the Ottawa four in the hunt at 3-2 but NB will have to go on a serious run sitting at 1-4. The third male contest saw the crew from St. John’s, NL skipped by Glenn Goss (with Geoff Cunningham throwing last stones) hold off a game quartet from Whitehorse 9-7 and it took a three in the ninth for the islanders to seal the victory. Team NL is very much in the running at this point with a 4-1 record while the Whitehorse clan led by George Hilderman is still seeking that elusive first win.

Photo by Davina

The three women’s games were much closer. Penny Shantz (2-3), representing the host province, made a few spectacular draws in the game with the winning one coming in the last frame to edge a stubborn team from the Northwest Territories (Ann McKellar-Gillis) 7-6. The Yellowknife women still seek that first “w”. Manitoba and their neighbour to the west, that would be Saskatchewan,  provided a spirited tilt that went down to the last shot. When the brushing and yelling ended, the “w” went into the win column for Team SK (Darlene Gillies) now at 4-1 while the Buffaloes (Laurie Deprez) fall to 2-3. The remaining women’s contest matched Team PEI (Shirley Berry) against Team Northern Ontario (Daral Esch) and when the smoke cleared it was the islanders still standing posting a 7-4 win which puts them both at 2-3. Scores & Standings Host Committee Web Site