Saskatchewan curlers pay tribute to Humboldt Broncos

PRINCE ALBERT, SASK. — Though Rylan Kleiter’s team, representing Saskatchewan, is deep into the competition at the 2019 New Holland Canadian Juniors, the four men keep everything in perspective. This viewpoint comes directly from losing friends in the recent past, which reminds the team that there’s more to life than just curling. Kleiter and second Joshua Mattern played baseball and hockey with Evan Thomas, one of the young men who were killed in the Humboldt Broncos crash. Another friend of the team, Quinn Stevenson, was also recently killed in a car crash. The team representing the Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon has chosen to honour the two young men by wearing a small graphic on their regular team jackets and hats. “We just feel like we have a really big connection with (Evan and Quinn) and their families and just wanted to show our support,” said Kleiter. Though the competition gets heated, keeping a focused mindset with a heavy dose of perspective has kept the team calm. “In our pre-game meetings, we talk about (Evan and Quinn), and keep them in mind when we’re playing our game,” said Kleiter. Kleiter’s squad cruised to a 10-4 win over Quebec’s Vincent Roberge in the first game of round robin play and now sits at 6-1. B.C.’s Tyler Tardi remains undefeated after cruising to a 6-2 win over Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan, and Saskatchewan’s Kleiter stole two points in the seventh on the way to a 10-4 victory over Vincent Roberge  and his team from Club de curling Etchemin. In women’s action, Sarah Daniels and her B.C. team continues to gather momentum. Against Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias, Daniels scored four points – in two different ends – and stole five more points in a 15-6 victory. Undefeated Selena Sturmay of Alberta needed an extra end to secure a 9-8 victory over Laurie St-Georges, last year’s silver medallist. In seeding pool action, it was a successful day for Ontario with both men’s and women’s teams picking up wins over P.E.I. Thea Coburn beat P.E.I.’s Lauren Ferguson 9-4 and Sam Steep defeated Tyler Smith 11-7. Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mackenzie Glynn defeated the Host team skipped by Skylar Ackerman 4-3. Action continues on Wednesday evening in both seeding and championship pools with games 7 p.m. (all times Central). Round-robin games at the 2019 New Holland Canadian Juniors are being streamed live exclusively on Curling Canada’s Facebook page. TSN/RDS2, the official broadcaster of Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will provide live and exclusive coverage of the womenʼs and menʼs semifinals on Saturday, Jan. 26, and finals on Sunday, Jan. 27. The same games also will be streamed live in the U.S. on ESPN3. CLICK HERE for streaming and broadcast information. The winning teams Sunday will represent Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championships, Feb. 16-23 in Liverpool, N.S. The full scoreboard can be viewed at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/ For event information, visit www.curling.ca/2019juniors.